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In the News: Paterson emphasizes value of education initiatives outlined in Governor Hochul’s State of the State address

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The January 21 episode of WBFO’s What’s Next?, a program that uncovers and discusses the issues and topics pertinent to marginalized and underrepresented populations of Western New York and Southern Ontario, featured an interview with Wendy Paterson, dean of Buffalo State University’s School of Education

The special edition episode, titled, “A Deep Dive Into Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State Address,” broke down New York State Governor Kathy Hochul’s recent State of the State address and interviewed local legislators, activists, and advocates about proposed initiatives.

Paterson voiced approval for Hochul’s plan to make community college free for students ages 25-55 pursuing degrees in high demand fields—including teaching—and pointed out that associate degree programs are often a foundation for students to get more advanced degrees.

“The feeding of the two-year colleges into the comprehensive colleges has fallen off significantly,” Paterson said. “That has posed some huge problems. When enrollments go down, programs are threatened, [and] lower enrollment [means] fewer options for students. Putting some funding to support career-oriented degree programs at the community college level is good. The two-year colleges are important pipelines.”

Governor Hochul also proposed a massive investment in childcare and daycare centers across the state, which Paterson said could have profound positive impacts on academic outcomes and childhood development. 

“I’ve read research comparing families,” she said. “In one family, where they talk to their kids, take them to the grocery store, and include them in problem-solving, where there’s a lot of interchange and thought and talk, [the children] come to school with about 1,000 hours of experience in English Language Arts already, which is why they acquire reading and literacy faster. The students who do not have that come to that same first year in school with less than 250 hours of considerable practice in English language arts. That’s a huge inequity, so supporting childcare and early preschool kinds of programs with people who are certified and educated is a good step.”

Paterson also highlighted the value of Hochul’s new “Unplug and Play” initiative, which includes building 100 new playgrounds, adding 100,000 out-of-school activities, and waiving pool fees at state parks to encourage outdoor activities and reduce screen time.

“Play is really important,” Paterson said. “it's the very first way that children learn anything. One of the inequities that I've seen again from wealthy districts to not so wealthy districts is recess and the availability of playground apparatus and things that are external to the classroom. I think it's because when a district is pressed for funds, they focus on the academic funds, and they don't always connect the playgrounds and the state that they're in and the number of hours the kids can spend just in free play with the learning experience.” 


Logo courtesy of WBFO.