STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1651 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 17, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, BRABENEC, ZEBROWSKI -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to annual teacher and principal evaluations The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 11 of section 3012-d of the education law, as 2 added by section 2 of subpart E of part EE of chapter 56 of the laws of 3 2015, is amended to read as follows: 4 11. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, no school 5 district shall be eligible for an apportionment of general support for 6 public schools from the funds appropriated for the [2015--2016] two 7 thousand twenty-seven--two thousand twenty-eight school year and any 8 year thereafter in excess of the amount apportioned to such school 9 district in the respective base year unless such school district has 10 submitted documentation that has been approved by the commissioner by 11 [November fifteenth, two thousand fifteen, or by] September first, two 12 thousand twenty-seven and September first of each subsequent year, 13 demonstrating that it has fully implemented the standards and procedures 14 for conducting annual teacher and principal evaluations of teachers and 15 principals in accordance with the requirements of this section and the 16 regulations issued by the commissioner. Provided further that any appor- 17 tionment withheld pursuant to this section shall not occur prior to 18 April first of the current year and shall not have any effect on the 19 base year calculation for use in the subsequent school year. For 20 purposes of this section, "base year" shall mean the base year as 21 defined in paragraph b of subdivision one of section thirty-six hundred 22 two of this chapter, and "current year" shall mean the current year as 23 defined in paragraph a of subdivision one of section thirty-six hundred 24 two of this chapter. In the event that a new evaluation system has not 25 been adopted in accordance with the recommendations of the committee of EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD04283-01-3
A. 1651 2 1 experts as set forth in subdivision sixteen of this section by September 2 first, two thousand twenty-seven, the date for compliance with the 3 provisions of subpart E of part EE of chapter fifty-six of the laws of 4 two thousand fifteen, shall be suspended until such time that a new 5 evaluation system is enacted. 6 § 2. Section 3012-d of the education law is amended by adding a new 7 subdivision 18 to read as follows: 8 18. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph a of subdivision 9 four and subdivision five of this section, or of any other law, rule or 10 regulation to the contrary, until the two thousand twenty-seven--two 11 thousand twenty-eight school year, or until such time that a new evalu- 12 ation system has been adopted in accordance with the provisions of 13 subdivision eleven of this section, whichever is later, school districts 14 and boards of cooperative educational services that have approved annual 15 professional performance review plans pursuant to this section shall 16 locally determine whether to utilize the student performance category as 17 part of its annual professional performance review evaluation system or 18 whether to base evaluations of classroom teachers and building princi- 19 pals solely upon the observation/school visit category ratings. 20 b. During the transition period, any student performance category 21 score and rating that is based upon grades three through eight English 22 language arts and mathematics state assessments and/or state-provided 23 growth scores on regents examinations shall be deemed advisory only. The 24 transition scores and ratings shall be used for the purposes of employ- 25 ment decisions set forth in subdivision one of this section and to 26 determine whether a teacher or principal improvement plan is required. 27 Transition scores and ratings shall be calculated based upon either 28 solely the observation/school visit category, or with an alternate SLO 29 to replace such impermissible assessment measures at the sole option of 30 each school district or board of cooperative educational services, as 31 determined locally. The board of regents shall amend section 30-3.17 of 32 its rules in accordance with the terms contained herein. 33 c. During the transition period, school districts and boards of coop- 34 erative educational services shall choose whether to continue to imple- 35 ment their approved annual professional performance review plans pursu- 36 ant to section three thousand twelve-c of this article or whether to 37 submit a compliant annual professional performance review plan pursuant 38 to this section and implement such plan upon its approval. 39 d. During this transition period when the state completes its transi- 40 tion to higher learning standards and aligns its assessments to such 41 standards, a committee of experts shall be formed to propose a new eval- 42 uation system for classroom teachers and building principals which shall 43 ultimately amend this section in accordance with the committee's recom- 44 mendations, subject to legislative adoption of the same, after which the 45 board of regents shall also amend its rules in accordance with the terms 46 thereof. The committee shall be comprised of experts in the field of 47 education selected by the regents. Should the committee members be 48 selected and accept service on a voluntary basis, then there shall be no 49 remuneration for such service, provided that if volunteers cannot be 50 found, the committee members shall be remunerated in accordance with 51 legislative appropriations that shall be made to fairly compensate such 52 members. 53 e. The committee of experts shall develop a research-based evaluation 54 model that is grounded in student learning and teacher/principal effec- 55 tiveness research. The committee shall recommend an array of permissible 56 assessments for use within this new annual professional performance
A. 1651 3 1 review system. The committee shall further recommend how to measure 2 growth in a meaningful way that fairly and accurately captures teacher 3 or principal contribution to the student learning process over an appro- 4 priate interval of time. The committee shall carefully examine all 5 provisions of the current evaluation system, including current weights 6 attributable to various measures, to recommend what components thereof 7 should be continued and what should be discarded. The committee shall 8 provide a report of its recommendations by no later than September 9 first, two thousand twenty-seven. 10 § 3. Section 3012-c of the education law is amended by adding a new 11 subdivision 11 to read as follows: 12 11. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule, or regulation to 13 the contrary, for the two thousand twenty-two--thousand twenty-three 14 through two thousand twenty-five--two thousand twenty-six school years, 15 or until such time that a new evaluation system has been adopted in 16 accordance with the provisions of subdivision eighteen of section three 17 thousand twelve-d of this article, whichever is later, school districts 18 and boards of cooperative educational services continuing to implement 19 their annual professional performance review plans pursuant to this 20 section shall provide transition scores and ratings that exclude any 21 student performance results based upon grades three through eight 22 English language arts and mathematics state assessments and/or state- 23 provided growth scores on regents examinations. Such transition scores 24 shall be a significant factor for employment decisions as set forth in 25 subdivision one of this section and to determine whether a teacher or 26 principal improvement plan shall be required pursuant to the provisions 27 of subdivision four of this section. The transition scores shall be 28 calculated in accordance with section 30-2.14 of the rules of the board 29 of regents, which shall be extended to remain effective during the tran- 30 sition period referenced hereinabove. The board of regents shall conform 31 section 30-2.14 to the provisions contained herein. 32 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.