NEW YORK — Governor Kathy Hochul’s 2025 State of the State address highlights several important proposals aimed at advancing educational equity, particularly for New York’s youngest children, families and students in college. While these initiatives represent progress, EdTrust-New York is disappointed that the Governor did not build on last year’s investments in early literacy and universal FAFSA completion. EdTrust-New York calls for stronger commitments to educational equity and looks forward to collaborating with the Governor and Legislature to ensure the inclusion of the following proposals in the final 2025 State Budget.
Early Childhood
Empire State Child Tax Credit
EdTrust-New York applauds the Governor for the historic expansion of the Child Tax Credit, which will triple the amount families will receive. Child tax credits are among the most effective policies to reduce child poverty, and we are grateful to the Governor for supporting families living in poverty. By eliminating the “phase-in,” this proposal ensures that the lowest-income families will benefit fully, addressing the greatest needs. The effectiveness of child tax credits was proven during the pandemic, when the federal credit reduced child poverty by 46% in 2021. Families will now receive $1,000 per child under age four and $500 for each child up to age 16. Parent participants in EdTrust-New York’s Early Childhood Policy & Advocacy Lab spoke with legislators in 2024 about this issue and were thrilled to see the proposal included. Many said they will use the credit to pay for basic necessities.
Child Care
EdTrust-New York applauds the Governor for directing the State to find a path to universal child care and supports forming a business/labor group to devise revenue-raising strategies. However, we remain concerned about the state’s child care workforce crisis. While we welcome the proposed investment in new child care facilities, these facilities risk becoming short-staffed and ineffective in addressing the fact that more than 60% of New York State is considered a child care desert. Without additional investments in a permanent workforce fund that ensures fair compensation for child care educators, the state will not resolve this issue. We look forward to continuing to work closely with the Governor’s team to explore revenue opportunities that will create an equitable pay scale for this critical workforce. Finally, the proposed substitute pool of early childhood educators will provide short-term staffing relief to child care programs, which is desperately needed. However, this investment does not offer long-term, sustainable support, which is essential for ensuring that early childhood educators can support themselves and their families.
Maternal and Infant Health
EdTrust-New York praises the Governor’s attention to pregnant and parenting people, but we are disappointed that voluntary maternal, infant, and early childhood home visiting programs—proven to reduce abuse and neglect, improve health outcomes, and increase school readiness—have once again been overlooked. As the state continues to address severe racial disparities in maternal and infant health, with Black mothers and babies facing significantly higher risks for illness and death, we are concerned about the missed opportunity to leverage high-quality home visiting programs as a proven method for ensuring healthy outcomes for both mother and child.
While online resources such as The Parent Partnership Program are welcome, we believe these initiatives, along with the new Baby2Baby program, could be enhanced by pairing the with one-on-one support through increased access to existing programs and working toward a universal, statewide program.
We wholeheartedly support the establishment of the Birth Allowance for Beginning Year (BABY) benefit, the nation’s first baby allowance program. This initiative will provide $100/month during pregnancy and an additional $1,200 at birth to give babies the best start possible. This is an encouraging step forward, and we will continue working with partners to legislate an increase in the allowance and extend it for 18 months postpartum.
EdTrust-New York also applauds the proposal to expand WIC to reach an additional 30,000 people bringing the total to 475,000, and to compare WIC and SNAP enrollment rosters to ensure that people eligible for both programs are dual-enrolled. We will continue to work closely with the Governor’s team to support and inform equitable access to these important programs by building upon the data in EdTrust-New York’s report, From Barriers to Opportunity, which provides qualitative and quantitative data on the barriers families face in accessing poverty-reduction and early childhood programs such as child care subsidies, WIC and SNAP benefits, and voluntary home visiting.
EdTrust-New York is also awaiting more information on proposals to provide additional support to Early Intervention (EI) providers.
Early Literacy
EdTrust-New York is pleased to see a commitment to expand Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to “hundreds of thousands of children” and looks forward to working with the State on implementation. The Imagination Library already provides free books to any child up to age five who registers with their local affiliate. In addition, we look forward to partnering on the outdoor literacy program set to launch this summer.
