Dear Friend,

Today’s the first day of school in NYC!

The first day of school always fills me with joy. Every year I look forward to stopping by a local school and watching with glee as students excitedly come back from their summer vacations, eagerly seek out their old classmates, make new friends, and yearn for the possibilities of the year ahead.

It’s a great reminder to me that the wonky and abstract policy and budget fights that take place in Albany have a direct and measurable impact on the daily lives of families right here at home, and how deeply personal the stakes are for all of us to win those fights.

During the three terms you’ve sent me to Albany, I’m proud of the work I’ve done to support students and families across our education system, including:

Delivering record school funding each and every year, including this past year when we secured the highest level of school aid in history.
Writing legislation to ensure that lockdown drills are trauma-informed and age-appropriate — a measure recently adopted by the NYS Board of Regents in July.
Keeping kids safe on social media by protecting their personal data and breaking the hold of addictive social media algorithms.
Expanding street safety by increasing the number of red-light cameras in NYC, bringing 24/7 speed camera operation to intersections near our schools, and cracking down on license plate fraud.

But I know our work is still not done. I’m committed to expanding childcare options for young families so we can realize the potential of universal childcare. Families’ needs don’t stop at the dismissal bell, so we need to fight for universal after-school care as well, a fight more urgent than ever after some of our local schools had their funding cut this year.

And now more than ever, as too many families feel the pinch in their pockets from stagnating wages and increasings costs, we need to enact my full Working Families Tax Credit, which would expand our child tax credit and help lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty.

I know many of these issues are personal for you. They’re personal for me, too. I want you to know that for as long as I have the privilege to serve you in Albany, I’ll never stop fighting for families.