Education (School Choice)

Directs the commissioner of taxation and finance to help entities to elect to participate in the federal tax credit for elementary and secondary scholarships known as the Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025.

Establishes the school supplies education credit to allow a resident taxpayer who is a parent, guardian or other person, lawfully having the care, custody or control of a person who has not yet attained the age of nineteen years, and such person is enrolled in elementary or secondary education in any public school, nonpublic or charter school, board of cooperative educational services, or that receives home instruction, to have a credit equal to the cost of learning materials and school supplies purchased for education purposes during the taxable year, provided that such credit shall not exceed five hundred dollars per student and shall not exceed the total one thousand five hundred dollars per family.

This bill modifies state education law to improve notification and public hearing requirements for charter schools, particularly when a charter school is relocated to a new district. It requires charter entities to notify local school districts and nearby schools at key stages of the chartering process, including within 30 days of receiving an application and 45 days before approval. When a charter school moves to a different school district or community education council district in larger cities, the new district must also hold a public hearing to gather community input. The bill ensures school districts have a formal opportunity to comment on proposed charters before they are issued, revised, or renewed. These changes take effect 90 days after the law is enacted.

Directs the commissioner of taxation and finance to help entities to elect to participate in the federal tax credit for elementary and secondary scholarships known as the Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025.

Establishes open enrollment schools; provides that nonresidents of a district, if otherwise eligible to enroll into a public school of this state are entitled to enroll into the school or schools of another district or city if the nonresident district's board of education has adopted an open enrollment policy and enrolling the nonresident pupil is consistent with such policy.

Establishes the school supplies education credit to allow a resident taxpayer who is a parent, guardian or other person, lawfully having the care, custody or control of a person who has not yet attained the age of nineteen years, and such person is enrolled in elementary or secondary education in any public school, nonpublic or charter school, board of cooperative educational services, or that receives home instruction, to have a credit equal to the cost of learning materials and school supplies purchased for education purposes during the taxable year, provided that such credit shall not exceed five hundred dollars per student and shall not exceed the total one thousand five hundred dollars per family.

This bill requires school districts and charter schools to post copies of required ancillary agreements on their websites. These agreements are documents that students, parents, or guardians must sign as a condition of attending school. The bill also mandates that schools keep physical copies of these agreements on file in addition to posting them online. This change aims to increase transparency by making these documents publicly accessible to families and the community. The law will take effect 30 days after it is enacted.

This bill allows foster care case workers to directly apply for federal education and training vouchers on behalf of children in foster care. It amends New York State's social services law and New York City's administrative code to explicitly permit case workers to request these vouchers, which cover costs like tuition, books, and training programs under federal law. The change applies immediately to all children in foster care within New York State and NYC, streamlining access to educational support previously requiring parental application. The bill does not alter the voucher program itself but expands who can initiate the application process.

