BILL NUMBER:S4963

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the education law, in relation to
providing loan forgiveness for agriculture educators

PURPOSE:

To provide loan forgiveness for agriculture educators and promote the
teaching and study of agricultural education

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the education law by adding a new section 679-h to
provide the New York State Agriculture Educators Loan Forgiveness
Incentive Program. This section defines agricultural educator and
provides the purpose, eligibility, and awards associated with the
program.

Section 2 provides the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:

Agricultural education is a systematic program of instruction
available to students desiring to learn about the science, business,
and technology of plant and animal production, and about the
environmental and natural resources systems. Agricultural education
              

first became a part of the public education system in 1917 when the
U.S. Congress passed the Smith-Hughes Act.

There are approximately 1,000,000 agricultural education students in
the nation who are taught by nearly 12,000 secondary and two-year
postsecondary teachers. It is estimated that the contact hours of
in-school instruction in and about agriculture exceed 10 million
annually. School-based agricultural education in the United States
consists of three closely related components, including: (1)
classroom/laboratory instruction (2) experiential learning/education
(3) leadership development. The interaction of these three components
helps to ensure students' career success or continuation with higher
education related to agriscience and/or agribusiness following high
school graduation.

Organized instruction is the classroom and laboratory component of
agricultural education. This instruction may be carried out in a
classroom, laboratory, greenhouse, or outdoor setting. Classroom and
laboratory instruction include units based on natural and social
sciences such as environmental science, agribusiness, natural
resources, aquaculture, food science and safety, animal and plant
sciences, entrepreneurship, and many other areas. However students
enrolled in these courses have the unique opportunity to apply their
core content concepts in an agriculturally related context. For
example, when using the STEM model, a student learning about hydrogen
and covalent bonding in chemistry is able to apply these concepts when
examining the chemistry of food processing. By enhancing their core
content knowledge base with agriculture, students gain the real-world
experiences that enhance college and career readiness.


Agricultural education prepares students for successful careers and a
lifetime of informed choices in the global agriculture, food, fiber,
and natural resources systems. However, The National Association of
Agricultural Educators believes that there are not enough agriculture
teachers to meet the current demand. By providing loan forgiveness to
agriculture educators New York can help to combat this deficiency.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.