Teacher Certification Questions & Answers

A PDF version of these questions and answers can be found below:

LAST UPDATED: 02/09/2023

Below please find the questions with answers that have been asked about Private School Teacher Certification Funds and answered since December 26, 2017.

Question Answer
1. 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? 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. These are teachers who have a bachelor's degree and will be working to get their master's degree in teaching.
2. Are School Building Leader (SBL) certifications reimbursable under the grant? No, they are not.
3. How should costs be reported if a course begins in one grant year and finishes in another grant year? When a course has a start date in a given grant year, and an end date that falls in the following grant year, the course is to be claimed in the grant year the course began.
4. Is there a cap for books and fees? Also, how should these expenses be reported? Yes, $100 per every 3 credits may be reimbursed for misc. expenses such as text books and fees. These expenses must be reported under the tuition section, but separately from the tuition (fee per credit hour) expense.
5. Is there a cap for test prep expenses? No, currently it is at our discretion.
6. What is included in test prep? This includes practice tests, practice courses, and practice books.
7. If a class or test is funded and the teacher does not receive a passing grade will it be funded a second time when they re-take it? No, it will only be funded once.
8. Can providers email the required reports? All reports (budget and final) must be mailed to us with original signatures. If you'd like to email a scanned copy for us to review for accuracy and completeness before you send the original that is encouraged, but we must also receive a copy with original signatures and dates by snail mail.
9. Are certification fees reimbursable? They are, and they should be reported under the test fees section..
10. If a teacher was approved for an award on the budget report but no longer works at the school when the final reports are due can they still be included? No, only teachers who are employed at the time the final reports are submitted may participate.
11. If there are teachers on the budget reports who are approved but then they either aren't employed by the school or decided not to take classes/tests when the final reports are completed can expenses for other teachers be substituted? Yes, we understand that sometimes plans change for teachers and teachers that were on the budget reports don't end up taking classes/tests and teachers that were not included end up taking classes/tests so they can be substituted and will be considered for qualifying expenses up to the approval amount.
12. If an award is received for a teacher that no longer works for the school what do we do? If the expense has been incurred by the school then the award belongs to the school. If the teacher did not receive payment but was still employed at the time the final reports were approved, then every effort should be made by the school to send payment to the teacher. If the teacher cannot be located and sent the payment, then the funds should be returned to NYSED. Please contact RSU for instructions.
13. What if we have corrections to our data that was already submitted? If you have corrections, the printout saved from your submission should be marked with corrections and then emailed to Shaakima Smith at Shaakima.Smith@nysed.gov.

The table below provides the questions with answers from the August 28, 2007, Q&A about Private School Teacher Certification Funds.

Question Answer
1. How do we report the teacher certification expenditures on our Consolidated Fiscal Reports (CFR)? 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. What if teachers are unsure of their plans for the school year? 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.

The table below provides the questions with answers from the July 5, 2007, Q&A about Private School Teacher Certification Funds.

Question Answer
1. What if a teacher is not properly certified in the subject area they are teaching at, can approved funds be used to help that teacher reach their certification in the subject area? Yes funds can be reimbursed in order to have properly certified teachers according to their current assignments.
2. 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? 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 table below provides the questions with answers from the June 27, 2007, Q&A about Private School Teacher Certification Funds.

Question Answer
1. The financial forms refer to "Instructor Name", is this what is intended? No, the form should say "Teachers Name".
2. Is there any flexibility in the due date for submission of the required documents? We expect adherence to timelines.
3. 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? 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.
4. 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. No, this funding is for teachers working to get their certification in special education or in a subject area.
5. Will there be any Teacher Certification Funds for Preschools? Yes, this program is for private preschool and school age programs as noted in the Jim Delorenzo memo.
6. 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? 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.

The table below provides the questions with answers about Private School Teacher Certification Funds, updated December 11, 2006.

Question Answer
1. Why are job codes 215 Supervising Teachers and job code 224 Teachers-Substitutes not included? 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.
2. What if the NYS Income Tax ATT_45 form is not available due to using an electronic payroll company? You will have to contact your contracted payroll company for the information. This information is required.
3. Do we require the full social security number on the form? Yes, we require this number in order to determine the certification status of the highlighted teachers using SED's Teacher Certification database.
4. 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? The report can be limited to all the teachers employed at the school, certified or not certified.

The email below was 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 the STAC and Medicaid Unit at 518-474-7116.

Last Updated: February 13, 2023