Newschannel 34
8/8/12
New York’s Education Reform Commission hosted a public hearing on Wednesday to get ideas on how the education system can be changed for the better.
Currently, New York spends the most of any state on education. But, the results aren’t there. New York ranks 34th when it comes to test results. That’s something that Governor Cuomo says he wants to change. The commission is holding meetings across the state to collect input from educators, politicians and the general public.
Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo testified on Wednesday. She chairs the assembly’s commission on science and technology.
Lupardo says the state needs to promote a variety of careers for all students. “The Regents are proposing two new pathways to high school graduation, one in career and technical education and the other in science, technology, engineering and math. I’m here to talk about my support for that and also the need for teacher preparedness to help our teachers grow and prepare our students for not only college readiness but career readiness.”
Members of the Educate New York Now campaign, including Citizen Action attended Wednesday’s meeting at Binghamton University. They say previous education cuts are unacceptable and threaten students ability to compete in a global economy.
Lea Webb says, “We can’t continue on the path that we’ve taken in New York State. We have seen some historic cuts to our schools. Over the past two years, $2.7 billion has been cut and it’s not just about the dollars that have been lost, but what that means on the ground, larger class sizes, a lot of after school programs that students often utilized to help them become even better in school have been cut, teachers have been laid off.”
The group says closing corporate tax loopholes is one way for the state to collect money that can be steered towards education.
