Assembly Bill A10684

                                BILL NUMBER:A10684

TITLE OF BILL:
An  act to amend chapter 425 of the laws of 2002, amending the education
law relating to the  provision  of  supplemental  educational  services,
attendance  at  a  safe  public  school and the suspension of pupils who
bring a firearm to or possess a firearm at a school and to amend chapter
101 of the laws of 2003, amending the education law relating  to  imple-
mentation  of  the  No  Child  Left  Behind  Act of 2001, in relation to
extending the effectiveness thereof

PURPOSE OF THE BILL:
To keep New York in compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
(Public Law 107-110), which amended the Elementary and Secondary  Educa-
tion  Act  of 1965 (20 U.S.C.A § 6301, et. seq), by extending the effec-
tiveness of the provisions of the Education Law enacted to  comply  with
such federal law by one additional year.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF THE BILL:
Section 1 of the bill would amend § 4 of Chapter 425 of the Laws of 2002
to  extend  the  effectiveness of the provisions of such act relating to
supplemental educational services, unsafe school choice  and  compliance
with the Gun Free Schools Act until June 30, 2011.

Section 2 of the bill would amend § 5 of Chapter 101 of the Laws of 2003
to  extend  the  effectiveness of the provisions of such act relating to
              

the education of homeless children and the transfer of student discipli-
nary records until June 30, 2011.

Section 3 of the bill would be the effective date.

STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF THE BILL:
The Legislature in 2002 enacted interim legislation, Chapter 425 of  the
Laws  of  2002,  to  enable  the Department to provide the United States
Department  of  Education  (USED)  with  the  assurances  of  compliance
required  to secure Title I funds and other federal funding under the No
Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). These federal funds, which total in excess
of $1.76 billion annually, including more than $1.2 billion  in  funding
under  Title  I, Part A, are critical to the ability of school districts
and Title I charter schools with concentrations of students  in  poverty
to  meet  state  academic performance standards. Chapter 425 made amend-
ments to state law that were needed immediately to provide  the  Commis-
sioner  of  Education  with the authority to implement key provisions of
the NCLB, relating to: providing supplemental  educational  services  to
students in schools receiving Title I funds that have been identified as
schools  in need of improvement (SINI) for more than one year, providing
school choice to students who are victims of a violent criminal  offense
or  attend a school identified as persistently dangerous, and implement-
ing the provisions of the Gun Free Schools Act that generally require  a
minimum 1-year suspension and referral to the criminal justice system of
students who bring a firearm to school.

Chapter  101  of the Laws of 2003 extended the provisions of Chapter 425
until June 30, 2005, and made additional amendments to state law  relat-
ing  to  implementation  of  the NCLB that would also sunset on June 30,
2005. Chapter 129 of the Laws of 2005 extended the effectiveness of  the
provisions  of  both Chapter 425 and Chapter 101 by one year, until June
30, 2006.  The  provisions  of  both  chapters  subsequently  have  been
extended  by Chapter 153 of the Laws of 2006, Chapter 220 of the Laws of
2007, Chapter 126 of the Laws of 2008 and Chapter 158  of  the  Laws  of
2009, and would expire and be deemed repealed on June 30, 2010.

Chapter  101 conformed the definition of "homeless child" in paragraph a
of subdivision 1 of section 3209 of the Education Law to the  definition
of  "homeless  children  and  youths" contained in section 725(2) of the
McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements  Act  of  2001
(42  U.S.C.  §§  11431,  et.  seq.),  as amended in Title X of the NCLB.
Chapter 101 also added a new subdivision 2-a  to  section  3209  of  the
Education  Law  relating  to the requirement that each local educational
agency designate a local educational agency liaison for  homeless  chil-
dren   and   otherwise  comply  with  the  applicable  provisions  of
722(g)(3)-(7)  of  the  McKinney-Vento   Assistance   Act   (42   U.S.C.
11432(g)(3)-(7))  relating to the immediate enrollment of homeless chil-
dren, records of homeless children, dispute  resolution  procedures  and
comparable  services and coordination of services for homeless children.
Finally, Chapter 101 added a new subdivision 7 to § 3214 of  the  Educa-
tion Law to comply with the requirement of section 4155 of the NCLB that
states have a procedure in place to facilitate the transfer of discipli-
nary  records  (suspensions  and  expulsions)  to  any public or private
elementary or secondary school in which the student enrolls,  or  seeks,
intends or is instructed to enroll on a full-time or part-time basis.

If  the provisions of Chapter 425 of the Laws of 2002 and Chapter 101 of
the Laws of 2003 were allowed to expire, the  provisions  of  state  law
needed  to  fully  comply  with Title I and Title IV of the NCLB and the
McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act  would  no
longer  be  in place. Since certain of these requirements, such as those
in the Gun Free Schools Act, unsafe school choice and  the  transfer  of
disciplinary  records, are imposed as a condition of receiving all funds
under the NCLB, a lapse in these statutes would place all of New  York's
ESEA  fimds at risk of a federal disallowance.  ESEA funds, particularly
Title I, are of critical importance to  school  districts  with  concen-
trations  of  children  in  poverty,  such  as  the Big Five city school
districts. The flow of these funds cannot be allowed to be disrupted.  A
lapse  in  the provisions of New York law needed to implement the McKin-
ney-Vento Act relating to  the  education  of  homeless  children  would
expose  the  state  to  liability  in federal court. The State Education
Department has submitted separate  legislation  amending  Education  Law
§3209  relating  to the education of homeless children, but it is imper-
ative that the amendments made by Chapter 101 of the Laws of 2003 remain
in effect, as proposed in this bill.

The provisions of Chapter 425 of the Laws of 2002 and Chapter 101 of the
Laws of 2003 have now been extended  several  times,  most  recently  by

Chapter  158  of the Laws of 2009. At this juncture, an extension of the
provisions of state law implementing the  NCLB  is  appropriate,  rather
than  legislation  to make such provisions permanent. The Obama adminis-
tration  has  issued  a proposal to reauthorize NCLB, which Congress has
yet to consider. Actual reauthorization may  not  occur  until  2011  or
after. When the NCLB is reauthorized, conforming amendments may be need-
ed in state law that can be proposed as permanent law.

BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS OF THE BILL:
The  bill  would  not  result in any additional costs to the state or to
school districts. Enactment of this bill is necessary  to  preserve  New
York's funding under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965,
as amended, which totals approximately $1.76 billion annually.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None. This is a new proposal.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
The  bill would take effect immediately, except that if this act becomes
a law on or after June 30, 2010 it would take effect immediately and  be
deemed to have been in full force and effect on and after June 30, 2010.