STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7088 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY March 20, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. BICHOTTE HERMELYN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Economic Development AN ACT to amend the New York state urban development corporation act, in relation to creating a grant program for school districts, insti- tutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, other public agencies and businesses to prepare students for postsecondary STEM education and careers; and making an appropriation therefor The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 16-m of section 1 of chapter 174 2 of the laws of 1968, constituting the New York state urban development 3 corporation act, is amended by adding a new paragraph (p) to read as 4 follows: 5 (p) Assistance to effectively prepare students for postsecondary 6 education and careers in science and computer science, technology, engi- 7 neering and mathematics (STEM) by providing STEM grants. 8 (i) The chair of the corporation, in cooperation with the commissioner 9 of the state education department, shall encourage school districts and 10 other qualified applicants to establish new STEM programs and expand 11 existing STEM programs, and shall establish criteria for the development 12 and submission of grant applications and proposals and for the selection 13 of recipients of STEM grants, as provided in this paragraph. 14 (ii) Any school district or other qualified applicant that applies for 15 funding under this paragraph, shall work with relevant state and local 16 educational agencies to develop comprehensive plans for identifying, 17 developing, testing, and implementing evidence-based practices to 18 provide STEM learning opportunities for students and support the imple- 19 mentation of such plans by employing a wide range of strategies, includ- 20 ing the recruitment, preparation, and professional development of effec- 21 tive STEM educators. Qualified applicants include school districts, 22 institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, other public EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10986-01-5
A. 7088 2 1 agencies and businesses providing educational services to prepare 2 students for postsecondary STEM education and careers. 3 (iii) STEM grants shall be awarded on a competitive basis. First 4 priority shall be given to high need school districts and high need 5 schools. Grants shall be awarded based on factors including, but not 6 limited to, the following: 7 (A) measures of school district need; 8 (B) measures of the need of students to be served by each applying 9 school districts; 10 (C) the school district's proposal to target the highest need schools 11 and students; 12 (D) the extent to which the district's proposal would prioritize funds 13 to maximize the total number of eligible children in the district served 14 in STEM programs; and 15 (E) the quality of the proposal. 16 (iv) Recipients of STEM grants shall use the funds to: 17 (A) promote and develop in-school and out-of-school curricular tools 18 and professional development for STEM educators at the elementary school 19 and secondary school levels; 20 (B) provide instruction and mentoring services to new teachers in STEM 21 subjects; 22 (C) promote and develop rigorous undergraduate pre-service teacher 23 programs at institutions of higher education that emphasize STEM 24 contact; 25 (D) support the participation of elementary school and secondary 26 school students in competitions, out-of-school activities, and field 27 experiences related to STEM subjects; 28 (E) develop STEM related education and workforce training programs in 29 secondary schools and community colleges to reflect the needs of the 30 local community; and 31 (F) create after school programs to promote STEM education and 32 careers. 33 (v) Grants shall be made for a recurrent period of five years, 34 commencing with the two thousand twenty-five--two thousand twenty-six 35 school year. At the end of the five year period, the chair of the corpo- 36 ration shall evaluate the effectiveness of the STEM grants based on 37 criteria developed in cooperation with the commissioner of the state 38 education department. 39 (vi) This grant program will not mandate a testing or evaluative model 40 that is separate from current state testing and evaluative requirements 41 for primary and secondary students. 42 § 2. The sum of fifty million dollars ($50,000,000), or so much there- 43 of as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the urban development 44 corporation out of the moneys in the state treasury in the general fund 45 to the credit of the empire state economic development fund established 46 pursuant to section 16-m of the New York state urban development corpo- 47 ration act not otherwise appropriated, and made immediately available, 48 for the purpose of STEM grants and carrying out the provisions of this 49 act. Funds for STEM grants shall be distributed to each qualifying 50 school district in installments upon successful implementation of each 51 phase of the school district's approved proposal. No school district 52 shall receive more than forty percent of the total STEM grant allo- 53 cation. Within a school district, each individual STEM site shall be 54 limited to a maximum grant of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000). 55 Any portion of funding that is not awarded in a particular school year 56 shall remain available for awards in subsequent school years; provided
A. 7088 3 1 that in the event that the chair of the urban development corporation 2 elects to discontinue the program after the initial five year period 3 described in section one of this act, and remaining funding shall be 4 returned to the state treasury to the credit of the general fund. 5 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amend- 6 ments to subdivision 1 of section 16-m of section 1 of chapter 174 of 7 the laws of 1968, constituting the New York state urban development 8 corporation act made by section one of this act, shall not affect the 9 expiration of such section and shall be deemed to expire therewith.