What's happening
This bill extends mayoral control of New York City schools, increases the statewide charter school cap, and creates an education affordability tax credit.
Why it matters
Extends Mayoral Control of NYC Schools. By extending the expiration date for mayoral control until 2022, the bill maintains the current governance structure, meaning the mayor will continue to have significant authority over school policy, budgeting, and leadership appointments. This impacts how quickly and cohesively NYC public schools can implement reforms or respond to citywide priorities, and influences accountability for educational outcomes.
Significantly Expands Charter Schools. The bill raises the statewide charter school cap from 460 to 510 and allows for unused, revoked, or surrendered charters to be reissued without counting against the cap. It also changes how many charters NYC can receive annually, and relaxes some teacher certification requirements for high-performing charter schools. These provisions could lead to more charter schools opening, especially outside NYC, intensifying competition with traditional public schools for students and funding, and potentially altering the educational landscape in underserved areas.
Creates a Wide-Reaching Education Affordability Tax Credit. The new tax credit offers substantial financial incentives (up to $875,000 per taxpayer) for donations to public and nonpublic (private and parochial) schools, educational scholarship organizations, and school improvement organizations. By channeling private funds into both public and private education, the bill could increase resources for schools and scholarships, while raising concerns about public funding being indirectly diverted to private and religious schools.
Introduces New Reporting, Oversight, and Equity Mechanisms. Detailed rules are established for the application, approval, and reporting of tax credits and scholarship distributions—including income limits for scholarship recipients, strict recordkeeping, annual public reporting, and revocation processes for organizations that fail to comply. These mechanisms aim to ensure transparency and prevent abuse, but also add administrative complexity that could shape how easily organizations and families can benefit from the program.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Extend NYC School Construction Authority
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to education
- Returned to senate
- Died in assembly
- Referred to education
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 37–25
- Ordered to third reading cal.1508
- Referred to rules
Full text
14 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6569
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
June 4, 2017
Introduced by Sen. FLANAGAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to charter schools; to amend chapter 345 of the laws of 2009, amending the education law and other laws relating to the New York city board of education, chancellor, community councils and community… Show allHide
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to charter schools; to amend chapter 345 of the laws of 2009, amending the education law and other laws relating to the New York city board of education, chancellor, community councils and community superintendents, in relation to the effectiveness thereof; to amend chapter 91 of the laws of 2002, amending the education law and other laws relating to reorganization of the New York city school construction authority, board of education and community boards, in relation to the effectiveness thereof; and to amend the tax law and the education law, in relation to implementing the education affordability tax credit
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 12 of section 17 of chapter 345 of the laws of 2009, amending the education law and other laws relating to the New York city board of education, chancellor, community councils and community superintendents, as amended by section 2 of part O of chapter 73 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
12. any provision in sections one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten and eleven of this act not otherwise set to expire pursuant to section 34 of chapter 91 of the laws of 2002, as amended, or section 17 of chapter 123 of the laws of 2003, as amended, shall expire and be deemed repealed June 30, [2017] 2022.
§ 1-a. Section 34 of chapter 91 of the laws of 2002, amending the education law and other laws relating to reorganization of the New York city school construction authority, board of education and community boards, as amended by section 1 of part O of chapter 73 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
§ 34. This act shall take effect July 1, 2002; provided, that sections one through twenty, twenty-four, and twenty-six through thirty of this
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13015-06-7
S. 6569 2
act shall expire and be deemed repealed June 30, [2017] 2022 provided, further, that notwithstanding any provision of article 5 of the general construction law, on June 30, [2017] 2022 the provisions of subdivisions 3, 5, and 8, paragraph b of subdivision 13, subdivision 14, paragraphs b, d, and e of subdivision 15, and subdivisions 17 and 21 of section 2554 of the education law as repealed by section three of this act, subdivision 1 of section 2590-b of the education law as repealed by section six of this act, paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 2590-b of the education law as repealed by section seven of this act, section 2590-c of the education law as repealed by section eight of this act, paragraph c of subdivision 2 of section 2590-d of the education law as repealed by section twenty-six of this act, subdivision 1 of section 2590-e of the education law as repealed by section twenty-seven of this act, subdivision 28 of section 2590-h of the education law as repealed by section twenty-eight of this act, subdivision 30 of section 2590-h of the education law as repealed by section twenty-nine of this act, subdivision 30-a of section 2590-h of the education law as repealed by section thirty of this act shall be revived and be read as such provisions existed in law on the date immediately preceding the effective date of this act; provided, however, that sections seven and eight of this act shall take effect on November 30, 2003; provided further that the amendments to subdivision 25 of section 2554 of the education law made by section two of this act shall be subject to the expiration and reversion of such subdivision pursuant to section 12 of chapter 147 of the laws of 2001, as amended, when upon such date the provisions of section four of this act shall take effect.
