Senate Bill S7398

                                BILL NUMBER:S7398

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the education law, in relation to the superintendent of the New
York city school district

PURPOSE:
To ensure that the education commissioner cannot issue a waiver
allowing an unqualified individual to be appointed to the position of
chancellor of the New York City school district.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This bill amends section 3003 of the education law by adding a new
subdivision 6. The new subdivision 6 would bar the education
commissioner from issuing a waiver from the qualifications required
for a person to serve as the superintendent or chancellor of the NYC
school district.

EXISTING LAW:
Under current law, a superintendent of a school district must have
completed sixty semester hours in graduate courses approved by the
commissioner, and must have completed three years of teaching
experience satisfactory to the commissioner in public or non-public
schools.
Furthermore, the candidate for superintendent must have successfully
              

(1) completed a New York State program (or its equivalent if out of
state) leading to a professional certificate as a school district
leader in the educational leadership service, or (2) performed on the
New York State assessment for school district leadership.

When a candidate lacks those educational or experiential requirements,
the commissioner of education may nonetheless issue a
superintendent's certificate for that candidate. The commissioner is
empowered to grant an exception (waiver) to the education or
experience requirements if he finds that the candidate has
"exceptional training and experience" which are the "substantial
equivalent of such requirements."

Although the commissioner's regulations clearly state that the request
for the professional certificate must come from the board, there is a
strong argument that the mayoral control statute presumes that the
authority to request a waiver would rest with the Mayor.

JUSTIFICATION:
This legislation will ensure that only qualified professionals in the
education field are appointed to the position of
Chancellor/Superintendent of the New York City school district, the
largest public school district in the State of New York. Under
current law, these qualifications can be waived, resulting in
disastrous consequences for school children when major

education-related decisions are made by unqualified individuals. By
prohibiting waivers and thus removing mayoral control over the
selection of the chancellor, we can ensure that the leader of NYC
schools is truly qualified to work in the education system.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.