STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 119 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL, RIVERA, KELLES -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring teachers and library media specialists to complete professional development related to media literacy education The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 3006-a of the education law, as 2 added by section 2 of subpart C of part EE of chapter 56 of the laws of 3 2015, is amended and a new subdivision 4 is added to read as follows: 4 2. a. During each five-year registration period beginning on or after 5 July first, two thousand sixteen, an applicant for registration shall 6 successfully complete a minimum of one hundred hours of continuing 7 teacher and leader education, as defined by the commissioner. The 8 department shall issue rigorous standards for courses, programs, and 9 activities, that shall qualify as continuing teacher and leader educa- 10 tion pursuant to this section. For purposes of this section, a peer 11 review teacher, or a principal acting as an independent trained evalu- 12 ator, conducting a classroom observation as part of the teacher evalu- 13 ation system pursuant to section three thousand twelve-d of this article 14 may credit such time towards [his] such peer review teacher's or [her] 15 principal's continuing teacher and leader effectiveness requirements. 16 b. During each five-year registration period beginning on or after a 17 date which shall be determined by the commissioner, any teacher who is 18 an applicant for registration shall successfully complete a minimum of 19 five hours of professional development related to media literacy educa- 20 tion and any library media specialist shall complete a minimum of 21 fifteen hours of professional development related to media literacy 22 education, as defined by the commissioner. Such professional develop- 23 ment related to media literacy education shall be counted toward the one EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00606-01-5
A. 119 2 1 hundred hours of continuing teacher and leader education required by 2 paragraph a of this subdivision. The commissioner shall require that: 3 (i) professional development related to media literacy education 4 incorporates the principles and practices of the department's culturally 5 responsive-sustaining framework; 6 (ii) professional development related to media literacy education is 7 provided by or in coordination with a library media specialist or an 8 employee from a school district's library system in every school 9 district; 10 (iii) library media specialists in every school district receive 11 specific training in how to provide professional development related to 12 media literacy education to teachers of all grade levels and subject 13 areas contained in such library media specialists' schools, which shall 14 include instruction on how to effectively integrate media literacy 15 education into such teachers' curricula; and 16 (iv) the department creates and provides model curricula, teaching and 17 professional development resources on its website, which incorporate 18 media literacy education. 19 c. Nothing in this section shall limit the ability of local school 20 districts to agree pursuant to collective bargaining to additional hours 21 of professional development or continuing teacher or leader education 22 above the minimum requirements set forth in this section. 23 [c.] d. A certified individual who has not satisfied the continuing 24 teacher and leader education requirements shall not be issued a five- 25 year registration certificate by the department and shall not practice 26 unless and until a registration or conditional registration certificate 27 is issued as provided in subdivision three of this section. For purposes 28 of this subdivision, "continuing teacher and leader education require- 29 ments" shall mean activities designed to improve the teacher or leader's 30 pedagogical and/or leadership skills, targeted at improving student 31 performance, including but not limited to formal continuing teacher and 32 leader education activities. Such activities shall promote the profes- 33 sionalization of teaching and be closely aligned to district goals for 34 student performance which meet the standards prescribed by regulations 35 of the commissioner. To fulfill the continuing teacher and leader educa- 36 tion requirement, programs must be taken from sponsors approved by the 37 department, which shall include but not be limited to school districts, 38 pursuant to the regulations of the commissioner. 39 4. For the purposes of this section, "library media specialist" shall 40 mean an individual employed by a school district as a library media 41 specialist pursuant to 8 NYCRR 91.2. 42 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.