§ 2. Subdivision 9 of section 2852 of the education law, as amended by section 2 of subpart A of part B of chapter 20 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
9. The total number of charters issued pursuant to this article statewide shall not exceed [four hundred sixty] five hundred ten. (a) All charters issued on or after July first, two thousand fifteen and counted toward the numerical limits established by this subdivision shall be issued by the board of regents upon application directly to the board of regents or on the recommendation of the board of trustees of the state university of New York pursuant to a competitive process in accordance with subdivision nine-a of this section; provided that a city of one million or more shall receive no more than forty percent of the remaining charters available in each year. [Fifty of such charters issued on or after July first, two thousand fifteen, and no more, shall be granted to a charter for a school to be located in a city having a population of one million or more.] The failure of any body to issue the regulations authorized pursuant to this article shall not affect the authority of a charter entity to propose a charter to the board of regents or the board of regents' authority to grant such charter. A conversion of an existing public school to a charter school, or the renewal or extension of a charter approved by any charter entity, shall not be counted toward the numerical limits established by this subdivision.
(a-1) A charter school whose charter has been surrendered, revoked or terminated, including a charter that has not been renewed by action of its charter entity, shall not be counted toward the numerical limits established by this subdivision and instead shall be returned to the pool it was originally issued from and may be reissued by the board of regents either upon application directly to the board of regents or on the recommendation of the board of trustees of the state university of
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New York pursuant to a competitive process in accordance with subdivision nine-a of this section.
(b) A charter that has been surrendered, revoked or terminated [on or before July first, two thousand fifteen], including a charter that has not been renewed by action of its charter entity, may be reissued pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision by the board of regents either upon application directly to the board of regents or on the recommendation of the board of trustees of the state university of New York pursuant to a competitive process in accordance with subdivision nine-a of this section. Provided that such reissuance shall not be counted toward the statewide numerical limit established by this subdivision[, and provided further that no more than twenty-two charters may be reissued pursuant to this paragraph].
(c) For purposes of determining the total number of charters issued within the numerical limits established by this subdivision, the approval date of the charter entity shall be the determining factor.
(d) Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary, any charter authorized to be issued by chapter fifty-seven of the laws of two thousand seven effective July first, two thousand seven, and that remains unissued as of July first, two thousand fifteen, may be issued pursuant to the provisions of law applicable to a charter authorized to be issued by such chapter in effect as of June fifteenth, two thousand fifteen[; provided however that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to increase the numerical limit applicable to a city having a population of one million or more as provided in paragraph (a) of this subdivision, as amended by a chapter of the laws of two thousand fifteen which added this paragraph].
