Governor Hochul: “And I’m looking out at a room full of not just teachers, but great teachers. So you may never hear the influence that you had on a child like I once was, but I’m telling you it’s powerful. And you are the ones who have been called to do so much more than you ever dreamed during this pandemic. And the extraordinary sacrifice that we called upon you to do.”
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul attended the United Federation of Teachers Spring Conference and delivered remarks.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here .
AUDIO of the event is available here .
PHOTOS are available on the Governor’s Flickr page .
A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below :
Wow, I thought I was making history as the first woman Governor, but this even tops that, the first woman to speak at this conference. First Governor, first anybody. So Michael, thank you for making me feel so welcome as you always do, and to see your leadership in action. This guy is a pit bull. And you want to be on his side and not against him, because he knows the strength of his position, and he is the voice and the fighter that our teachers deserve. So let’s give a round of applause to my friend, Michael Mulgrew.
And I just had a chance to spend a few more minutes with Andy Pallotta. We have traveled the state together. We are fighting to make sure we had the Red Flag Law in place in schools. We traveled on buses all over, a few years ago, and I want to thank him for his tireless leadership as well. Great to see, give Andy a round of applause. Dr. Betty Rosa, our great Commissioner, who is so passionate about the needs of our teachers and our kids and what an incredible leader she is as well. Dr. Betty Rosa. Let’s give her a round of applause.
Randi here? Randi’s here. Didn’t have to travel so far, hopefully. When I reached out she’s always flying in from somewhere else, but our great AFT President, so honored to call her a New Yorker. Randi Weingarten. And the entire leadership team, I know we just left the Mayor, I’ve been working very closely with him. Let’s make history too: Governor working with Mayor, closely? That’s another news flash, right? That’s what we do. It shouldn’t be so hard. Right? It’s what we do.
But, this is amazing, I feel like there’s a lot of energy out here. I feel like it’s like teachers on Spring Break, right? You guys got a lot of pent up energy sitting in the classroom too much. Yeah. I can feel that. I can feel that. And I hope you’re having a great time. I have been inspired by teachers. In fact, I was reminded just a little over a year ago. I went to the wake of a teacher who taught me when I was in eighth grade. And I went and told his wife, I said, “You’ll never know the influence that Mr. Peter James at Hamburg Junior High had on me.” He opened my mind as an impressionable 13-year-old to the power of politics and government, as we learned about American history. And I was hooked at that moment. Hearing how he talked about the great leaders of our nation and our state. And he had this thought, that he actually embraced me and said, “I think you can do this too.” And no one ever thought I could do it. No one ever saw that path for me, but a teacher named Mr. Peter James. And the Japanese proverb is “Better than a thousand days of diligence study, is a single day with a great teacher.” Oh, I believe that to my core.
And I’m looking out at a room full of not just teachers, but great teachers. So you may never hear the influence that you had on a child like I once was, but I’m telling you it’s powerful. And you are the ones who have been called to do so much more than you ever dreamed during this pandemic. And the extraordinary sacrifice that we called upon you to do, which is to figure out how to turn on Zoom, how to plug it all in, how to recharge, how to be teaching children who are still looking to you as that […]
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