U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) stopped at several central New York schools earlier this week to talk about giving educators more teaching flexibility and the need for increased attention to mental health services in local schools.
“Central New York families deserve to have the best quality education opportunities available,” Katko said. “I spoke directly with teachers and students in our community, and I heard them reiterate something I’ve heard again and again: We cannot teach our students with a one-size-fits-all approach. We need to make sure that our educators have the tools that they need to teach and train our students to succeed on a local level.”
Katko’s stops included Solvay Elementary School in Solvay, the Southside Academy Charter School in Syracuse and Jamesville-Dewitt Middle School in Jamesville.
As a U.S. Congressman for New York’s 24th District, Katko co-sponsored the Student Testing Improvement and Accountability Act, which calls for greater flexibility in education – and to that end, reducing the frequency of testing mandated by the federal government.
“This legislation would ensure that teachers in our public schools are given the freedom necessary to teach for students rather than for tests,” Katko said.
Katko is also a vocal advocate for getting more mental health services into central New York’s schools. He is the co-sponsor of the Mental Health in Schools Act. On the local level, Katko helped launched a Mental Health/Behavioral Health Task Force.
“I’ve made it a priority to expand access to mental and behavioral health services in our community and especially in our schools,” Katko said. “Investing in preventative mental health will improve youth mental health treatment in our community, and give these young people a better future.”