REGION'S TEACHERS AT HEAD OF THE CLASS.(CAPITAL REGION)

Byline: RICK KARLIN Staff writer

New York has a new class of top teachers this year, including a bumper crop from the Capital Region.

Of the 103 newly minted nationally certified teachers in the Empire State, 30 are from Capital Region schools, with a half dozen from Schenectady alone.

Still, the Empire State is behind nationally in the number and percentage of teachers who have earned the prestigious National Board Certification.

New York now has a total of 286 nationally certified teachers who have undergone a rigorous program of training, self-evaluation and testing that can take up to 400 hours. But some other states count their …