Email issued on June 14, 2007

Dear Administrator:
This email is being sent to those private preschool and school age providers who have submitted the Private School Teacher Certification Funds survey as announce in the November 2006 memorandum from James P. DeLorenzo. The 2006-07 NY state budget provides funding for certification for teachers in programs who provide special services or programs to preschool and school age students with disabilities.
Funds can only be used for the following two priority areas:
1. Tuition for course work leading to teacher certification and
2. Costs for test preparation programs for tests required for certification.
If you have had eligible expenses during the 2006-07 school year that meet that criteria please complete the attached expenditure report (instructions) and submit to RSU by July 13, 2007.
Also, complete the attached Final Expenditure Summary and Chief Administrator’s Certification.
Once RSU reviews and approves your expenditures SED’s Office of Fiscal Management Unit will send you a contract to sign and return. This contract will generate the payment process to your school.
The State Education Department will continue this program next year and will provide funds in a similar manner. Since your school has submitted the original survey you will automatically be part of the program for 2007-08 school year. This program will continue until the allotted money has been fully expended.
If you have any further questions please contact either Brian Zawistowski at (518) 486-4935 [bzawisto@mail.nysed.gov] or Peter LaPan at (518) 486-2905 [plapan@mail.nysed.gov].

1. How do we report the teacher certification expenditures on our Consolidated Fiscal Reports (CFR)?
   1. A - These funds should be reported in 9803 program cost center. They should not be included in any program cost center that a tuition rate is calculated.
2. How do we know how much of the $13 million allocation is available?
   1. A - For 2006-07 roughly $633,000 has been submitted for reimbursement and $559,000 has been tentatively approved. After the 2007-08 reimbursements a limit may be placed on a provider basis in order to ensure uniformity.
3. What if teachers are unsure of their plans for the 2007-08 school year?
   1. A - The expense projections need to be in sync with the teacher certification requirements for each teacher. The teacher plans and estimated expenses need to be communicated to the school for projection preparations. These projections will be what is reviewed and approved for the contract between the state and the school. If the actual expenses end up below the approved projections (approved contract amount) than the voucher payment process will go forward soon after the year is over. Otherwise the contract will have to be amended as mention in 1.3. below.

1. Can you provide clarifications on 2007-08 projections and funding process?
   1. A - We are looking for your teacher certification funding projections for 2007-08 and to be submitted on the forms provided. We will take the actual expenses from 2006-07 (for those who completed the survey and 06-07 funding forms) and the projections for 2007-08 and process contracts for the two years. After the contract approvals you will be able to submit vouchers for the 2006-07 funding.
   2. For 2007-08 you have a tentative approved amount. After the 2007-08 year is complete you will submit the actual expenditure report for 2007-08 and Executive Director Certification statement. RSU will review this and if the amount is below the already approved contract amount you will be notified to submit vouchers for payment of this amount. The contract approval process will already be complete.
   3. If the requested actual expenditures for 2007-08 are greater than the approved contract amount than contract will have to be amended and approved for payment.
   4. If for 2007-08 the funding and expenses are complete before the end of the year the actual expenditure report for 2007-08 and Executive Director Certification statement can be submitted before the end of the school year, June 30, 2008.

1. What are the reimbursement levels that will be allowed for each school?
1. A – Reimbursement levels will be reviewed on a teacher basis.
   1. For a school’s teachers that have attended graduate courses we will allow a maximum of :
      1. Outside NYC (SUNY Albany 2006-07 resident fees used as the parameter) - $288 per credit hour.
      2. NYC (CUNY 2006-07 resident fees used as the parameter) - $270 per credit hour.
   2. For a school’s teachers that have taken NYS teacher certification exams we will allow the state charged fee:
      1. Assessment of Teaching Skills-Performance - $145
      2. All other certification tests - $88
   3. For a school’s teachers that have taken test preparation courses we will allow a maximum of $300.

• What if a teacher is not properly certified in the subject area they are teaching at, can approved funds be use to help that teacher reach their certification in the subject area?
  • A – Yes funds can be reimbursed in order to have properly certified teachers according to their current assignments

• If we have Teaching Assistants who are taking courses and have taken tests required to obtain teacher certification so they will be eligible for a promotion to teaching status, can they be included?
  • A – No, The person must be functioning as a teacher in a teacher assignment in order to be included when calculating the allowable funds. This program was established to financially assist the schools to support their non-certified teachers.

• The financial forms refers to "Instructor Name", is this what is intended?
• A - No, the form should say "Teachers Name"

• Is there any flexibility in the due date for submission of the required documents?
• A - We expect aherence to timelines.

• Is there specific information about what the results of completing the expense report will be (25, 50, or 100% funding)? 100% funding seems to be implied. Is that an accurate interpretation?
• A - We will be establishing a per teacher allowable (maximum) amount based on whether they are taking courses or taking certification exams. We hope to post and announce this next week (7/2/07).

