STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2164 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 14, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. RICHARDSON, BICHOTTE HERMELYN, EPSTEIN, DICKENS, TAYLOR, DE LA ROSA, BRABENEC, REYES, PICHARDO, DARLING -- Multi-Spon- sored by -- M. of A. CARROLL, COOK, GRIFFIN, HYNDMAN, SIMON -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing the New York state loan redemption program for certain public school teachers The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 679-k 2 to read as follows: 3 § 679-k. New York state loan redemption program for certain public 4 school teachers. 1. For the purposes of this section, the following 5 terms shall have the following meanings: 6 (a) "Eligible student loan expenses" means nine thousand dollars or 7 the outstanding balance of the principal and interest due on student 8 loans, whichever is less, used to cover the cost of attendance while 9 enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program at an institu- 10 tion of higher education. 11 (b) "Program participant" means a person who is initially hired by a 12 school district following the effective date of this section and who 13 meets the criteria of paragraph (a) of subdivision two of this section, 14 and who has executed a contract with the corporation for participation 15 in the loan redemption program. A program participant shall be a resi- 16 dent of New York state. 17 (c) "Public school" means a school located in New York, under collegi- 18 ate grade, which is operated by a school district or a charter school 19 established pursuant to article fifty-six of this chapter. 20 (d) "School district" means a common, union free, central, central 21 high school or city school district. 22 2. (a) There is established in the corporation a loan redemption 23 program for public school teachers who meet the following criteria: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD04773-01-1A. 2164 2 1 (i) graduated in the top twenty percent of the student's high school 2 graduating class or scored in the top twenty percent on the Scholastic 3 Assessment Test (SAT) or the American College Testing (ACT) examination; 4 (ii) graduated from an institution of higher education with a grade 5 point average of at least 3.5; and 6 (iii) teaches science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) 7 classes or special education. 8 The program shall provide for the redemption of the eligible student 9 loan expenses of a program participant following the third consecutive 10 year of full-time employment as a teacher of science, technology, engi- 11 neering, mathematics or special education in a public school. 12 (b) A program participant may redeem eligible student loan expenses 13 upon execution of a contract between the program participant and the 14 corporation. The contract shall specify the total amount of debt to be 15 redeemed by the state in return for service pursuant to paragraph (c) of 16 this subdivision. 17 (c) The redemption of loans under the loan redemption program shall 18 amount to nine thousand dollars or the outstanding balance of the prin- 19 cipal and interest of eligible student loan expenses, whichever is less, 20 following the third consecutive year of full-time employment as a teach- 21 er of science, technology, engineering, mathematics or special education 22 in a public school. A program participant shall submit to the corpo- 23 ration proof of eligible employment in a public school prior to redemp- 24 tion of loan indebtedness. A program participant is not required to 25 teach at the same public school for three consecutive years. 26 (d) A program participant who has entered into a redemption contract 27 with the corporation may nullify the contract by submitting written 28 notification to the corporation and assuming full responsibility for 29 repayment of principal and interest on the full amount of his or her 30 loans or that portion of the loans which has not been redeemed by the 31 state in return for fulfillment of the contract. 32 (e) In the case of the program participant's death or total and perma- 33 nent disability, the corporation shall nullify the service obligation of 34 the program participant. The nullification shall terminate the corpo- 35 ration's obligations under the loan redemption contract. If continued 36 enforcement of the contract results in extreme hardship, the corporation 37 may nullify or suspend the service obligation of the program partic- 38 ipant. 39 3. The corporation shall annually submit a report on the program to 40 the governor and to the legislature. The report shall be submitted no 41 later than August first of each year and shall include, but not be 42 limited to, information on the total number of participants receiving 43 loan redemption under the program, the impact of the program on attract- 44 ing teachers to teach STEM subjects or special education, and the number 45 of participants who withdrew from the program prior to the completion of 46 the required service. 47 4. The corporation, in consultation with the department, shall adopt 48 rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the purposes of this 49 section. 50 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.