§ 3. Paragraph (a-1) of subdivision 3 of section 2854 of the education law, as amended by section 1 of subpart A of part B of chapter 20 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
(a-1) The board of trustees of a charter school shall employ and contract with necessary teachers, administrators and other school personnel. Such teachers shall be certified in accordance with the requirements applicable to other public schools; provided, however, that teachers employed by a high-performing public charter school with a rigorous teacher training program will have three school years from their employment start date before they must satisfy certification requirements; and a charter school may employ as teachers (i) uncertified teachers with at least three years of elementary, middle or secondary classroom teaching experience; (ii) tenured or tenure track college faculty; (iii) individuals with two years of satisfactory experience through the Teach for America program; and (iv) individuals who possess exceptional business, professional, artistic, athletic, or military experience, provided, however, that such teachers described in clauses (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv) of this paragraph shall not in total comprise more than the sum of: (A) thirty per centum of the teaching staff of a charter school, or five teachers, whichever is [less] greater; plus (B) five teachers of mathematics, science, computer science, technology, or career and technical education; plus (C) five additional teachers. A teacher certified or otherwise approved by the commissioner shall not be included in the numerical limits established by the preceding sentence.
§ 3-a. Subdivision 5 of section 2851 of the education law, as added by section 2 of part P of chapter 73 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
5. Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the contrary [for a period of one year from the effective date of this
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subdivision], a charter school approved by a charter entity listed in subdivision three of this section may apply at any time [during this period] to another charter entity, defined in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of subdivision three of this section to request such other charter entity to oversee and supervise such charter school. All standards and requirements established in the original charter agreement shall remain in effect until the scheduled expiration of such charter agreement and provided however that all obligations of the previous charter entity to oversee and supervise a charter school shall terminate upon the transfer of authorization of such charter school to a new charter entity, as defined in subdivision five of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-two of this article, and the previous charter entity shall provide in a timely fashion information relevant to the charter as requested by such other charter entity. A charter school that seeks to change its charter entity must have met all other requirements of this article and cannot be in violation of any legal requirement, in probationary status, or slated for closure.
§ 4. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 44 to read as follows:
§ 44. Education affordability tax credit. (a) Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the same definition as provided for in article twenty-five of the education law:
"Authorized contribution";
"Contribution";
"Educational program";
"Educational scholarship organization";
"Eligible pupil";
"Local education fund";
"Nonpublic school";
"Public education entity";
"Public school";
"Qualified contribution";
"Qualified educator";
"Qualified school";
"Scholarship"; and
"School improvement organization".
(b) Allowance of credit. A taxpayer subject to tax under article nine-A or twenty-two of this chapter shall be allowed credit against such tax, pursuant to the provisions referenced in subdivision (l) of this section, with respect to qualified contributions made during the taxable year.
(c) Amount of credit. For taxpayers whose federal adjusted gross income is less than three hundred thousand dollars for the taxable year during which such taxpayer made at least one qualified contribution, the amount of the credit shall be ninety percent of the taxpayer's total qualified contributions, capped at eight hundred seventy-five thousand dollars. For taxpayers whose federal adjusted gross income is greater than or equal to three hundred thousand dollars for the taxable year during which such taxpayer made at least one qualified contribution, the amount of credit shall be seventy-five percent of the taxpayer's total qualified contributions, capped at eight hundred seventy-five thousand dollars. A taxpayer that is a partner in a partnership, member of a limited liability company or shareholder in an S corporation shall be allowed to claim its pro rata share of the credit earned by the partnership, limited liability company or S corporation, provided that such a
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taxpayer shall not claim credit in excess of eight hundred seventy-five thousand dollars.
(d) Information to be posted on the department's website. The commissioner shall maintain on the department's website a running total of the amount of available credit for which taxpayers may apply pursuant to this section. Such running total shall be updated on a daily basis. Additionally, the commissioner shall maintain on the department's website a list of the school improvement organizations, local education funds and educational scholarship organizations approved to issue certificates of receipt pursuant to article twenty-five of the education law. The commissioner shall also maintain on the department's website a list of public education entities, school improvement organizations, local education funds and educational scholarship organizations whose approval to issue certificates of receipt has been revoked along with the date of revocation.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to charter schools; to amend chapter 345 of the laws of 2009, amending the education law and other laws relating to the New York city board of education, chancellor, community councils and community superintendents, in relation to the effectiveness thereof; to amend chapter 91 of the laws of 2002, amending the education law and other laws relating to reorganization of the New York city school construction authority, board of education and community boards, in relation to the effectiveness thereof; and to amend the tax law and the education law, in relation to implementing the education affordability tax credit
Purpose
This bill establishes a five-year extension of mayoral control of New York City schools, and creates additional procedures to ensure charter schools have flexibility in staffing schools with qualified teachers and operating within the statutory cap on the number of charter schools authorized in New York State.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 relates to mayoral control of the New York City school system and provides a five year extender to June 30, 2022.
