Relates to tenured teacher discipline

*Alter the selection process for hearing officers to provide for automatic appointment by the commissioner of education;

*Requires training to ensure that all hearing officers overseeing 3020-a hearings in New York State are experienced and familiar with New York State law;

*Eliminates the existing right to a 3 person panel in pedagogical incompetence cases;

*Requires that employees provide reciprocal discovery during the 3020-a disciplinary process;

*Requires that, employees cooperate in the investigatory process;

*Requires that all substantive motions and rulings be placed in the official record of the hearing;

*Establishes the Tenured Teachers and Administrators Disciplinary Review Panel, to hear initial appeals of hearing officer's decisions;

*Requires that all decisions be published;

*Establishes that decisions of the panel shall be presciently binding; and

*Alters the current standard for appeal of the review panel's decisions from section 75 to section 78 of the CPLR.

Section 3: Creates a new section of law: * To allow for the immediate termination of tenured teachers and administrators who have been convicted of felonies that affect the operation of a school district or upon the revocation of their certification of license;

* To allow districts the option to terminate tenured teachers and administrators who fail to receive their certification or license; and

* To allow employees subject to dismissal under this section 5 days to document that they are not the same individual referenced in the action triggering the dismissal.

Section 4: Establishes the Tenured Teachers and Administrators Disciplinary Review Panel.

Section 5: Establishes the effective date of the bill.

Justification

In New York State (excluding the City of New York which has an alternative disciplinary process) tenured teachers and administrators may only be disciplined under the provisions of section 3020-a of the Education Law. These provisions establish extensive administrative hearing procedures that must be followed before a school district can take any disciplinary action against any such tenured staff, These rights extend regardless of circumstance, therefore even individuals without proper professional certification and those who have been convicted of a crime are entitled to hearings before school districts may terminate their employment.

In order to address the prohibitive costs and shorten the duration of this process, this bill proposes much needed statutory reforms to this disciplinary process. Capping paid suspensions and empowering districts to immediately terminate, without a hearing, teachers and administrators who have already been convicted of certain crimes, who have lost their certification, or who have failed to obtain proper certification would help to control the most costly aspects of the process. Additionally, amending the law to provide for prompt selection of hearing officers to hear cases would immediately shorten the process by eliminating the delay inherent in waiting for a hearing officer "acceptable" to the two parties. Amending the current statutory timelines, which are currently ignored, but forcing adherence to them will help shorten hearings from the current statewide average of 520 days. Finally, requiring reciprocal discovery and mutual cooperation, prior to and during hearings, would also shorten the process and reduce costs.

With the high standards for school district performance accountability set by New York State and federal laws, undue delays and prohibitive costs must not be allowed to impede a district's ability to effectively and efficiently remove unfit or incompetent staff from schools.

Legislative history

New bill in the Senate. A.11337 of 2008 in the Assembly.

Fiscal implications

To be determined.

Effective date

Immediately.