Plugged In To Education

March 9, 2026

Coverage of updates in lower education, higher education & human services.

What’s Inside

  • EXPRESS NY Announced, a New Statewide Effort to Streamline Regulations
  • OCFS Partners With Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Boost Early Literacy
  • New York State Received Highest in the Nation Ranking for Technology Laws Keeping Kids Safe Online
  • Major Milestone Toward Launching Free Child Care For All Two-Year-Olds In NYC Announced
  • Governor Nominates Doris B. Gonzalez To Serve as Acting President of Higher Education Services Corporation
  • $10 Million Announced To Expand Access To Dental Care For Children
  • Comptroller DiNapoli Releases Reports
  • Legislature Elects Two Members to Board of Regents
  • Funding Opportunities
  • State Register
  • Coming Up

EXPRESS NY Announced, a New Statewide Effort to Streamline Regulations

Governor Kathy Hochul announced the launch of EXPRESS NY (Expediting Processes and Regulations to Enable Streamlined Services), a new statewide effort to make government work better by tackling outdated and burdensome regulations, policies, and practices that stand in the way of delivering for New Yorkers. EXPRESS NY is the next phase in the Governor’s 2026 State of the State commitment to cut excessive red tape to speed up government and make it easier, faster, and more affordable to deliver the critical projects and services that New Yorkers need. In October, Governor Hochul directed state agencies to identify outdated or obsolete regulations and policies. In this initial phase, agencies identified nearly 100 potential regulations and practices in need of reform, modernization or elimination. The State has launched a new portal for New Yorkers to identify regulations, policies, and practices that add unnecessary process, undue burden, or are simply out of date. The call for ideas will be open until April 3.

OCFS Partners With Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Boost Early Literacy

The New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) announced the launch of a partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library for an initiative that will provide free books each month to participating children up to age 5, regardless of family income. OCFS will distribute up to $1 million in grants to assist local partners who would like to participate in the program. Partners can include a New York State 501(c)(3) library, public library system, or not-for-profit organization; or a New York State school district or board of cooperative educational services (BOCES). The community partners will cover half of the cost of the book distribution, and the state grants will cover the other half.

New York State Received Highest in the Nation Ranking for Technology Laws Keeping Kids Safe Online

Governor Hochul announced that New York State has received the top spot in a national ranking for technology laws that are keeping kids safe online. The Anxious Generation Movement (TAG) analyzed state policies across the nation in a new study called “The Childhood Index,” a first-of-its-kind ranking of all 50 states on how well their tech laws and policies support healthy, flourishing childhoods, both online and offline. This honor recognizes Governor Hochul’s nation-leading online safety efforts, including the SAFE for Kids Act, the New York Child Data Protection Act, social media warning labels law, safeguards for AI Companions, distraction-free learning, and her Safe by Design proposal that is part of the FY27 Executive Budget.

Major Milestone Toward Launching Free Child Care For All Two-Year-Olds In NYC Announced

Governor Kathy Hochul joined Mayor Mamdani to announce the first major milestone in their plan to deliver free child care for two-year-olds in New York City, including the selection of the first four communities to receive 2,000 2-K seats this fall. The four communities that will receive 2,000 New York City 2-K seats are: Washington Heights and Inwood, Fordham and Kingsbridge, East Brooklyn: Canarsie, Brownsville, and Ocean Hill, and Ozone Park and Rockaways.

Governor Nominates Doris B. Gonzalez To Serve as Acting President of Higher Education Services Corporation

Governor Hochul nominated Doris B. Gonzalez to serve as Acting President of HESC. Originally joining HESC as the Executive Vice President in August 2023, Ms. Gonzalez provides administrative oversight and management of $1.02 billion in funding to administer more than 30 grants, scholarships and loan forgiveness programs that directly support nearly 300,000 students annually, including the NYS Tuition Assistance Program, one of the nation’s largest needs-based college financial aid programs. Before joining HESC, Ms. Gonzalez served as the Director of Delivery Management with Kyndryl Holdings, Inc., a multinational information technology infrastructure services provider, where she led an innovative Career Pathways program to help employees build their skills by continuously offering them the enriching experience of job rotation, matching them with mentors, providing training and other significant opportunities for career growth. Ms. Gonzalez will serve in acting roles until confirmed by the State Senate.

Governor Kathy Hochul also announced the appointment of Terry O’Leary to serve as Acting Commissioner of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES), and Colin Ahern to serve as New York State’s first-ever Director of Security and Intelligence (DSI). In this role, Director Ahern will provide strategic direction and further unify the State’s security assets on national security and intelligence matters. The DSI will also coordinate statewide activities to better respond to global risks and seize opportunities for advancing the defense industrial base and technologies crucial to national security.

$10 Million Announced To Expand Access To Dental Care For Children

The New York State Department of Health announced $10 million to enhance dental care services at school-based health centers and improve oral health outcomes for children across the state. Funding will be distributed to 33 school-based health centers across the state over five years. School-based health centers deliver free comprehensive primary and preventive health care to children in low-income and high-risk communities and utilize interdisciplinary care teams composed of nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, physician assistants, dentists, dental hygienists, social workers, and other allied professionals. 

