The First 30 Days with Assembly Member Latrice Walker

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - April 6, 2015 - PRLog -- On Saturday, February 14, 2015, Assembly Member Latrice Walker joined Inner Force Tots, along with state and education leaders, for an education panel at the New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators 44th Annual Legislative Conference in Albany, New York. The panel called, Education – The Civil Rights Issue of Our Time: An Early Start for an Equal Opportunity, moderated by Assemblywoman Walker, pointed to the future and enforced the work that must be done on behalf of young children across the city and state. The panel addressed the chronic low performance of the nation's urban school systems – one of the most challenging issues facing educators and policymakers today.


The panel was co-sponsored by Assembly Member Nick Perry, Assembly Member Latrice Walker and Senator Jesse Hamilton. To bring diverse perspectives to the discussion, the panel included Dr. Garey Ellis, CEO of Inner Force Tots, Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (9th Congressional District-NY), Senator Jesse Hamilton (20th Senate District-NY), Melanie Hartzog, Executive Director at the Children’s Defense Fund, Betty Holcomb, Policy Director at the Center for Children’s Initiatives, Andre Eaton at the Parent-Child Home Program, and Diane Richardson at Boys Town New York. The conversation focused on roles educators and policymakers can play in leveling the playing field and reversing negative trends; the under-utilization and underfunding of Universal Pre-K (UPK); changing the dynamics of early education; the School to Prison pipeline; and provisions for early education enrollment in New York City. The students we serve today are more than twice as likely to be living in poverty, more likely to have difficulty speaking English, less likely to live in a two-parent family, almost twice as likely to be assigned to special education, far more likely to drop out and more likely to move frequently, disrupting their education – such is the reality for the many communities in Assembly Member Walker’s district. "We cannot afford to postpone investing in children until they become adults, nor can we wait until they reach school age—a time when it may be too late to intervene. Learning is a dynamic process and is most effective when it begins at a young age and continues through to adulthood,” James Heckmen once concluded, a Nobel Laureate in economics at the University of Chicago.


Assembly Member Walker, as a mother, whole-heartedly believes in good quality early education that is multi-dimensional with a focus on the holistic development of children in the early stages of their childhood. Since taking her new Assembly seat in January, Ms. Walker has been on the fast track - marching for fair and quality education, and calling for full funding of public schools and rejecting the agenda of high-stakes testing and privatization. She has also stood with colleagues and advocates to call for an increase in education funding, and worked to donate over 100 toys to local children in Brownsville during the Christmas holiday. Ms. Walker has proven her dedication and tenacity to fight for her Brooklyn community, from galvanizing support for additional state funding for a new hospital in East Brooklyn to ensuring housing programs don’t exclude the very people they’re designed to help. In leading the conversation on early education in February, Assemblywoman Walker brings voice, loud and clear, for the underserved in Brooklyn.

Latrice Monique Walker was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2014 to fill a vacant seat in the 55th Assembly District. A native of the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, Assemblywoman Latrice Walker is a licensed attorney, and has made a name for herself as a strong advocate from the streets of Brownsville to the Halls of Justice. Assemblywoman Latrice Walker resides in Ocean-Hill Brownsville and is the proud mother of daughter Nile Anderson. She serves as a Member of the following committees: Committee on Correction; Committee on Economic Development, Job Creation, Commerce and Industry; Committee on Election Law; Committee on Energy; and Committee on Housing. If you would like to contact Assemblywoman Walker’s district office, the office will be located at 400 Rockaway Avenue, 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11212, call 212-312-1484 or email WalkerL@assembly.state.ny.us.