E4E-NY Applauds Governor Kathy Hochul’s Proposed Investment In Statewide Reading Instruction

January 3 (New York) – In advance of next week’s State of the State address, Governor Kathy Hochul unveiled her Back to Basics plan to improve reading proficiency in New York today. In response to New York’s literacy crisis, the proposal comes on the heels of concerns and continued advocacy from educators and experts about addressing discredited approaches to reading instruction. 

Hochul’s proposal includes a requirement for school districts to certify that their curricula have embraced evidence-based literacy by September 2025 and for $10 million to be invested in teacher training and professional learning. 

Educators for Excellence-New York, who was successful in advocating for New York City’s recent investment in NYC Reads, recognized how the Governor’s proposal will go a long way toward addressing the state’s dire reading scores.

“Governor Hochul’s proposed shift recognizes the urgency of the literacy crisis that’s resulted in hundreds of thousands of students lacking basic reading and writing skills,” said Marielys Divanne, Executive Director of Educators for Excellence-New York. “Reading is the most essential skill, and we should be alarmed when over half of our state’s students cannot perform that skill at a basic or proficient level.”

The proposal, which now awaits further action from the New York Legislature, was highlighted by Educators for Excellence-New York as an urgent issue that must be addressed to serve New York students more adequately. 

“Governor Hochul’s announcement is a necessary first step in addressing our literacy crisis in New York. Unless the Legislature takes immediate action, New York’s students will continue to be negatively impacted,” said Divanne. “Other states have taken bold action to jettison ineffective reading methods, and we need our own state leadership to take similar action and avoid leaving millions of children behind.” 

Though Educators for Excellence-New York welcomes Governor Hochul’s proposed $10 million investment in teacher training, the organization cautioned that even greater investments must eventually be made to equip teachers with the tools they need to transition to new curricular materials effectively. 

“Governor Hochul’s plans for a $10 million investment in teacher training is an encouraging start. We are hopeful that this marks the beginning, however, of a more sustained investment in stronger support for educators across the state,” said Divanne. “Research shows that in order for new curricular materials to be successful, we need accompanied professional learning that’s high quality and related to the instructional content.” 

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About Educators for Excellence

Founded by public school teachers, Educators for Excellence is a growing movement of more than 35,000 educators, united around a common set of values and principles for improving student learning and elevating the teaching profession. We work together to identify issues that impact our schools, create solutions to these challenges, and advocate for policies and programs that give all students access to a quality education. For more information, please visit e4e.org.