Comptroller DiNapoli Releases Reports

State’s Tuition Assistance Program Not Keeping Up With Inflation, Tuition Costs

A new report from State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli finds that New York’s Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), the state’s primary need-based grant program for college students, has not kept pace with inflation or rising tuition costs since the 2008-09 academic year (AY) and that undergraduate TAP recipients dropped by 77,000 (21%), with steep declines among two-year programs (45%), private-sector schools (40%), and lowest income households (38%). “TAP has helped generations of New Yorkers attend college, but it’s falling behind the realities of today’s costs,” DiNapoli said. “Updating award criteria so that TAP continues to be a useful support for families is needed to help New York retain talent and ensure students have the resources they need to succeed.”

Bullying and Drug-Related Incidents in Schools on the Rise

A report by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli found bullying and drug-related incidents statewide are on the rise, even exceeding pre-pandemic highs, while the rates for the number of serious violent and disruptive incidents remained near zero even after students returned to in-school instruction, and have stayed low. The report examined seven years of data from the New York State Education Department’s (SED) School Safety and Educational Climate (SSEC) report.

Legislature Elects Two Members to Board of Regents

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Senate Education Committee Chair Shelley B. Mayer, Assembly Education Committee Chair Michael Benedetto, Senate Higher Education Committee Chair Toby Ann Stavisky and Assembly Higher Education Committee Chair Alicia Hyndman announced the Legislature has elected Janice Weinman Shorenstein and reelected Patrick A. Mannion to the New York State Board of Regents.

Patrick A. Mannion (fifth Judicial District) was first elected to serve as regent in 2024.He served as vice chair of the Columbian Financial Group in Syracuse prior to his retirement in 2020, and currently is an active member of the Fayetteville Fire Department where he is a firefighter, emergency medical technician, lieutenant and public information officer. Previously he served as chairman, president and CEO of Unity Mutual Life Insurance Company.

Janice Weinman Shorenstein (at large) serves as CEO of Education Through Music, which provides music education as a core subject to 20,000 students in New York City. Previously, she was CEO of Hadassah and president of Kids in Distressed Situations, Inc. Over her career, she has also served as vice president of Academic Affairs at the Fashion Institute of Technology and special assistant to the U.S. commissioner of Education.

Funding Opportunities

The New York State Office of Children & Family Services (OCFS) announced a Solicitation of Interest (SOI) for qualified entities to participate in the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL), a community-based program mailing free, high-quality, age-appropriate books to registered children from birth until their 5th birthday. Due date: 04/30/2026 04:00 PM

The State Education Department announced a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Extended School Day/School Violence Prevention (ESD/SVP) Program to award competitive grants to provide support to students through extended school day activities and/or school safety programs that promote violence prevention. Programs must demonstrate consistency with the school safety plans required by of New York State Education Law and should not displace existing school district after-school funding. School districts and not-for-profit organizations working in collaboration with a public school district(s) may submit an application to conduct either an ESD program or an SVP program. Due date: 04/17/2026 05:00 PM

On behalf of the New York State Commission on National and Community Service (the Commission), the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) seeks applicants for AmeriCorps New York FY 2026 Competitive grant funding. The Commission, established by an Executive Order of the Governor in 1994, is a governor-appointed body with representatives of business, labor, education, government, human services, and community-based organizations. Due date: Applications / proposals continuously accepted

The Food and Nutrition Policy Bureau of the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Nutrition Navigators-DS RFP to secure the services of eligible organizations to develop and implement innovative ways to connect potentially eligible individuals with SNAP benefits in areas of the State that are underserved. This RFP seeks outreach to geographic areas of the State that have not previously been served with SNAP outreach activities or which are underserved. Due date: 04/03/2026 02:00 PM

State Register

State Education Department

  • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) (Adopted)
  • Examination Requirements for Optometry Licensure (Proposed)
  • Epinephrine Devices (Proposed)
  • Special Education Impartial Hearing Officers (IHOs) (Revised/Proposed)

Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance

  • Standard Utility Allowances (SUAs) for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (Adopted)

Coming Up

2026 Regents Meeting Dates

  • April 13 – 14
  • May 18 – 19
  • June 15 – 16
  • July 13 – 14
  • August – Recess
  • September 14 – 15
  • October 5 – 6
  • November 9 – 10
  • December 7 – 8

Not-For-Profit Contracting Advisory Committee

  • April 28, 2026, 12 PM – 1:30 PM
  • June 9, 2026, 12 PM – 1:30 PM
  • September 15, 2026, 12 PM – 1:30 PM

Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board (OSFAB)

  • May 13, 2026

Plugged In to Education is prepared by Hinman Straub P.C. and is intended to keep our clients informed about news and Legislative and regulatory developments that may affect or otherwise be of interest to them. The comments contained herein do not constitute legal opinion and should not be regarded as a substitute for legal advice. If you prefer not to receive these updates, please alert us so we may remove you from our distribution list. © Hinman Straub P.C. 2025. All rights reserved.