• Will future funding-eligible rounds include allowances for other schools that did not complete the initial survey to apply?
• A - Yes

• Members are planning for the 2007-08 school year and have asked if more detailed information will be forthcoming prior to the upcoming school year/soon?
• A - Yes, we plan on explaining the process and distributing the forms in August.
  

• Should we use the fee per credit hour charged by the university or the actual
  amount reimbursed to the teacher if less?
• A - We're looking for the school's expenses not the teacher's expenses thus report to us the amount reimbursed the teacher.

• Must the teacher have taken courses during the 06-07 school year
  and become certified
  during this same period of time in order to be eilgible for funds? What
  if courses have been taken during 06-07 but the individual will not be
  certified until the 07-08 school year?
• A - The school's reimbursement must be made or accrued during the 2006-07 year for courses taken during the 2006-07 year. The teacher does not have to become certified during either year but must be on a legitimate quest to do so.
  

• Can I include coursework expenses for a teacher incurred prior to 7/1/06 (Spring 06), when the test prep expenses for that teacher were incurred during 0607?
• A - As long as the school's expenses are made during the 2006-07 school year, prior to June 30, 2007.
  

• We have a number of different employees seeking certification
  1. We have several with initial certifications
  2. We also have some provisional employees seeking permanent certification. May the funds be used for both cases , covering tuition, books, test fees,
  etc.?
• A - No, the funds for 2006-07 is for teachers who have no certification. An initial and provisional certifications are a level of certification thus they do not qualify for 2006-07 funds.
  
  

• If we had no teachers seeking certification in 2006-07 should we respond in any way to the 2006-07 forms?
• A - Please respond with an email or letter stating your intentions and whether you plan to seek funds in 2007-08. We will be issuing 2007-08 forms and instruction sometime in late August. Knowing that you do not plan to seek funds in 2006-07 will save us from following up with for no response.

• The financial reporting instructions refer to undergraduate courses, should this not be graduate courses?
• A - Yes, we mistakenly referred to undergraduates and the understanding is many of these employees have their Bachelors degrees and are working to become certified with graduate work.

• Is this funding only for when the school reimburses the staff employee or can it be applied to when the employee spent their own money to become certified.
• A - This teacher certification program is only to reimburse the school after they have shown through their financial reporting that they have in fact reimbursed the teacher employee for course work or certification tests they have completed.

• Can a teacher that is working towards a masters in school supervision be eligible for this funding? This masters will be a requirement for a position in our private school that serves preschool students with disabilities.
• A - No, this funding is for teachers working to get their certification in special education or in a subject area.
  

• Will there be any Teacher Certification Funds for Preschools?
• A - Yes, this program is for private preschool and school age programs as noted in the Jim Delorenzo memo.
  

• Is there an identified pool of $$ that I know I can draw against for teachers who need coursework and/or test or we are all accessing the same pool but no school specific allocation line?
• A - We will establish a per teacher maximum based on SUNY graduate credit hour fees and the test fees established by SED. No allocated pool of dollars has been assigned to each school. The per-teacher maximums will be established soon and posted on this webpage.

Update Date: December 11, 2006

• The survey wants answers as of December 31, 2005 yet many questions refer to currently employed teachers. Should we answer as of December 31, 2005 or who we currently employ?
  A - Responses to the questions should refer to the December 31, 2005 staffing list prepared by the school and those teachers on the list still currently employed..

• What does the survey consider as fully certified as in question 1b? We have teachers who are provisional, initially or permanently certified.
  A - The survey is directed at those who do not have a certification. An initial certificate is considered a certification even though it is not complete. Additional funds maybe available in the next phase of this initiative if funds are still available. For information on teacher certifications please see SED's WebPages located at: http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/certificate/

• Why are job codes 215 Supervising Teachers and job code 224 Teachers-Substitutes not included?
  A - Someone who is a Supervising Teacher should already be certified or they should not be a supervisor. Teacher-Substitutes usually are not on the payroll therefore they would not be included in this survey.

• Our breakdown of teachers and their status is very different between December 31 of 2005 and December of 2006.  Will any awards given be limited to those staff reported on the survey as of December 2005?

A- No, the awards can be used for any teachers currently employed by the school.  The December 2005 basis is being used so everyone completes the survey on the same point in time.  Also that is the most recent set of tax forms a school would have.

• What if the NYS Income Tax ATT_45 form is not available due to using an electronic payroll company?
  A - You will have to contact your contracted payroll company for the information. This information is required.
• Do we require the full social security number on the form?
  A - Yes we require this number in order to determine the certification status of the highlighted teachers using SED's Teacher Certification database.
• Do we require all the school's employees be listed or can the report be limited to just those school age and preschool program teachers this initiative is intended for?
  A - The report can be limited to all the teachers employed at the school, certified or not certified.

• What if we have corrections to our data that was already submitted?
  A - If you have corrections, the printout saved from your submission should be marked with corrections and then faxed to the Rate Setting Unit at (518) 486-3606.