STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2628 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 22, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. LIU -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to culturally responsive teaching The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Legislative finding. The legislature finds and declares 2 that: 3 1. Culture is essential to learning; 4 2. Culture plays a role not only in communicating and receiving infor- 5 mation, but also in shaping the thinking process of groups and individ- 6 uals; 7 3. A pedagogy that acknowledges, responds to, and celebrates fundamen- 8 tal cultures offers full, equitable access to education for pupils from 9 all cultures; 10 4. Culturally responsive teaching is a major civilizing influence on 11 the development of a humane, responsible and informed citizenry, able to 12 adjust to and grow in a rapidly changing world. Culturally responsive 13 teaching can substantiate a claim to the prevention of human and social 14 costs to the state. Culturally responsive teaching develops the social 15 consciousness of students to better handle the world of prejudice and 16 racism. Culturally responsive teaching provides students with the back- 17 ground in social studies and humanities so that they will function 18 successfully and tolerantly in a participatory democracy and a multicul- 19 tural nation and world. Culturally responsive teaching incorporates 20 multicultural information, books, and other educational resources; and 21 5. It is recognized that students in public elementary and secondary 22 schools can only reach the levels of performance expected under the 23 provisions of this part with parental participation in the education 24 process. It is therefore, the policy of this state to provide culturally 25 responsive services for young children and their families. Culturally EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD05980-01-5

S. 2628 2 1 responsive services for young children and their families should reflect 2 the importance of integration and diversity to the maximum extent possi- 3 ble in regard to characteristics such as race, economics, sex, creed, 4 capability and cultural differences. Services should be designed to 5 support and strengthen the family and be planned in consideration of 6 existing family values, with the primary concern being the welfare of 7 the child. 8 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 3039 to read 9 as follows: 10 § 3039. Professional development in culturally responsive instruction 11 which focuses on understanding and responding to the diverse experiences 12 of students and parents, developing culturally responsive lesson plans, 13 and undoing implicit bias. 1. The department shall establish at least 14 four professional development programs in culturally responsive instruc- 15 tion annually, and provide access to those sessions on its website. 16 2. Each superintendent of a school district shall develop, and present 17 to the local board of education for adoption, an accountability plan 18 ensuring that the district is complying with culturally responsive 19 instruction requirements established by the department. The accountabil- 20 ity plan shall include the amount of culturally responsive teaching 21 professional development instruction offered by the district, the number 22 of teacher participants, and a teacher evaluation survey that measures 23 the effectiveness of the professional development instruction offered. 24 Each school board shall present an annual report to the department stat- 25 ing the effectiveness of such program in professional development 26 instruction by presenting an analysis of the teacher participant surveys 27 which measures their confidence in being culturally responsive, and 28 student surveys which measures the cultural responsiveness of their 29 teachers. 30 3. Each school district's accountability plan shall be effective for a 31 period of three years, and shall be updated on or before July first of 32 each year. 33 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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