Enacts into law major components of legislation necessary to implement the state education, labor, housing and family assistance budget for the 2025-2026 state fiscal year; relates to contracts for excellence; relates to calculation of state aid to school districts; relates to a statewide dual enrollment policy; extends workforce education; relates to maximum class sizes for special education; extends chapter 82 of the laws of 1995; relates to foundation aid; provides for special apportionment for salary expenses; provides for special apportionment for public pension accruals; establishes a dual enrollment program; relates to universal pre-kindergarten and the Statewide universal full-day pre-kindergarten; extends provisions relating to paperwork reduction; relates to funding a program for work force education; extends provisions for monitors in the Hempstead union free school district, the Wyandanch union free school district and the Rochester city school district; relates to supplementary funding for the East Ramapo central school district; extends provisions authorizing the Roosevelt union free school district to finance deficits by the issuance of serial bonds; relates to requirements for zero emissions school buses; relates to certain instructional requirements for nonpublic schools (Part A); establishes a universal free school meals program; repeals provisions relating to the community eligibility provision state subsidy (Part B); relates to school policies regarding the use of internet-enabled devices during the school day (Part C); relates to scholarships awarded to part-time students by the New York state higher education services corporation; makes conforming changes; repeals provisions relating to tuition awards for part-time undergraduate students; relates to the New York state part-time scholarship award program (Part D); relates to authorizing the excelsior scholarship cover the cost of tuition in the state university of New York system (Part E); creates a New York opportunity promise scholarship for certain students who matriculated at a SUNY or CUNY community college, are over 25 years of age, have applied for certain tuition assistance programs, are eligible for resident tuition rates, and have not already obtained a postsecondary degree (Part F); provides for reduction of taxes pursuant to shelter rent (Part L); utilizes reserves in the mortgage insurance fund for the neighborhood preservation program, the rural preservation program, the rural rental assistance program, and the New York state supportive housing program (Part N); extends certain provisions relating to restructuring financing for residential school placements (Part O); authorizes child care support centers which are certified by the office of children and family services to place individuals as substitute caregivers at licensed and registered child care programs (Part P); relates to the provision of public assistance allowances to public assistance recipients upon the birth of a new child (Part Q); relates to increasing the standards of monthly need for aged, blind and disabled persons living in the community (Part R); relates to the effectiveness of provisions of law relating to the powers and duties of the commissioner of social services relating to the appointment of a temporary operator (Part S); relates to the healthy terminals act; amends certain definitions relating to covered airport location and covered airport workers; provides for the applicable standard rate as meaning the wage and benefit rates designated by the commissioner of labor (Part T); limits the amount of liquidated damages for certain frequency of pay violations (Part U); relates to civil penalties for violations of certain wage payment provisions (Part V); increases the civil penalties for violations of child labor laws (Part W); establishes a database for the employment of minors; allows for registration of minors and employers in such database; digitizes the process for minors to apply for employment (Part X); expands certain payments previously made to parents of deceased service members to spouses and minor children of such service members; authorizes the commissioner of veterans' affairs to conduct an outreach program for the purpose of informing the public and persons who may be eligible to receive an annuity (Part Y); requires submission of an annual report on the New York state museum (Part AA); decreases the length of the suspension period applicable to certain individuals who lose their jobs due to a labor dispute, such as a strike, and who seek to obtain unemployment insurance benefits (Part BB); requires social services for a city of a population of a million or more shall spend a certain amount of local funds for child care block grants (Part CC); establishes the crime of evading arrest by concealment of identity (Part DD); expands the merit time allowance and limited credit time allowance programs (Part EE); authorizes the commissioner of education to appoint a monitor to oversee the Mount Vernon city school district; requires such monitor to schedule three public hearings; requires the monitor and board of education to develop a proposed financial plan for the 2025--2026 school year and the four subsequent school years (Part FF); relates to the conversion to condominium ownership for the preservation of expiring affordable housing in the city of New York; provides expanded homeownership opportunities from the conversion of certain residential rental buildings to condominium status by property owners that commit to preserve the inventory of expiring affordable housing in the city of New York (Part GG); establishes the housing access voucher pilot program (Part HH); amends section 2 of chapter 868 of the laws of 1975 constituting the New York state financial emergency act for the city of New York, in relation to the effectiveness thereof (Part II); establishes the city of Buffalo parking authority; provides for its powers, duties and obligations (Part JJ); increases the maximum benefit rate for unemployment insurance (Part KK); amends provisions relating to discovery reform (Part LL); provides for the administration of certain funds and accounts related to the 2025-2026 budget; authorizes certain payments and transfers; relates to the administration of certain funds and accounts (Part MM).

