Years ago, Senate Minority Leader David Paterson had a teacher who read to him after school so he could keep up. When he asked what he could do in return, that teacher, Clarice Broderick, now retired from the Hempstead Classroom Teachers Association, said she wanted him to do something with his knowledge.

Standing before a packed house at the NYSUT annual convention, Paterson highlighted some of the things he's done since then to keep that pledge.

When he was first elected to the state Senate, he invited Broderick - his "all-time favorite teacher" - to introduce him. Today, he's the Senate democratic leader, running for lieutenant governor.

He described himself as the first legally blind student to graduate from Hempstead schools. And he has been a staunch supporter of education, working to eliminate programs that do not work and bolster the ones that do.

When funding and evaluation come from testing, Paterson said, "a program or an individual can be shut down" by a poor score.

With crowded classrooms, Paterson said, it's "no way to assess education and value professionals."

He criticized a governor who has not followed a court decision in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case to satisfactorily fund New York City schools.

"The gap in education between those who learn and those who fall behind starts at age 3," Paterson said, calling for universal pre-K "so we can teach to people who really want to learn."

Paterson, noting relatively low rankings for the U.S. in math and science assessments compared to other industrialized countries, called for more resources for education.

The senator expressed frustration about the lack of funding for more full-time faculty and budget cuts to state colleges and universities.

Education, he said, is derived from the Latin meaning "to lead out."

"Through learning, we'll lead our state out of problems," he said.