K-12 Education
College in High School
EdTrust-New York applauds the Governor for investing in College and High School programming and aligning policy to define these important programs. The Governor targets funding to help students from low-income backgrounds participate in these programs and ensures data collection on their impact. While this is a historic investment, we hope this marks the first of many future investments aimed at expanding access to these programs for high school students, particularly Black, Latinx and Native American students as well as those from low-income backgrounds, statewide.
State Longitudinal Data System
EdTrust-New York welcomes the Governor’s support for a statewide longitudinal data system, including the development of a data governance board to help ensure student privacy. This data system will help policymakers target resources while supporting families throughout their educational journeys.
Universal School Meals
EdTrust-New York supports the Governor’s proposal for free universal school meals, which will eliminate the stigma of free meals, and increase access for all students from low-income backgrounds to healthy food.
Additional Proposals
EdTrust-New York looks forward to learning more about the Governor’s proposals to expand the Latina Mentoring Initiative and create the Black Girls Mentoring Initiative to address youth mental health. We applaud the Governor for focusing on the needs of young Black women and Latinas. We are also eager to learn more about the Governor’s proposal to address cell phone use in schools.
Higher Education
Free Tuition at Community Colleges for High-Need Fields
EdTrust-New York applauds the Governor’s plan to invest in free community college for students ages 22-55 pursuing associate degrees in high-demand fields, including teaching, nursing, technology, and engineering. The plan to cover tuition, fees, books, and supplies at SUNY and CUNY associates degree programs will expand economic opportunities across our state and prepare our workforce for the jobs of the future. We are also pleased that this investment will expand apprenticeship opportunities and programs that connect students with job opportunities which are critical to facilitating entry into the workforce.
ASAP/ACE
EdTrust-New York applauds the Governor’s expansion of SUNY’s ASAP and ACE programs, which provide evidence-based academic, financial, and personal support to students. SUNY’s initial investment in ASAP and ACE have increased graduation rates at campuses by 25–69 percent, with particularly high impact for Black and Latinx male students. The Governor’s continued investment in ASAP and ACE will expand the number of campuses and students participating in these important programs.
TAP Expansion
The Governor’s proposal to adjust and streamline TAP to improve access and students’ experience is promising. TAP is a critical tool for helping students to afford college in New York. EdTrust-New York looks forward to learning more about the Governor’s plans for TAP and ensuring that any adjustments increase the overall funding for postsecondary students in our state.
Other Educational Equity Priorities
The Governor did not address all of EdTrust-New York’s priorities in her speech, but we remain committed to collaborating with state and local leaders on several key areas.
In the area of literacy, EdTrust-New York urges further investment and policy changes to build on last year’s Back to Basics initiative. We advocate for $15 million in additional professional development for current educators and $10 million to provide targeted support for districts adopting curricula aligned with the science of reading.
Regarding FAFSA completion, EdTrust-New York calls for a $3 million investment to enhance outreach efforts to students and to support the New York State Education Department in monitoring the implementation of the Universal FAFSA completion law.
On the topic of Foundation Aid, EdTrust-New York continues to push for full funding of the Foundation Aid formula. We also advocate for adjustments to better target support for multilingual learners, students with disabilities, students in temporary housing or foster care, and Pre-K and 3K programs. Additionally, we recommend establishing a professional commission to periodically assess and update the formula to ensure it reflects the actual cost of providing equitable education.
In terms of graduation measures, EdTrust-New York supports the New York State Education Department’s request for $2 million to implement the recommendations of the New York State Blue Ribbon Commission on Graduation Measures. However, we stress that implementing these recommendations must include strong safeguards to ensure equity and rigor for all students, particularly students of color and those from low-income backgrounds.
Finally, EdTrust-New York advocates for a $20 million investment in evidence-based tutoring initiatives. This funding would help students recover from learning disruptions in reading and math caused by the pandemic.