N.Y. VET Law § 5 — New York Code / Act VET / Article 1 / Section 5
Veteran speaker education program
Status: in_force

§ 5. Veteran speaker education program. 1. There is hereby established\nwithin the department a veteran speaker education program to be\ndeveloped and implemented by the commissioner in consultation with the\ncommissioner of the New York state military museum and veterans resource\ncenter and in accordance with the provisions of this section. Such\nprogram shall provide school districts within this state with a listing\nof available veteran speakers willing to visit classrooms for the\npurpose of discussing their military experience.\n  2. The department, from its available resources, shall develop an\ninformational pamphlet to be distributed either by mail or\nelectronically to school districts which provides a general overview of\nthe program including its purpose and how to participate. The department\nshall, in consultation with congressionally chartered veterans\norganizations and local veterans services agencies, appoint and create a\nlisting of veteran speakers coordinators for each county of the state\nwho shall be listed in the informational pamphlet. The veteran speakers\ncoordinators' duties shall include but not be limited to contacting\nveterans who reside in their county including those who have\nparticipated in the veteran's oral history program at the New York state\nmilitary museum or the West Point oral history project or the veterans\nhistory project of the American Folklore Center or any similar oral\nhistory project with information about this program and inquiring as to\nwhether such persons would be willing to participate as speakers or in\nany other capacity. The listing shall include the names and contact\ninformation for such veterans including information describing the type\nof military service performed by each such person, the time and length\nof service, geographic area or areas where such person served and rank.\nThe veteran speakers coordinators shall annually update such information\nregarding the availability of such veterans.\n  3. No teacher or veteran shall be required to participate in this\nprogram. Any teacher who wishes to supplement his or her classroom\ninstruction concerning a particular era in American military history may\ncontact a participating veteran personally to request that such person\nvisit a classroom to discuss his or her military experience. A teacher\nshall be responsible for ascertaining the appropriateness of any\nproposed speaker based upon the age of the children and the intended\nsubject matter. Nothing in this section shall be intended to supersede\nany particular or general school rules or regulations or other laws\nrelating to curriculum.\n  4. The department shall require a certified copy of the veteran's\ndischarge papers to participate in the veteran speaker program. Such\nform shall be filed with the department to serve as evidence that such\nperson is a veteran who served in the United States military honorably.\n  5. The department shall implement a procedure for evaluations of each\nspeaker to be completed by teachers and students, and maintain such\nevaluations and make them available upon request to other teachers who\nplan to participate.\n  6. The department may consult with other veterans organizations and\nany branch of the U.S. military in the development of this program.\n