Assemblyman Billy Jones, who represents most of the FEH BOCES region in the state Assembly, visited our New Vision Government and Law class today.
Students in the program regularly meet with local representatives as well as lawyers, members of law enforcement, judges and more so they can explore all the various careers within the field of government and law.
Assemblyman Jones discussed a number of topics with the class, including:
- Worker shortage
- Redistricting
- Teacher shortage
- Social worker shortage
- Albany vs home district (what it is like at each, each role)
- Constituent liaisons
- Past job history, and how it helped him with becoming and adjusting to be an assemblyman.
He also talked with students about two topics near and dear to us at FEH BOCES:
1. BOCES teacher salary cap
BOCES across the state provide cooperative services to school districts in their region. At FEH BOCES, we serve 10 North Country school districts. To encourage school districts to use BOCES services, the state gives districts a percentage of the money they spend on services back in the form of BOCES aid.
Right now, aid that districts earn on BOCES salaries is capped at $30,000. That cap was last raised in the 1990s, when $30,000 was the average salary of a Career and Technical Education teacher. Average CTE teacher salaries have increased to around $60,000 today, so BOCES and school districts across New York are asking state representatives to increase the cap so that schools receive more money for spending on BOCES services.
A version of this salary cap increase was included in budget bills from both the state Senate and Assembly. We are hopeful that it will make it to the final negotiated budget so schools are more able to benefit from our career-focused CTE programs and other services.
2. Teacher shortage
Like most of the country, New York is experiencing a shortage of teachers, and that shortage is only expected to get worse in coming years. At the state level, Assemblyman Jones and his colleagues are searching for ways to address this issue, including funding teacher resource centers and changing regulations to encourage retired teachers to come back to the classroom.
At FEH BOCES, we're trying to help ease the shortage by encouraging students to become teachers and help them get there more quickly. Last year, we started a program called New Vision Education that's meant to give students interested in education careers real-world experience while they're still in high school. They can also earn college credits, which lets them start as substitute teachers earlier and gets them into the teaching workforce faster.
FEH BOCES thanks Assemblyman Jones for his support over the years, and for sharing his experience and thoughts with our New Vision Government and Law students!