Governor Hochul Celebrates Back-To-School Week With New Legislation

Awards First Round Funding In $30 Million Empire State Teacher Residency Program to Grow Teacher Workforce and Support Retention

Funding Subsidizes Master’s Degrees for Qualifying Teacher Candidates

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced actions to expand and support a diverse teacher workforce in New York State. At an event at the United Federation of Teachers, Governor Hochul announced the first round of funding awards of the $30 million Empire State Teacher Residency Program. In addition, Governor Hochul signed legislation to direct the State Education Department to issue guidance to school districts for developing programs to attract underrepresented candidates into the teaching profession and legislation to develop and implement programs to prevent workplace violence in public schools.

“Teachers take on the vital role of educating and preparing our children for a successful future, and we have the responsibility to ensure they have the necessary resources and training to support them in this important task,” Governor Hochul said. “We’re working hard to build a world-class public education system in New York and our investment in our teachers is a core component of our success.”

In the first round of funding in Empire State Teacher Residency Program, multiple school districts and BOCES are receiving a total of $11.9 million in funding to create two-year residency opportunities for graduate-level K-12 teacher candidates. Utica City School District is slated to receive $300,000 in this round to support 10 teacher residents. Program participants will gain real teaching experience under the supervision of mentors.

Governor Hochul signed legislation (A68A/S2140B) which directs the Commissioner of the State Education Department, in consultation with institutions of higher education, to issue guidance to school districts and boards of cooperative educational services for developing programs to attract underrepresented candidates into the teaching profession and to identify existing funding available to school districts for such purposes.