Enacts into law major components of legislation necessary to implement the state education, labor, housing and family assistance budget for the 2025-2026 state fiscal year; relates to contracts for excellence; relates to calculation of state aid to school districts; relates to a statewide dual enrollment policy; extends workforce education; relates to maximum class sizes for special education; extends chapter 82 of the laws of 1995; relates to foundation aid; provides for special apportionment for salary expenses; provides for special apportionment for public pension accruals; establishes a dual enrollment program; relates to universal pre-kindergarten and the Statewide universal full-day pre-kindergarten; extends provisions relating to paperwork reduction; relates to funding a program for work force education; extends provisions for monitors in the Hempstead union free school district, the Wyandanch union free school district and the Rochester city school district; relates to supplementary funding for the East Ramapo central school district; extends provisions authorizing the Roosevelt union free school district to finance deficits by the issuance of serial bonds; relates to requirements for zero emissions school buses; relates to certain instructional requirements for nonpublic schools (Part A); establishes a universal free school meals program; repeals provisions relating to the community eligibility provision state subsidy (Part B); relates to school policies regarding the use of internet-enabled devices during the school day (Part C); relates to scholarships awarded to part-time students by the New York state higher education services corporation; makes conforming changes; repeals provisions relating to tuition awards for part-time undergraduate students; relates to the New York state part-time scholarship award program (Part D); relates to authorizing the excelsior scholarship cover the cost of tuition in the state university of New York system (Part E); creates a New York opportunity promise scholarship for certain students who matriculated at a SUNY or CUNY community college, are over 25 years of age, have applied for certain tuition assistance programs, are eligible for resident tuition rates, and have not already obtained a postsecondary degree (Part F); provides for reduction of taxes pursuant to shelter rent (Part L); utilizes reserves in the mortgage insurance fund for the neighborhood preservation program, the rural preservation program, the rural rental assistance program, and the New York state supportive housing program (Part N); extends certain provisions relating to restructuring financing for residential school placements (Part O); authorizes child care support centers which are certified by the office of children and family services to place individuals as substitute caregivers at licensed and registered child care programs (Part P); relates to the provision of public assistance allowances to public assistance recipients upon the birth of a new child (Part Q); relates to increasing the standards of monthly need for aged, blind and disabled persons living in the community (Part R); relates to the effectiveness of provisions of law relating to the powers and duties of the commissioner of social services relating to the appointment of a temporary operator (Part S); relates to the healthy terminals act; amends certain definitions relating to covered airport location and covered airport workers; provides for the applicable standard rate as meaning the wage and benefit rates designated by the commissioner of labor (Part T); limits the amount of liquidated damages for certain frequency of pay violations (Part U); relates to civil penalties for violations of certain wage payment provisions (Part V); increases the civil penalties for violations of child labor laws (Part W); establishes a database for the employment of minors; allows for registration of minors and employers in such database; digitizes the process for minors to apply for employment (Part X); expands certain payments previously made to parents of deceased service members to spouses and minor children of such service members; authorizes the commissioner of veterans' affairs to conduct an outreach program for the purpose of informing the public and persons who may be eligible to receive an annuity (Part Y); requires submission of an annual report on the New York state museum (Part AA); decreases the length of the suspension period applicable to certain individuals who lose their jobs due to a labor dispute, such as a strike, and who seek to obtain unemployment insurance benefits (Part BB); requires social services for a city of a population of a million or more shall spend a certain amount of local funds for child care block grants (Part CC); establishes the crime of evading arrest by concealment of identity (Part DD); expands the merit time allowance and limited credit time allowance programs (Part EE); authorizes the commissioner of education to appoint a monitor to oversee the Mount Vernon city school district; requires such monitor to schedule three public hearings; requires the monitor and board of education to develop a proposed financial plan for the 2025--2026 school year and the four subsequent school years (Part FF); relates to the conversion to condominium ownership for the preservation of expiring affordable housing in the city of New York; provides expanded homeownership opportunities from the conversion of certain residential rental buildings to condominium status by property owners that commit to preserve the inventory of expiring affordable housing in the city of New York (Part GG); establishes the housing access voucher pilot program (Part HH); amends section 2 of chapter 868 of the laws of 1975 constituting the New York state financial emergency act for the city of New York, in relation to the effectiveness thereof (Part II); establishes the city of Buffalo parking authority; provides for its powers, duties and obligations (Part JJ); increases the maximum benefit rate for unemployment insurance (Part KK); amends provisions relating to discovery reform (Part LL); provides for the administration of certain funds and accounts related to the 2025-2026 budget; authorizes certain payments and transfers; relates to the administration of certain funds and accounts (Part MM).