§ 309-A — Twenty-first century schools program

§ 309-a. Twenty-first century schools program. 1. Twenty-first century\nschools plans. The commissioner is authorized to designate as\n"twenty-first century schools," schools which are implementing approved\nplans to achieve substantial improvement in student achievement.\nApplications for designation as a twenty-first century school may be\nsubmitted on behalf of an individual school, a subset of schools within\na school district or all schools within a school district. Each\napplication for designation as a twenty-first century school shall be\nmade in a form prescribed by the commissioner and shall set forth a\nfive-year plan to enable all students to achieve levels of educational\nachievement that are competitive with high international standards\nthrough implementation of innovative instructional strategies and\nrestructuring of school management and programs. Such application shall\nbe submitted by April first next preceding the school year in which\noperation as a twenty-first century school would commence. The\ntwenty-first century school plan shall be developed through consultation\nwith teachers, administrators, parents and other interested parties and\nshall be approved by the board of education at a public meeting. Such\nconsultation shall be conducted in accordance with plans for\nschool-based planning and shared decision making adopted in accordance\nwith regulations of the commissioner. A school designated as a\ntwenty-first century school may revise its plan, subject to approval by\nthe commissioner and subject to all requirements governing initial\ndevelopment and approval of a plan. A twenty-first century school plan\nshall contain such information as the commissioner may require,\nincluding but not limited to:\n a. identification of the school or schools included within the plan;\n b. high, internationally competitive academic content and student\nachievement standards and mechanisms for assessing student achievement\nthat are fair, reliable and valid, that have been selected or developed\nin conjunction with teachers, principals, parents and representatives of\nemployers, organized labor, higher education institutions and community\norganizations and are consistent with standards and assessment practices\ndeveloped by the department, by national organizations of subject-matter\nexperts or by others;\n c. specific actions to be undertaken to assure that all students,\nregardless of economic background, race, gender, ethnicity, disability\nor limited English proficiency, will have a fair opportunity to achieve\nthe knowledge and skills described in the student achievement standards\npursuant to paragraph b of this subdivision;\n d. specific improvements in student achievement that the plan is\nexpected to produce including, but not limited to, improvements in\nstudent achievement as reflected in grades, test scores, portfolio\nassessments and student demonstrations of skills or competencies and\nimprovements in attendance and completion rates;\n e. certifications by the superintendent of schools and the principal\nof each school included in the plan that the school will comply with all\nrequirements of this chapter, rules of the board or regulations of the\ncommissioner listed by the commissioner pursuant to subdivision three of\nthis section;\n f. a description of the staff development, training and support for\nteachers and other personnel that will be necessary to implement the\nplan;\n g. any changes in school governance or management, work rules or\nassignment restrictions, pursuant to collective negotiations where\napplicable, needed in order to effectively focus and assist schools in\npreparing students to meet the achievement standards described in\nparagraph b of this subdivision;\n h. any actions to be undertaken to assist families of students in\naddressing pressing needs that affect student achievement, including,\nbut not limited to, forming partnerships with public and private\nagencies to increase the access of students and families to quality\ncoordinated services;\n i. any actions to be undertaken to facilitate the transition from\nschool to work or to postsecondary education for all students including,\nfor example, integration of workplace readiness skills and career\ninformation into curricula, provision of school-structured work\nexperiences, cooperation with local employers and articulation of school\nand college programs; and\n j. a plan for evaluation of the effectiveness of the program.\n 2. Criteria for approval. The commissioner may designate a total of up\nto two hundred fifty twenty-first century schools by the nineteen\nhundred ninety-nine--two thousand school year. The commissioner shall\npromulgate criteria for the designation of twenty-first century schools\nwhich shall include, but not be limited to:\n a. certifications by the commissioner that: (i) the student\nachievement standards described pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision\none of this section represent high, internationally competitive\nstandards for student knowledge and skills, (ii) that the mechanisms for\nassessing student achievement pursuant to such paragraph b are fair,\nreliable and valid; and (iii) the plan is designed to provide all\nstudents with educational services of a quality at least as high as\nthose offered under existing practices, without regard to economic\nbackground, race, gender, ethnicity, disability or limited English\nproficiency;\n b. the potential of the school plan for use as a model to be\nreplicated by other similarly situated schools and the probability of\nsuccess in substantially improving levels of achievement for all\nstudents, without regard to economic background, race, gender,\nethnicity, disability or limited English proficiency;\n c. evidence and strength of support for the proposal among teachers,\nparents and staff;\n d. use of nationally recognized school restructuring and improvement\nmodels and reliance upon research-based strategies for improving student\nachievement; and\n e. changes in local policies to provide the school or schools with\nadditional enhanced flexibility.\n The commissioner shall designate twenty-first century schools after\nconsultation with the twenty-first century schools committee established\npursuant to subdivision six of this section. The commissioner shall, to\nthe extent practicable, provide for designation of schools located in a\nmixture of urban, rural and suburban settings. The commissioner shall\ntake specific actions to encourage applications from schools located in\neconomically and socially distressed communities.