NY S02543

Establishes the "Bilingual Teachers of Tomorrow" teacher recruitment and retention program to increase the supply of bilingual, certified teachers in school districts experiencing shortages.

Provides competitive grants to school districts with bilingual teacher shortages or low-performing schools with substantial limited English proficiency student populations, with no more than 60% of funds available to any single district.

Awards up to $10,000 annually to newly hired bilingual, certified teachers working in shortage areas, renewable for up to three additional years (maximum total of $40,000), to reimburse educational and certification costs.

Requires award recipients to commit to one year of service in a bilingual teacher shortage area per year of award received, with repayment obligations if service requirements are not met unless waived for health or severe hardship reasons.

Mandates annual reporting to the Governor and Legislature by November 1st on grant distributions, grant usage by category, number of awards granted, and analysis of program effectiveness in recruiting and retaining bilingual teachers.