Keshia Clukey is reporting at Politico New York the state Assembly intends to restore funding for educational opportunity programs cut by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his proposed 2017-18 budget. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has made opportunity programs, specifically those targeting low-income students of color, a priority. The programs provide increased academic support and financial aid. “I’ll tell you that each of the opportunity programs at SUNY and CUNY deliver extraordinary results, targeting talented students who ... have now achieved their dreams of a college education and secured their own paths to the middle class,” the Bronx Democrat said in a statement to Politico. Cuomo’s $152.3 billion spending plan includes approximately $177 million for opportunity programs, far less than the nearly $210 million allocated in the 2016-17 state budget. Read the full story at Politico New York.