\n 3. Exemption from regulation. A school designated as a twenty-first\ncentury school shall:\n a. be exempt from complying with rules of the board and regulations of\nthe commissioner to the extent necessary to implement an approved\ntwenty-first century school plan and except as provided in paragraphs b\nand c of this subdivision;\n b. be authorized, as part of a twenty-first century school plan or\nrevision thereto, to request approval by the commissioner to be exempted\nfrom specific requirements of this chapter except as provided in\nparagraph c of this subdivision and provided that the school shall\ncontinue to meet the underlying purposes of the statute to the\nsatisfaction of the commissioner and that the exemption shall be granted\nonly to the extent necessary to implement an approved twenty-first\ncentury school plan in the affected school or schools and provided\nfurther, that within thirty days of granting an exemption pursuant to\nthis paragraph, the commissioner shall provide written notice of such\naction to the governor, the temporary president of the senate and the\nspeaker of the assembly; and\n c. not be exempt from complying with requirements of this chapter,\nrules of the board or regulations of the commissioner that (i) protect\nthe health, safety and civil rights of students and staff, (ii)\nimplement the requirements of federal law or regulation, (iii) provide\nfor teacher, staff and parent participation and involvement, maintenance\nof effort or equitable participation of students and staff in nonpublic\nschools, (iv) require the use of certified teachers, or (v) pertain to\nattendance of pupils; further, nothing herein shall be construed to\nexempt a twenty-first century school or its governing district from\ncomplying with the provisions of titles two and four of this chapter,\nwith the requirement to offer students the opportunity to meet all the\nrequirements for and receive a regents high school diploma or with\nrequirements to reporting data necessary for the computation of state\naid.\n On or by October first, nineteen hundred ninety-four, the commissioner\nshall promulgate and provide to the governor, the temporary president of\nthe senate and the speaker of the assembly a preliminary list of all\nrequirements from which twenty-first century schools shall be required\nto request specific exemption as provided in paragraph b of this\nsubdivision and with which twenty-first century schools shall be\nrequired to comply as provided in paragraph c of this subdivision. The\ncommissioner shall promulgate a final list of all such requirements on\nNovember first, nineteen hundred ninety-four. The commissioner shall\nrevise such list as needed and, in each case, shall provide a\npreliminary revised list to the governor, the temporary president of the\nsenate and the speaker of the assembly at least thirty days prior to\npromulgating a final revised list.\n 4. School evaluations and reports. Each school designated as a\ntwenty-first century school shall annually review its effectiveness in\nimproving student performance and enabling all students to achieve to\nhigh internationally competitive standards and shall report the results\nof this review to the commissioner by September first next succeeding\neach year of operation as a twenty-first century school. Prior to the\nstart of a school's third year of operation as a twenty-first century\nschool, the school and the commissioner shall jointly review the\nschool's performance to identify areas in need of improvement and to\ndevelop revisions to the school's twenty-first century school plan to\nremedy the identified shortcomings. If, as a result of such review, the\ncommissioner determines that the school is unlikely to produce\nimprovement in student achievement, he or she shall commence action to\nrevoke the school's designation as a twenty-first century school in\naccordance with the provisions of subdivision five of this section. The\ntrustees or board of education of each district operating a twenty-first\ncentury school shall arrange for an independent evaluation of such\nschool's effectiveness in substantially improving student achievement.\nSuch independent evaluation shall be completed and transmitted to the\ncommissioner within ninety days after completion of the fourth year of\nthe school's operation as a twenty-first century school. Such\nindependent evaluation shall be conducted by an agency selected by the\ntrustees or board of education of the district and approved by the\ncommissioner.\n 5. Duties of the commissioner and department. The commissioner shall\npromulgate guidelines to implement the provisions of this section, shall\nannually review the performance of all schools designated as\ntwenty-first century schools, shall provide technical assistance and\nsupport, as appropriate, to all such schools, and shall submit to the\nregents, the legislature and the governor, no later than February first,\nan annual report describing the effectiveness of the twenty-first\ncentury schools program, recommending changes in the program and\nrecommending changes in laws and regulations affecting all schools based\nupon the experiences of twenty-first century schools. The first such\nreport shall be submitted no later than June first, nineteen hundred\nninety-five and shall detail the steps undertaken to implement the\nprovisions of this section. Each such annual report shall list and\nsummarize all exemptions requested, granted and denied pursuant to\nparagraph b of subdivision three of this section. The commissioner may,\nacting either upon complaint or upon his or her own initiative, revoke a\nschool's designation as a twenty-first century school for good cause\nshown and after affording the school an opportunity to present arguments\nagainst revocation.\n 6. Twenty-first century schools committee. There is hereby established\nthe twenty-first century schools committee. The committee shall advise\nand assist the commissioner in developing guidelines to implement the\nprovisions of this section, selecting schools for designation as\ntwenty-first century schools, reviewing the performance of such schools,\nevaluating the overall effectiveness of the twenty-first century schools\nprogram and recommending changes to the program and to laws, rules and\nregulations affecting all schools based upon the experiences of\ntwenty-first century schools. The committee shall consist of thirteen\nmembers, appointed by the governor, of whom three shall be appointed on\nthe recommendation of the commissioner, two on the recommendation of the\ntemporary president of the senate, two on the recommendation of the\nspeaker of the assembly, one on the recommendation of the minority\nleader of the senate and one on the recommendation of the minority\nleader of the assembly. The commissioner shall designate the chair. The\nappointing authorities shall attempt to assure that the membership of\nthe committee includes representatives of parents, teachers, school\nboard members and school administrators as well as representatives of\ntheir own institutions.\n