April 29 (UPI) — New York lawmakers have tentatively agreed to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s $254 billion state budget proposal that includes a “bell-to-bell” school cellphone ban.
“All I can say is, this is extraordinary,” the governor commented Tuesday morning at a childcare center in upstate.
The budget now goes to the state’s legislature for a full vote likely this week and hits a number of Hochul’s key items, such as an MTA bailout, public safety and initiatives targeted at the middle class.
“We got everything done that I set out to do, and I’m really, really proud of it,” Hochul said.
On Monday, the Empire State’s first woman governor said she was “proud” that the newly struck budget established “our landmark distraction-free schools policy.”
The “bell-to-bell” policy, which starts next school year around September and arrives with a $13.5 million state investment to help store devices, mandates that students will not have cellphone access even during lunch or free periods.
“We protected our kids before from cigarettes, alcohol and drunk driving, and now, we’re protecting them from addictive technology designed to hijack their attention,” Hochul said in Albany.
New York would join a growing list of at least 26 Republican and Democratic-lead states, like Virginia last year in July, that now ban or otherwise restrict the use of cellphones during a school day.
Hochul argued that her plan will protect kids from addictive technology and improve overall mental health.
“Protecting our communities requires more than streets where people feel safe,” she said. “We need classrooms where young minds can flourish, and that means eliminating once and for all the digital distractions that steal our kids’ attention.”
In May 2007, a judge upheld New York City’s school ban on cellphones where hundreds of its public schools already have restrictions in place for the largest school system in the United Staes.
The nation’s second largest school district, the Los Angeles Unified School District, last year in June voted 5 to 2 to ban cellphones.
Meanwhile, the New York State United Teachers union supported the ban, previously saying “we are at a crisis point.”
