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Panel spotlights post-COVID learning gaps, student mental health and teacher pipeline
Summary
During interviews for Board of Regents candidates, policymakers and applicants emphasized the need for remedial education after COVID-19, more mental-health resources in schools, expanded arts and CTE programming, and new recruitment paths for teachers including second-career entrants.
Multiple candidates and legislators at the hearing prioritized remedies for learning loss and student mental health following the COVID-19 pandemic, and raised workforce issues for the teacher pipeline.
Several candidates urged expanded remedial and supplemental instruction for students who fell behind academically during pandemic school closures. One candidate said she tutors elementary students in Albany and described encountering sixth-graders reading at a first-grade level, calling for targeted remedial programs and investments to close gaps.
Mental-health services were repeatedly raised as a priority. A candidate with a background in behavioral-health research said integrating mental- and behavioral-health supports into schools from kindergarten through postsecondary education should be a regents-level priority and recommended incentives to expand the mental-health workforce. Lawmakers and applicants also discussed how to attract more candidates into school-based mental-health professions.
Arts and career-technical education (CTE) also drew attention. Regent Tellis argued for incorporating arts into core subject teaching ("STEAM"), describing the arts as a lever for engagement and warning that budget cuts often target arts and extracurriculars. Several participants urged bolstering BOCES and CTE programs so students who do not follow a traditional college path can acquire workforce skills.
Teacher recruitment and certification were a recurring topic. Candidate Keith Wiley, a 25-year classroom teacher, recommended pathways for second-career professionals to enter the classroom and urged streamlining certification requirements for out-of-state candidates and paraprofessionals. Wiley said school leaders must also address classroom management and working conditions to retain teachers.
Panelists discussed cell phones, classroom climate and student attendance. Wiley said he collects phones during class and allows limited homeroom phone time, calling attendance and a comfortable learning environment essential to improving engagement. Several legislators and candidates linked absenteeism, unsettled classroom climates and reduced extracurricular opportunities to the learning gaps they want the Regents to address.
Ending: Applicants and legislators asked the Regents to prioritize funding and policy attention to remedial education, school-based mental-health services, arts/CTE expansion and teacher recruitment, emphasizing pilot programs and state support for workforce pipelines.
