Education is at a crossroads in our country. Preserving the quality of Westchester schools is one of the top priorities of parents with school age children and homeowners who depend upon schools as a foundation for healthy property values.
In my first two terms in the Assembly, I successfully brought increased aid to Westchester schools and to the school districts on the Sound Shore that I represent. Maintaining educational quality, while providing school districts with additional mandate relief so they can cut costs, are major priorities for Westchester.
I have also opposed an overreliance on standardized testing, while supporting initiatives to protect student record privacy and a moratorium, now in place, to delay curriculum changes and new testing until the materials and methods can be properly vetted by educators. Efforts I supported to improve the process by which members of the Board of Regents are selected have resulted in the appointment of new Regents whose education policy decisions are more responsive to the concerns of suburban students, parents, teachers and school districts.
I have worked to make public education more affordable and protect state assistance to financial aid programs for families with college bound students. With my appointment this year to the Assembly Education Committee, I will have additional opportunities to advocate on behalf of the school districts and students in the 91st district.