File #: Int 0691-2024    Version: * Name: Annual reporting on racial and gender disparities in STEM education for high school students
Type: Introduction Status: Committee
Committee: Committee on Women and Gender Equity
On agenda: 3/19/2024
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to annual reporting on racial and gender disparities in STEM education for high school students
Sponsors: Farah N. Louis, Althea V. Stevens, Yusef Salaam, Chi A. Ossé, James F. Gennaro, Kamillah Hanks, Oswald Feliz, Selvena N. Brooks-Powers, Christopher Marte, Jennifer Gutiérrez, Mercedes Narcisse, Amanda Farías, Kevin C. Riley, Tiffany Cabán, Alexa Avilés
Council Member Sponsors: 15
Summary: This bill would require the Department of Education (DOE) to conduct an annual poll of high school students about their experiences with STEM education that would include questions to help ascertain the reasons for any racial and gender disparities in enrollment and disenrollment in STEM classes. DOE would also be required to publish an annual report on STEM education and racial and gender disparities in STEM education for students in high school.
Indexes: Report Required
Attachments: 1. Summary of Int. No. 691, 2. Int. No. 691, 3. March 19, 2024 - Stated Meeting Agenda, 4. Hearing Transcript - Stated Meeting 3-19-24, 5. Minutes of the Stated Meeting - March 19, 2024

Int. No. 691

 

By Council Members Louis, Stevens, Salaam, Ossé, Gennaro, Hanks, Feliz, Brooks-Powers, Marte, Gutiérrez, Narcisse, Farías, Riley, Cabán and Avilés

 

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to annual reporting on racial and gender disparities in STEM education for high school students

 

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 9 to read as follows:

CHAPTER 9

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATH EDUCATION

§ 21-971 Reporting on science, technology, engineering, and math education. a. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

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

STEM. The term “STEM” means science, technology, engineering or math.

STEM class. The term “STEM class” means a class in a STEM subject offered by a high school or an extracurricular STEM program offered by the department that is available to high school students.

High school student. The term “high school student” means any pupil who does not have a high school diploma and who is enrolled in a high school as of September first of the school year being reported.

b. Annual poll. The department shall conduct an annual poll of high school students about their experiences with STEM education. Such poll shall include questions that are intended to ascertain the reasons for any racial and gender disparities in enrollment and disenrollment in STEM classes.

c. Annual STEM report. No later than January 1 of each year, the commissioner shall submit to the mayor and the speaker of the council and shall post conspicuously on the department’s website a report on STEM education for high school students.

1. The annual report shall include a table in which every row is a STEM class that was offered in the previous academic year. Each such row shall include the following information, set forth in separate columns:

(a) The school or site where the class was offered;

(b) Whether the STEM class is a class in a STEM subject offered by a high school or an extracurricular STEM program;

(c) Whether or not the STEM class is an advanced placement class;

(d) For each class for which applications are required for participation, the number of applications submitted, in total and disaggregated by race and gender;

(e) The number of high school students enrolled in the STEM class, in total and disaggregated by race and gender; and

(f) The retention and disenrollment rates of high school students in the STEM class, in total and disaggregated by race and gender.

2. Such annual report shall include a narrative description of the results of the poll conducted pursuant to subdivision b of this section, including, to the extent applicable, potential causes for low student STEM enrollment rates, decreasing student STEM enrollment rates, student disenrollment in STEM classes, and racial and gender disparities in enrollment, retention, and disenrollment in STEM classes.

3. No information that is otherwise required to be reported pursuant to this section shall 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 one and five students, or contains an amount that would allow another category that contains between one and five students to be deduced, the number shall be replaced with a symbol. A category that contains zero shall 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.

§ 2. This local law takes effect 120 days after it becomes law.

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LS #16276

3/13/2024 4:15PM