S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                 5515--A

                       2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              May 16, 2013
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Education  --  recommitted
  to the Committee on Education in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8
  --  committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended
  and recommitted to said committee

AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation  to  establishing  family
  literacy  programs  for  economically disadvantaged families living in
  poverty areas or in areas served by low-performing public schools

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1. Legislative findings and declaration. It is the purpose of
this act to help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by  improving
the  educational  opportunities  for  New  York's low-income families by
funding family literacy programs that integrate early childhood develop-
ment, adult literacy or adult basic education, inter-generational learn-
ing and parenting education. The legislature finds and declares that the
provision of comprehensive  family  literacy  programs  will  help  many
parents  and  children  living  in  poverty  to improve their lives. The
legislature finds that, based on national  and  state  surveys,  persons
with  low  literacy  levels  are  most  likely to live in poverty and be
dependent on public assistance. The legislature  finds  that  a  compar-
atively  high  percentage  of  students  attending low-performing public
schools live in poverty or have parents with  limited  English  language
proficiency or poor literacy skills. The legislature finds that there is
inadequate  funding  to address the illiteracy problem in these communi-
ties.  Therefore, the legislature finds that it  is  necessary  to  fund
family literacy programs targeted to economically disadvantaged families
residing  in poverty areas or in attendance zones served by low-perform-
ing public schools to assist adults and children living in these  commu-
nities  to obtain the skills they need to lead successful and productive
lives.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD07595-02-4
              

S. 5515--A                          2

  S 2. Section 3641 of the education law is  amended  by  adding  a  new
subdivision 16 to read as follows:
  16.  FAMILY  LITERACY  GRANTS. WITHIN THE AMOUNT APPROPRIATED FOR SUCH
PURPOSE, THE COMMISSIONER IS DIRECTED AND AUTHORIZED  TO  AWARD  COMPET-
ITIVE MATCHING GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE PROVIDERS TO SUPPORT THE ESTABLISHMENT
OF  COMPREHENSIVE  FAMILY LITERACY PROGRAMS. IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR
SUCH A GRANT, A  GRANTEE  SHALL  PROVIDE  AN  APPROVED  FAMILY  LITERACY
PROGRAM TO ELIGIBLE FAMILIES.
  A. DEFINITIONS. AS USED IN THIS SECTION:
  (1)  "FAMILY  LITERACY  PROGRAM" MEANS SERVICES THAT ARE OF SUFFICIENT
INTENSITY IN TERMS OF HOURS AND OF SUFFICIENT DURATION TO MAKE SUSTAINA-
BLE CHANGES TO A FAMILY AND THAT INTEGRATE ALL OF THE  FOLLOWING  ACTIV-
ITIES:  INTERACTIVE  LITERACY ACTIVITIES BETWEEN PARENTS AND THEIR CHIL-
DREN; EDUCATION FOR PARENTS REGARDING HOW TO BE THE PRIMARY TEACHER  FOR
THEIR  CHILDREN  AND  FULL  PARTNERS IN THE EDUCATION OF THEIR CHILDREN;
PARENT LITERACY PREPARATION THAT LEADS TO ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY; AND
AN AGE-APPROPRIATE EDUCATION TO PREPARE CHILDREN FOR SUCCESS  IN  SCHOOL
AND LIFE EXPERIENCES.
  (2)  "ELIGIBLE  PARENT"  MEANS  AN  INDIVIDUAL WHO IS: (I) IN PARENTAL
RELATION TO AN ELIGIBLE CHILD, AS DEFINED BY THE COMMISSIONER, AND  (II)
IN NEED OF ADULT BASIC EDUCATION, AS DEFINED IN THIS SECTION.
  (3)  "ELIGIBLE  CHILD" MEANS A CHILD FROM BIRTH THROUGH AGE TWELVE WHO
HAS ONE OR MORE ELIGIBLE PARENTS.
  (4) "ELIGIBLE FAMILY" MEANS A FAMILY UNIT WHICH CONTAINS ONE  OR  MORE
ELIGIBLE  PARENTS  AND  ONE  OR  MORE ELIGIBLE CHILDREN AND WHOSE FAMILY
INCOME IS AT OR BELOW THE POVERTY LEVEL AND WHO RESIDES IN  AN  AREA  OF
POVERTY  OR  IN  AN  ATTENDANCE  ZONE  SERVED BY A LOW-PERFORMING PUBLIC
SCHOOL, BOTH AS DEFINED BY THE COMMISSIONER.
  (5) "ELIGIBLE PROVIDER" MEANS A SCHOOL DISTRICT OR A BOARD OF  COOPER-
ATIVE  EDUCATIONAL  SERVICES  IN  PARTNERSHIP  WITH A PUBLIC AGENCY OR A
PRIVATE, NONSECTARIAN NOT-FOR-PROFIT AGENCY.
  (6) "AUTHORIZED EXPENDITURES" MEANS THOSE EXPENSES RELATED TO INSTRUC-
TION, ASSESSMENT, COUNSELING, ADMINISTRATION, PURCHASE OF  INSTRUCTIONAL
MATERIALS,  PURCHASE  OR LEASE OF APPROVED EQUIPMENT, COST OF IN-SERVICE
TRAINING FOR PARTICIPATING INSTRUCTORS AND COUNSELORS, DESIGNED TO SERVE
ELIGIBLE FAMILIES AND OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE AND PROGRAM COSTS AS APPROVED
BY THE COMMISSIONER, OR FOR THE STATEWIDE EVALUATION OF FAMILY  LITERACY
PROGRAMS.
  (7)  "ADULT EDUCATION" MEANS SERVICES OR INSTRUCTION BELOW THE POSTSE-
CONDARY LEVEL FOR INDIVIDUALS:
  (A) WHO HAVE ATTAINED SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE;
  (B) WHO ARE NOT ENROLLED OR  REQUIRED  TO  BE  ENROLLED  IN  SECONDARY
SCHOOL UNDER LAW; AND
  (C)  WHO  (I)  LACK  SUFFICIENT MASTERY OF BASIC EDUCATIONAL SKILLS TO
ENABLE THE INDIVIDUALS TO FUNCTION EFFECTIVELY IN SOCIETY;
  (II) DO NOT HAVE A SECONDARY SCHOOL DIPLOMA OR ITS  RECOGNIZED  EQUIV-
ALENT, AND HAVE NOT ACHIEVED AN EQUIVALENT LEVEL OF EDUCATION; OR
  (III) ARE UNABLE TO SPEAK, READ, OR WRITE THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
  B.  AWARD  OF GRANTS. (1) ELIGIBLE PROVIDERS SHALL SUBMIT PROPOSALS TO
THE COMMISSIONER, INCLUDING PROGRAM BUDGETS, TO FUND AUTHORIZED EXPENDI-
TURES IN SUPPORT OF FAMILY LITERACY PROGRAMS DESIGNED TO SERVE  ELIGIBLE
FAMILIES.  SUCH PROPOSALS SHALL BE IN A FORM AND SHALL BE SUBMITTED ON A
SCHEDULE PRESCRIBED BY THE COMMISSIONER.
  (2) THE COMMISSIONER SHALL ADOPT REGULATIONS TO ESTABLISH  ELIGIBILITY
CRITERIA  AND  PROCEDURES  FOR THE AWARD OF SUCH GRANTS AND TO OTHERWISE
IMPLEMENT  THE   PROVISIONS   OF   THIS   SECTION,   PROVIDED   THAT   A