Read the full memo (967 words)
Section 1-a relates to the New York City school system's board of education and community board governance system in Education Law Article 52-A and provides a five year extender to June 30, 2022.
Section 2 allows up to 40% of the remaining amount of charter schools under the statewide cap to be opened in New York City, expands the statutory cap on the number of charter schools authorized to operate in New York State from 460 to 510, and returns charters that were previously granted but not currently being used to the pool of available charters.
Section 3 allows charter schools with teacher training programs to employ teachers for a period of three years, after which time they must obtain certification to continue employment.
Section 3-a makes permanent the ability for charter schools to switch the authorizing entity for that school.
Sections 4-12 establish the education affordability tax credit. The education affordability tax credit is available to individuals and Article 9-A taxpayers that make qualified contributions to public education entities, school improvement organizations, local education funds, and/or educational scholarship organizations. To be eligible to claim the tax credit, a taxpayer must, prior to making a contribution for which the taxpayer will seek a credit, apply to the Department of Taxation and Finance ("DTF") for a contribution authorization certificate. If there is credit available. DTF will issue a contribution authorization certificate to the taxpayer and provide notice of the issuance of the certificate to the entity, public school, or public school district named in the certificate. The contribution authorization certificate will list the amount of the authorized contribution and the entity, public school or public school district for which the contribution is authorized. Taxpayers have until the date listed on their contribution authorization certificate, which cannot be later than December 31 of the calendar year, to make the contribution to the named entity, public school, or public school district. Upon receipt of a timely authorized contribution, the recipient will issue a certificate of receipt to the taxpayer. If a contribution is not timely received, the recipient named in the contribution authorization certificate will notify DTF. The amount of such authorized contribution will be added to the maximum amount of credit available (credit cap) in the immediately following calendar year.
Section 13 contains a severability clause.
Section 14 contains the effective date.
Justification
The current system of mayoral control in New York City is set to expire June 30, 2017. Extending mayoral control for five years while it is a big step for the legislature to relinquish oversight, especially for schools with the greatest need for assistance, it could provide substantial stability, while coupled with substantive legislative changes that will ensure transparency, and ensure that all sectors of the educational system are provided for during the pendency of the extension.
Charter schools help to provide quality access to education, not only in New York City, but in areas across the State. Adding flexibility in how many charters can operate under the statutory cap on the number of charters will increase access to charter schools, which are held accountable by the charter renewal process, and will allow students the opportunity to attend some of the most successful and highest achieving schools in the State.
At a time when the state is considering ways of reducing the tax burden for New York State residents and educators are seeking an expansion of financial resources, charitable giving for educational purposes should be stimulated. Permitting public education entities such as school districts and individual public schools, including charter schools, and non-profits that promote the arts, civics, and pre-k instruction, to accept and receive voluntary cash contributions will lessen the need for additional tax revenue, encouraging voluntary support for education without prejudice for or against any state-sponsored educational enterprise. The bill promotes the state's interest in providing the highest quality education to all children in the state.
The tax credit does not constitute public aid to non-public sectarian institutions. Additionally, permitting school personnel to claim a credit for the purchase of classroom instructional materials and supplies will ensure a wider availability of such materials and supplies for all students.
By allowing an expansion in the number of charters in New York City to use up to 40% of the remaining schools under the statutory cap; slightly expanding the statutory cap; and making sure that each charter has the ability to pick its regulatory overseer; for the next five years, students will have a better chance of selecting the type of school in which they can learn.
Legislative history
New Bill.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately
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