S 6296: Relates to admission requirements for graduate-level teacher and educational leader programs.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6296 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE March 10, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to admission requirements for graduate-level teacher and educational leader programs The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 210-a of the education law, as separately amended 2 by chapters 620 and 626 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 § 210-a. Admission requirements for graduate-level teacher and educa- 5 tional leader programs. Each institution registered by the department 6 with graduate-level teacher and leader education programs shall adopt 7 rigorous selection criteria geared to predicting a candidate's academic 8 success in its program, including but not limited to, achievement of a 9 cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher in the candidate's 10 undergraduate program or deemed qualified by teacher education and 11 educational leader faculty to satisfy alternative criteria, including, 12 but not limited to, the following: 3.0 grade point average in the major 13 or in the last two years of college or in a graduate degree program or 14 graduate-level courses taken before matriculation into a graduate 15 program; or, strength of letters of recommendations from qualified indi- 16 viduals, number of languages spoken, strength of a personal interview 17 and quality of a writing sample. Each program may exempt up to fifty 18 percent of any incoming class of students from such selection criteria 19 set forth in this section based on a student's demonstration of poten- 20 tial to positively contribute to the teaching profession or other exten- 21 uating circumstances pursuant to the regulations of the commissioner. A 22 program shall report to the department the number of students admitted 23 pursuant to such exemption and the selection criteria used for such 24 exemptions. 25 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10436-01-5