§ 3006-a. Registration and continuing teacher and leader education requirements for holders of professional certificates in the classroom teaching service, holders of level III teaching assistant certificates, holders of professional certificates in the educational leadership service. 1. a. Commencing with the two thousand sixteen–two thousand seventeen school year, each holder of a professional certificate in the classroom teaching service, holder of a level III teaching assistant certificate and holder of a professional certificate in the educational leadership service shall be required to register every five years with the department to practice in the state and shall comply with the provisions of the continuing teacher and leader education requirements set forth in this section.

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b. Any of the certified individuals described in paragraph a of this subdivision who do not satisfy the continuing teacher and leader education requirements shall not practice until they have met such requirements and have been issued a registration or conditional registration certificate.

c. In accordance with the intent of this section, adjustments to the continuing teacher and leader education requirement may be granted by the department for reasons of health certified by a health care provider, for extended active duty with armed forces of the United States, or for other good cause acceptable to the department which may prevent compliance.

d. Any certificate holder who is not practicing as a teacher, teaching assistant or educational leader in a school district, board of cooperative educational services, or nonpublic school that is providing instruction pursuant to subdivision two of section thirty-two hundred four of this title in this state shall be exempt from the continuing teacher and leader education requirement upon the filing of a written statement with the department declaring such status. Any holder of a professional certificate in the classroom teaching service, holder of a level III teaching assistant certificate and holder of a professional certificate in the educational leadership service who resumes practice during the five-year registration period shall notify the department prior to resuming practice and shall meet such continuing teacher and leader education requirements as prescribed in regulations of the commissioner.

2. a. During each five-year registration period beginning on or after July first, two thousand sixteen, an applicant for registration shall successfully complete a minimum of one hundred hours of continuing teacher and leader education, as defined by the commissioner. The department shall issue rigorous standards for courses, programs, and activities, that shall qualify as continuing teacher and leader education pursuant to this section. For purposes of this section, a peer review teacher, or a principal acting as an independent trained evaluator, conducting a classroom observation as part of the teacher evaluation system pursuant to section three thousand twelve-d of this article may credit such time towards his or her continuing teacher and leader effectiveness requirements.

b. Nothing in this section shall limit the ability of local school districts to agree pursuant to collective bargaining to additional hours of professional development or continuing teacher or leader education above the minimum requirements set forth in this section.

c. A certified individual who has not satisfied the continuing teacher and leader education requirements shall not be issued a five-year registration certificate by the department and shall not practice unless and until a registration or conditional registration certificate is issued as provided in subdivision three of this section. For purposes of this subdivision, "continuing teacher and leader education requirements" shall mean activities designed to improve the teacher or leader's pedagogical and/or leadership skills, targeted at improving student performance, including but not limited to formal continuing teacher and leader education activities. Such activities shall promote the professionalization of teaching and be closely aligned to district goals for student performance which meet the standards prescribed by regulations of the commissioner. To fulfill the continuing teacher and leader education requirement, programs must be taken from sponsors approved by the department, which shall include but not be limited to school districts, pursuant to the regulations of the commissioner.

3. The department, in its discretion, may issue a conditional registration to a teacher, teaching assistant or educational leader in a school district, board of cooperative educational services, or nonpublic school that is providing instruction pursuant to subdivision two of section thirty-two hundred four of this title in this state who fails to meet the continuing teacher and leader education requirements established in subdivision two of this section but who agrees to make up any deficiencies and take any additional continuing teacher and leader education which the department may require. The duration of such conditional registration shall be determined by the department. Any holder of a professional certificate in the classroom teaching service, holder of a level III teaching assistant certificate or holder of a professional certificate in the educational leadership service and any other certified individual required by the commissioner to register every five years who is notified of the denial of registration for failure to submit evidence, satisfactory to the department, of required continuing teacher and leader education and who practices without such registration, shall be subject to moral character review under subdivision seven of section three hundred five of this chapter.