Governor Hochul Greets Students on the First Day of School

 

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul greeted students on the first day of school at Washington Irving School in Tarrytown alongside Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and County Executive George Latimer. 

Governor Hochul's school visit was part of the first day of school in the 2023-2024 school year, a year where schools statewide are set to receive $34.5 billion from the FY 2024 Budget, including full funding of the Foundation Aid formula for the first time in history. In addition to greeting students, Governor Hochul also met with school mental health professionals to discuss the youth mental health crisis and the State's $1 billion mental health plan. 

Good morning. Kathy Hochul here with Majority Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins and County Executive, George Latimer. And where we are today is the first day of school, welcoming children here at the Washington Irving Elementary School in Tarrytown.

And I had a chance to talk to teachers and see the kids in the cafeteria. Also important to all of us was to have a conversation with the mental health professionals, the school psychologists, and those who are on the front lines of dealing with what we understand to still be as pandemic learning loss and how we overcome some of the challenges that our children are still facing in the aftermath of having two years of a disruptive life during COVID. So, we heard firsthand about how our resources, the $1 billion that we worked with the legislature to deliver, is being implemented, how that's trickling down into school districts.

And just a week ago, we announced $108 million that is dedicated to help schools all over the state to address this situation and how we can help our kids have a healthy experience while they're in school and to, again, acknowledge there is pandemic learning loss.

We have money on the table to support it as well as our record investment in education, $34.5 billion, as well as all kinds of support for our schools. It's critically important to us, and that's why we're here today – to welcome students back, thank our teachers, thank our principals, thank our school superintendents and our leaders who are so invested in making sure our kids have the best shot in life.