New York Laws
Article 61 - Teachers and Supervisory and Administrative Staff
3020-B - Streamlined Removal Procedures for Teachers Rated Ineffective.

(ii) The department shall be authorized to monitor and investigate a
hearing officer's compliance with timelines pursuant to this section and
to any regulations promulgated by the department. The commissioner shall
annually inform all hearing officers who have heard cases pursuant to
this section during the preceding year that the time periods prescribed
in this section for conducting such hearings are to be strictly
followed. A record of continued failure to commence and complete
hearings within the time periods prescribed in this section shall be
considered grounds for the commissioner to exclude such individual from
the list of potential hearing officers to be considered for such
hearings.
(iii) Such rules shall not require compliance with technical rules of
evidence. Hearings shall be conducted by the hearing officer selected
pursuant to paragraph a of this subdivision and shall be public or
private at the discretion of the employee. The employee shall have a
reasonable opportunity to defend himself or herself and an opportunity
to testify on his or her own behalf. The employee shall not be required
to testify. Each party shall have the right to be represented by
counsel, to subpoena witnesses, and to cross-examine witnesses. All
testimony taken shall be under oath which the hearing officer is hereby
authorized to administer.
(iv) An accurate record of the proceedings shall be kept at the
expense of the department at each such hearing in accordance with the
regulations of the commissioner. A copy of the record of the hearings
shall, upon request, be furnished without charge to the employee and the
board of education involved. The department shall be authorized to
utilize any new technology or such other appropriate means to transcribe
or record such hearings in an accurate, reliable, efficient and
cost-effective manner without any charge to the employee or board of
education involved.
(v) Legal standard. (A) Two consecutive ineffective ratings pursuant
to annual professional performance reviews conducted in accordance with
the provisions of section three thousand twelve-c or three thousand
twelve-d of this article shall constitute prima facie evidence of
incompetence that can be overcome only by clear and convincing evidence
that the employee is not incompetent in light of all surrounding
circumstances, and if not successfully overcome, the finding, absent
extraordinary circumstances, shall be just cause for removal. (B) Three
consecutive ineffective ratings pursuant to annual professional
performance reviews conducted in accordance with the provisions of
section three thousand twelve-c or three thousand twelve-d of this
article shall constitute prima facie evidence of incompetence that can
be overcome only by clear and convincing evidence that the calculation
of one or more of the teacher's or principal's underlying components on
the annual professional performance reviews pursuant to section three
thousand twelve-c or three thousand twelve-d of this article was
fraudulent, and if not successfully overcome, the finding, absent
extraordinary circumstances, shall be just cause for removal. For
purposes of this subparagraph, fraud shall include mistaken identity.
4. Post hearing procedures. a. The hearing officer shall render a
written decision within ten days of the last day of the final hearing,
and shall forward a copy thereof to the commissioner who shall
immediately forward copies of the decision to the employee and to the
clerk or secretary of the employing board. The written decision shall
include the hearing officer's findings of fact on each charge, his or
her conclusions with regard to each charge based on said findings and

shall state whether the penalty of dismissal shall be taken by the
employing board.
b. Within fifteen days of receipt of the hearing officer's decision
the employing board shall implement the decision. If the employee is
acquitted he or she shall be restored to his or her position and the
charges expunged from the employment record.
5. Appeal. a. Not later than ten days after receipt of the hearing
officer's decision, the employee or the employing board may make an
application to the New York state supreme court to vacate or modify the
decision of the hearing officer pursuant to section seventy-five hundred
eleven of the civil practice law and rules. The court's review shall be
limited to the grounds set forth in such section. The hearing panel's
determination shall be deemed to be final for the purpose of such
proceeding.
b. In no case shall the filing or the pendency of an appeal delay the
implementation of the decision of the hearing officer.
6. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the use of
any evidence of performance to support charges of incompetence brought
pursuant to the provisions of section three thousand twenty-a of this
article.

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