Int. No. 1057-A

By Council Members Joseph, Ossé, Hanif, Narcisse, Brooks-Powers, Riley, Gutiérrez, Restler, Schulman, Nurse, Krishnan, Hudson, Louis, Rivera, Gennaro, Cabán, Banks, Brewer, Farías, Bottcher, Lee, Sanchez, Dinowitz and Ariola

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to student journalism programming in New York city public high schools

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Title 21-A of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new chapter 38 to read as follows:

CHAPTER 38

STUDENT JOURNALISM PROGRAMMING

§ 21-1009 Reporting on student journalism programming in high schools. a. Definitions. For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings:

High school. The term “high school” means a school within the school districts of the city of New York that contains any combination of grades from grade 9 through grade 12.

Journalism club. The term “journalism club” means a student organization overseen by a faculty advisor that primarily operates outside of school hours, with a focus on journalism, media production, broadcasting, or publishing.

Journalism course. The term “journalism course” means a credit-bearing class taught by an instructor during school hours to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to pursue a career in journalism and related fields such as media production, broadcasting or publishing.

Student publication. The term “student publication” means a printed or electronic publication produced by students that exhibits student work at least once per semester, is accessible to the student body, and is overseen by a faculty advisor.

b. By August 31 of each year, the chancellor shall submit to the mayor and the speaker of the council, and shall post conspicuously on the department’s website, an annual report regarding student journalism programming in high schools available during the previous school year.

c. For each high school, the annual report required by subdivision b of this section shall include the following information, as well as any additional information the department deems appropriate:

1. The number and name of journalism courses offered;

2. The number and percentage of students who completed a journalism course, disaggregated by:

(a) Grade level;

(b) Race or ethnicity;

(c) Gender;

(d) Special education status;

(e) Students in temporary housing and foster care;

(f) English language learner status; and

(g) Primary home language;

3. The number of instructors who teach a journalism course at the school, and if known, such number disaggregated by full time and part time staff;

4. The ratio of instructors who teach a journalism course at the school to students in the school;

5. The number of journalism clubs offered; and

6. The number, name, and format of student publications, including whether the student publication is available in print, electronically, or both and a uniform resource locator for any electronic version.

d. The report shall also include the following information, if known to the department:

1. The cost of offering journalism courses, including but not limited to:

(a) The cost of employing instructors to teach the journalism courses, disaggregated by full time and part time;

(b) The cost of materials and other administrative resources needed for the journalism courses; and

(c) The cost of offering journalism course-related field trips and other experiential opportunities;

2. The cost of offering journalism clubs, including but not limited to:

(a) The cost of employing full-time and part-time staff to serve as faculty advisors to the journalism clubs;

(b) The cost of materials and other administrative resources needed for the journalism clubs; and

(c) The cost of offering journalism club-related field trips and other experiential opportunities;

 3. The number and percentage of students who were a member of a journalism club, disaggregated by:

(a) Grade level;

(b) Race or ethnicity;

(c) Gender;

(d) Special education status;

(e) Students in temporary housing and foster care;

(f) English language learner status; and

(g) Primary home language;

4. The number of full-time and part-time staff serving as faculty advisor to a journalism club at the school, disaggregated by full time and part time;

5. The ratio of full-time staff serving as faculty advisor to a journalism club at the school to students in the club;

6. The ratio of full time instructors who teach a journalism course at the school to students in the school; and

7. The number and percentage of students who participated in a student publication, disaggregated by:

(a) Grade level;

(b) Race or ethnicity;

(c) Gender;

(d) Special education status;

(e) Students in temporary housing and foster care;

(f) English language learner status; and

(g) Primary home language.

e. The annual report required by subdivision b of this section shall include a data dictionary and must be disaggregated by community school district and borough.

f. Information required to be reported pursuant to this section may not be reported in a manner that would violate any applicable provision of federal, state, or local law relating to the privacy of student information or that would interfere with law enforcement investigations or otherwise conflict with the interests of law enforcement. If a category contains between 1 and 5 students, or contains an amount that would allow another category that contains between 1 and 5 students to be deduced, the number must be replaced with a symbol. A category that contains zero must be reported as zero, unless such reporting would violate any applicable provision of federal, state, or local law relating to the privacy of student information.

§ 21-1010 Distribution of information regarding student journalism programming. At the start of each school year, the chancellor shall ensure that each high school distributes to each student information on journalism clubs and student publications offered at such school and how to become a member of a journalism club, or participate in a student publication offered at such school. Distribution of such information to students may be in hard copy or electronic if distribution of other similar information occurs electronically. The chancellor shall also post such information conspicuously on the department’s website.

§ 2. This local law takes effect 60 days after it becomes law.

YN/NJF

LS #14043

2/05/2025 9:25 PM