State education commissioner asks lawmakers to restore cuts to opportunity programs and expand supports for students with disabilities
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Summary
NYSED Commissioner Betty Rosa urged restoration and increases for HEOP, STEP/CSTEP, Liberty Partnerships and foster-youth supports, and asked for flexibility on contracting and additional staff for oversight and disability services to meet rising demand.
New York State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa told legislators the state must sustain and expand opportunity programs that help low-income and first-generation students enroll and complete college.
Rosa asked lawmakers to restore reductions in HEOP, STEP, CSTEP and Liberty Partnerships and requested targeted increases: $4.9 million to expand HEOP, $3.8 million for STEP/CSTEP pipeline programs, and $2.5 million to expand Liberty Partnerships. She said these investments yield measurable outcomes and that Liberty Partnerships reported an 87.4 percent graduation rate for participants.
Commissioner Rosa also highlighted rapid growth in pre-employment transition services and requested restoration of $2 million cut from postsecondary disability supports plus an additional $2 million to strengthen campus services. She explained prolonged contracting timelines for out-of-state institutions and asked for a contracting exemption to allow AccessVR to more efficiently serve students with disabilities who attend out-of-state colleges.
On public safety and oversight, Rosa asked for authority to transfer up to $500,000 from the tuition reimbursement account when necessary to hire four staff dedicated to oversight and public safety work. She also opposed proposals to transfer physician and physician assistant disciplinary authority away from NYSED without fuller stakeholder engagement.
Lawmakers asked Commissioner Rosa for data on program outcomes and student counts and she indicated NYSED would provide exhibits and district-level information on HEOP and other programs to inform budget decisions.
