B-roll, Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Highlights Her Historic Expansion of Free Pre-k Seats in More Than 400 School Districts Across New York State

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul visited the William E. Cottle Elementary School in Eastchester on the first day of Pre-K to highlight her significant expansion of free Pre-K in school districts across New York State. In the Mid-Hudson Region, 53 school districts are adding new seats thanks to the Governor's investments - including one district, Dobbs Ferry, which will be offering free Pre-K programming for the first time.

B-ROLL of the Governor visiting the William E. Cottle Elementary School is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good morning. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us here today. Proud to be in the district of our great leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins. It's not your district? I was told it was. Someone told me it was your district.

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Technically yours because you're the leader of the whole state. How's that for recovery? This is her district. This is - I didn't do random redistricting at the moment. She wants to stay here, so that's great. Leader of the state, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Senator in her district, Shelley Mayer. Of course, County Executive Ken Jenkins, this is your district too because it's the entire county. I'm going to, I'm going to get it right. Alright, this is Ken's area. And of course, the Mayor of Tuckahoe, Cara Kronen. Thank you for serving in local government. I spent a lot of years there, and I know the challenges.

And proud to have the Commissioner of Education for the entire State of New York, Dr. Betty Rosa, has joined us as well. Thank you for your leadership. Superintendent of the Tuckahoe Union Free School District, Benjamin Roberts, and the Executive Director of the Pre-K program, Anne Young.

But, first day of school for these kids. And it's, for parents, a sigh of relief. I'm a parent, I know what that's like. But also, just a reminder of why these programs matter so much. Their first entree to school is not kindergarten when they're five, perhaps going on six. It is at a younger age, and this is so important to their development. We know that. A former teacher, you understand how important those early years, to really just get our kids in a setting where there's a lot of love, there's some structure, there's education, and how they start to interact with other students.

So this is their first time. A little, some of them looked a little nervous in there, but I think within a couple of days, they'll be acclimated. The teachers know this. But that's why, together, we're making an unprecedented investment in early education, universal Pre-K across the entire state of New York. This year alone, working with the Legislature, we're committing more than 600 - $550 million to the largest Pre-K expansion in state history.

This brings our total investment to more than $1.6 billion, more than 70 percent increase since I first became Governor. Showing what it's like when you have a mom Governor who understands how important it is for these kids to have access to these programs. So 400 school districts, more than half of all the districts across New York, are expanding their Pre-K offerings this year, starting right now.

We've added thousands of new seats, tens of thousands more to come in years ahead, and the families right here in the Hudson Valley are seeing the impact. This year, 53 districts across this region are adding new Pre-K seats. In Dobbs Ferry, for example, families will have access to free Pre-K to four-year-olds for the very, very first time.

And here in Tuckahoe, the district is expanding its Pre-K program by 50 percent, growing from 40 students to 60, this year alone. That's real progress for these families, especially for working parents as well. So we've been building for this for a while. We have talked about universal childcare, but also early childhood education was a priority in my 2025 State of the State address, where I said we're now on a path.

We are on a path to full universal childcare across New York. So we laid out the roadmap, and part of that promise, that roadmap for the comprehensive view of our children, is that by 2028, every four-year-old in New York State will have access to high-quality Pre-K. Now, some people who have it already assume it's everywhere. That is not the case. That is not the case. There are a lot of districts where their first entree into school is kindergarten, and that whole year, that gap, where kids may not be in an activity that's productive, or maybe being babysat or just in front of a television or in front of a screen, worse yet.

Here with our investments and in 400 districts across the state, soon to be 100 percent of the districts across the state, we're making a real difference. So more classrooms, more seats, more kids getting opportunities. I don't believe that Pre-K is a luxury. I think it's a necessity. It's a basic infrastructure for working families. As I said, letting parents go to work, helping families put down roots and letting them know that New York State is the best place in America to raise a family. And universal Pre-K brings us one step closer to that goal. That's why we're delivering here in Tuckahoe, across the Hudson Valley, and across the great State of New York.

Thank you very much for joining us. I'm excited to get back and see the kids very soon. But, love hanging out with kids, and I mentioned yesterday when I was in a different school, it was my granddaughter's four-year-old Pre-K first day. So she's Facetiming Grandma. My husband didn't know why he didn't call her first. It was really funny because he watched my press conference and he says - and I mentioned it - and he says, "I didn't know you were talking to her yesterday. She didn't call me." I said, "She had to get out the door. She was eating her breakfast, she had to go." Because in their state, they don't have free breakfast at the school, okay? So, different state. So you come back here, you can have free breakfast, and you won't have to rush so much.

But I know it's a big time for parents and grandparents to have this milestone achieved, their little four-year-old going off into an environment where they know is going to propel them to great success in the long term. And those are the investments we're making right here in the State of New York, working closely with our partners in the legislature. And with that, let me bring up Andrea Stewart-Cousins to give some remarks about her neighboring district.