S. 5515--A                          3

DOLLAR-FOR-DOLLAR  MATCH  SHALL  BE  REQUIRED  OF  ANY ELIGIBLE PROVIDER
APPLYING FOR SUCH GRANTS.
  (3)  THE  COMMISSIONER SHALL AWARD GRANTS ON A COMPETITIVE BASIS USING
THE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA ESTABLISHED IN REGULATION AND  SHALL  DETERMINE
THE  AMOUNT  OF  EACH  GRANT AWARD, PROVIDED THAT A STATEWIDE EVALUATION
GRANT SHALL NOT EXCEED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS.
  C. PAYMENT SCHEDULE. SUBJECT TO THE AVAILABILITY  OF  FUNDS  FOR  SUCH
PURPOSE,  UPON  APPROVAL  OF A PROPOSAL BY THE COMMISSIONER, THE COMMIS-
SIONER SHALL PROVIDE FOR THE ADVANCE OF TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF THE GRANT
AMOUNT. THE REMAINING PORTION OF THE GRANT ALLOCATION SHALL BE  DISTRIB-
UTED  ACCORDING  TO  A  SCHEDULE  PRESCRIBED  BY  THE COMMISSIONER, UPON
SUBMISSION BY THE ELIGIBLE PROVIDER AND APPROVAL BY THE COMMISSIONER  OF
PROGRESS REPORTS AND A FINAL REPORT.
  D. ANNUAL REPORT. ON OR BEFORE MARCH FIFTEENTH, TWO THOUSAND SEVENTEEN
AND  BY  MARCH  FIRST  OF  EACH  YEAR THEREAFTER, THE COMMISSIONER SHALL
SUBMIT TO THE GOVERNOR, THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE,  AND  THE
SPEAKER  OF  THE  ASSEMBLY A REPORT DESCRIBING AND EVALUATING THE FAMILY
LITERACY PROGRAMS FUNDED PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION.
  S 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.