WATERVLIET — In a teaser before the annual State of the State address, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday proposed sweeping changes to literacy education in New York.
Her $10 million New York City-modeled proposal aims to train 20,000 teachers to instruct literacy using a phonics-based approach by 2025 and expand related micro-credentialing programs at public colleges.
New York ranks 32nd in the nation for reading proficiency. Test scores are considerably lower among Black and Latino students.
“If you don’t know how to read, how do you get along in life, if you can’t read and understand things?” Hochul said while unveilling the proposal at Watervliet Elementary School.
Phonetic-centered learning isn’t new — but it hasn’t been used in most corners of the state for decades. Teachers have moved to a so-called “balanced literacy” approach, which encourages independent reading.
This system, Hochul said, has been especially challenging for students with learning disabilities and those that speak English as a second language.
“[Teachers] were told ‘this works’ and they carried out the duties that they were supposed to do,” Hochul said. “But despite the best efforts, it’s showing that it’s not working anymore.”
Within the last 11 years, 32 states have pushed efforts re-emphasizes phonics in learning, according to Education Week. New York City recently switched its system back to a so-called science of reading approach.
New York State Unified Teachers President Melinda Person has backed up Hochul’s ambitions.
“Now these policies are not merely the result of the latest fad,” Person said. “I want to be really clear about this: this is the result of decades of research, brain science, information from tens of thousands of studies that is driving us towards this change in instructional practice.”
Education advocates across the state rejoiced in the state fully funding foundation aid, the main source of state assistance. This, of course, came during an era of record-high spending since the novel Coronavirus pandemic.
This year, the state faces a $4.3 billion deficit out of what the budget division expects to be a $231 billion deficit. Still, the administration hasn’t indicated any plans to cut education spending or health care services.
The Democrat’s is expected to outline part of her wish list for 2024 during the State of the State address on Tuesday and flesh out the details during her later budget proposal.
The blue Buffalonian on Tuesday touted a proposal to expand consumer protection laws, which includes a conditional ban on co-pays for insulin and legal safeguards for low-income residents with medical debt.