Assembly Bill A6897

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6897
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              March 18, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. PRETLOW -- read once and referred to the Commit-
   tee on Education
 
 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.
   § 2. Section 3641 of the education law is  amended  by  adding  a  new
 subdivision 18 to read as follows:

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD07835-01-5
 A. 6897                             2
              

 
   18.  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 DOLLAR-FOR-
 DOLLAR MATCH SHALL BE REQUIRED OF ANY  ELIGIBLE  PROVIDER  APPLYING  FOR
 SUCH GRANTS.
 A. 6897                             3
 
   (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  TWENTY-
 NINE  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.
   § 3. This act shall take effect  on the first of July next  succeeding
 the date on which it shall have become a law.