Rebuild NY's Teacher Workforce
Rebuild NY's Teacher Workforce
Governor Hochul's plan to rebuild New York's teacher workforce puts an emphasis on recruiting and retaining teachers throughout the state to resolve the ongoing teacher shortage. The bold plan includes providing incentives for teachers, accelerating the state certification process, addressing student needs and creating a robust pipeline of future educators to ensure this shortage never again threatens the opportunities for families and children.
In October, Governor Hochul announced that New York State will finally deliver on the promise of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity and phase-in full funding of Foundation Aid to New York school districts by the 2023-24 school year. This will mean billions in additional support for the districts across the state and an unprecedented opportunity to bolster New York's education system.
New York, however, is also facing a steep retirement cliff in the coming years -one that has been exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic. The state needs approximately 180,000 new teachers over the next decade to meet workforce needs.
To meet this crisis head on, Governor Hochul will take immediate actions to recruit and retain teachers, accelerate the teacher certification process, and dramatically increase funding for K-12 education. This includes:
- Providing incentives to attract more teachers and school workers
- Accelerating the teacher certification process
- Providing learning and mental health grants
- Connecting student service corps with community groups to meet local needs
- Creating a state teacher residency program
- Funding new cohorts of the master teacher program
- Upskilling teacher support workers to earn their certifications
- Providing schools with billions of dollars by fully funding Foundation Aid
Revitalize SUNY
Revitalize SUNY
Governor Hochul plans to revitalize the State University of New York system and make it the best statewide system of public higher education in our nation. This transformative plan will secure SUNY's place as a globally recognized higher education institution, expand SUNY's global reach as a leader in research and innovation, support students and set them on the path to economic success, and focus on equity so that students can thrive no matter their background.
Governor Hochul is calling on a reimagined SUNY to propel New York to become the world's leader in innovation, equitable economic growth, and upward mobility. This will require SUNY to achieve ambitious goals by 2030 to become the state's engine for economic development and upward mobility.
These goals include increasing enrollment by one third to over 500,000 students with enrollment and completion rates reflecting the state's diversity; preparing hundreds of thousands of people for in-demand jobs and upwardly mobile careers; recruiting and supporting top faculty and staff; providing affordable credentials and degrees to all kinds of learners; and doubling sponsored research, start-ups and patents so that SUNY can catalyze economic innovation and good jobs all across the state. Success on each of these goals will depend both on overall progress as well as advances in equity.
To help achieve these goals, Governor Hochul's plan to expand SUNY's reach begins with making the institution into a global and national leader on research and innovation:
- Transform Stony Brook and Buffalo into global research institutions
- Revitalize Albany and Binghamton as nation-leading research and teaching universities
- Lean into the strengths of each part of the SUNY system - including not only the Doctoral-Granting Institutions but also the comprehensive colleges, technology colleges, and the community colleges
- Build "Labs for the Future" Statewide
- Grow enrollment through developing institutional specialization
Governor Hochul will also take major steps to ensure SUNY serves students well, preparing them for the careers of the future and allowing them to graduate without crushing loan debt. This initiative will include:
- Streamline application and financial aid processes
- Simplify and improve the SUNY transfer process
- Jobs accelerator to build bridges between education and work
Becoming a National Leader in Equity. Governor Hochul will also make it a priority to ensure the SUNY system is more equitable, lifting up students of all backgrounds. To do so, SUNY will:
- Identify and remove obstacles that hold students back
- Funding Minority Serving Institutions
- Become a leader in adult learning opportunities
As an immediate next step to achieve these goals, Governor Hochul will work with SUNY, its individual institutions, and key stakeholders to develop a detailed implementation plan over the course of 2022. At the heart of Governor Hochul's vision is a belief that one of SUNY's major strengths is its portfolio of institutions across the system, and the North Star of the implementation plan will be helping each school be the best version of itself.
This plan will require leaning into the strengths of every part of SUNY: its doctoral-granting institutions, comprehensive colleges, technology colleges, and community colleges.