"For somebody to be behind that and really say, 'Yes, this is a profession and you can learn from each other and you should be rewarded for trying to do better,' is so nice to see," All City High mentor teacher Emily Crowley said. "I think there is a lot of good teachers out there that say, 'I don't have the time,' or, 'I have time, but I could use it in other ways.' But if we're compensated for it, then it becomes kind of like a status symbol but also really just acknowledging the fact that you're doing something that's worthwhile and worthy.”
All City High is a new city school this year that is also offering twelve-hour school days allowing students to learn on schedules that are most convenient to them. That is just another example of how Governor Cuomo’s proposals are already in action at Principal Sandy Jordan’s school.
"I think that the governor touched on things that are all good for kids and collectively we have to figure out how to use our budgets to make them work because they're all good for kids, and that's the bottom line,” said Jordan. “As soon as we make it good for adults it won't work.”
While the reforms being pitched by the Governor are widely embraced by educators and have long been accepted by policymakers, the biggest obstacle appears to be how he plans to pay for the changes. Pre-K or new teaching certification standards are all costly endeavors that could also require local school districts to broker new deals with teacher’s unions.
Governor Cuomo will present his state budget proposal later this month at which time funding sources for these programs could be identified.
