Section 3004-A. National board for professional teaching standards certification grant program

1.  Notwithstanding   any   inconsistent  provision  of  law,  the commissioner shall establish the Albert Shanker
  national board for professional teaching standards  certification  grant
  program, to be used by the department to defray any costs incurred by an
  eligible  teacher,  as that term is described in subdivision two of this
  section and his or her sponsoring school district, where  such  eligible
  teacher  seeks  national board certification from the national board for
  professional teacher standards.
    2. As used in this section, "eligible teacher" shall mean a  New  York
  state tenured public school teacher who:
    (a) is currently teaching in New York state;
    (b) has graduated from an accredited college or university; and
    (c) holds a valid New York state teaching certificate.
    3.  Under  the  provisions  of  this section and subject to the filing
  requirement described in subdivision four of this section, a grant in an
  amount of up to two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) shall be made
  available from  the  Albert  Shanker  national  board  for  professional
  teaching  standards certification grant program to each eligible teacher
  to defray the expenses  of  certification  by  the  national  board  for
  professional  teaching  standards.  Such  sum  may  include  the  direct
  reimbursement by the department to  the  eligible  teacher's  sponsoring
  school district from the total grant award to cover the cost of hiring a
  substitute teacher for up to three days or the duration of such eligible
  teacher's approved leave, whichever is less.
    4.   The  commissioner  shall  be  responsible  for  promulgating  any
  regulations necessary to effectuate  the  provisions  of  this  section,
  including:
    (a)  establishing within the department an application form and filing
  deadline requirements to be utilized by eligible teachers  applying  for
  the  Albert  Shanker  national board for professional teaching standards
  grant program;
    (b) establishing a mechanism for processing and approving applications
  within the department;
    (c) establishing a mechanism to  allocate  grant  awards  to  approved
  eligible teachers; and
    (d)  establishing a mechanism to reimburse sponsoring school districts
  for up to three days of approved leave as described in subdivision three
  of this section.
    5. An eligible teacher for whom the state  pays  a  participation  fee
  shall  be  liable  for  repayment of the grant to the department if such
  eligible teacher:
    (a) does not complete the process; or
    (b) completes the process, but does not teach  in  a  New  York  state
  public  school for at least one full year after achieving national board
  for professional teaching standards certification.
    6. Repayment of the grant is not required:
    (a) if the certification process is not completed or if  the  eligible
  teacher  fails to teach for one full year after completion due to his or
  her death or disability or some other extenuating circumstances  as  may
  be recognized by the board of regents; or
    (b) if the eligible teacher completes the process but does not achieve
  certification.