Bill Text: NY S04438 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Directs the commissioner of education for the state of New York to revamp the structure of school districts statewide creating one school district per county; and to repeal various provisions of the education law relating thereto.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO EDUCATION [S04438 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S04438-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          4438
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                     March 11, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
        AN ACT directing the commissioner of education for the state of New York
          to revamp the structure of school  districts  statewide  creating  one
          school  district  per  county; and to repeal various provisions of the
          education law relating thereto
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.    Legislative  findings  and declaration. The legislature
     2  hereby finds and declares that New York  state  spends  more  money  per
     3  student  than  any  other state in the nation, but ranks thirty-ninth in
     4  high school graduation rates. Only seventy-three percent of  New  York's
     5  students  graduate  from  high  school and only thirty-seven percent are
     6  college ready. The legislature finds that  New  York  students  are  not
     7  adequately  prepared  to  compete in the global economy and that changes
     8  must be made to the education system in order to reverse  these  statis-
     9  tics and prepare students to compete in the global economy. The legisla-
    10  ture  also  finds  and  declares that New York has struggled for several
    11  decades with the ongoing process of  reorganizing  our  school  district
    12  system  in  a  way  that  provides a solution to the negative effects of
    13  declining school enrollment, broadens the scope  of  program  offerings,
    14  facilitates  optimum class scheduling, increases professional resources,
    15  and alleviates heavy tax burdens. The legislature therefore directs  the
    16  commissioner of education to reorganize the school districts in a manner
    17  that  adequately  addresses  the  shortcomings  of the current education
    18  system and prepares each and every student to excel  in  today's  global
    19  economy.
    20    §  2.  The  commissioner of the New York state department of education
    21  shall establish and implement a new  school  district  system  statewide
    22  consisting  of  one  school  district  per county in each of the state's
    23  sixty-two counties.  The  resulting  sixty-two  school  districts  shall
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10390-01-9
        S. 4438                             2
     1  service  only  the needs of students residing in such county.  Provided,
     2  however, that any school district located in a city with a population of
     3  one million or more shall be exempt from the provisions of this act.
     4    § 3. Within one year of the effective date of this act the commission-
     5  er  of  the New York state department of education shall submit a report
     6  proposing implementing legislation to effect and fund the  consolidation
     7  of  school  districts  as  proposed  in  this  act. Such report shall be
     8  provided to the governor, the speaker of  the  assembly,  the  temporary
     9  president of the senate, the assembly minority leader, the senate minor-
    10  ity  leader  and  the chairpersons and ranking members of the senate and
    11  assembly committees on education.
    12    § 4. Article 33 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
    13    § 5. Article 35 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
    14    § 6. Article 37 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
    15    § 7. Article 39 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
    16    § 8. Article 51 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
    17    § 9. Article 52 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
    18    § 10. Article 53 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
    19    § 11. This act shall take effect on the three hundred sixty-fifth  day
    20  after it shall have become a law.