By Nancy Cantor

In his State of the State address, Gov. David Paterson declared, “The road to economic development runs right through our schools.”

Truer words were never spoken. Only knowledge can drive the global economy out of its tumult. We must ensure that every child is prepared by receiving an affordable college education.

Knowing the economic downturn has stretched the boundaries of financial need, the governor seeks to strengthen the state’s partnership with the public and private higher education community through the new Higher Education Loan Program. This initiative will provide access to the critical funding students and families need.

He also rightfully recognizes that our future talent base is increasingly located in our urban centers. Yet these are the students isolated from educational opportunity — stranded in vastly under-resourced schools, without the opportunities that place their middle-class suburban peers on a successful path to college.

As the governor noted, we need to address this challenge, and New York’s higher education community is joining in public-private partnerships to create innovative educational models for the long term.

Collaboration and innovation are the answer, and the governor highlights critical demonstrations of this, whether in CUNY’s Early College High School programs, or the very ambitious Say Yes to Education and Economic Development initiative, which will alter the life course of students and the economic prospects of an entire city — starting in Syracuse.

The Say Yes Foundation has a proven track record –from Philadelphia to Harlem, Hartford to Cambridge –of achieving exactly the results we need in our urban schools. The Syracuse initiative, the first-ever district-wide implementation, will significantly increase the college-attendance rate for an entire urban school district by breaking down the social, emotional, health and financial barriers that keep students from succeeding.

Through the Higher Education Compact, Say Yes will eliminate the most significant financial obstacle: the cost of a high-quality college education. Say Yes and Syracuse University have assembled an unprecedented network of two dozen private institutions that have promised free tuition to qualified, graduating students from Syracuse schools.

We applaud the governor’s support for SUNY and CUNY joining the compact. This will offer students the critical opportunity to attend one of New York’s outstanding public institutions. Importantly, pending legislation authorizes Say Yes to expand to five other Upstate cities.

Syracuse Say Yes is the proof of concept; the road to prosperity must run through all of New York’s under-resourced districts if we are to capitalize on our talent for the future.

The governor rightly pointed out New York faces its greatest fiscal challenge in a century and to restore our competitiveness, we must invest in our children. Say Yes provides a compelling model for urban school district reform, and a road map for stimulating urban economic prosperity. It is a powerful tool to rejuvenate our urban centers by producing dramatically stronger schools, stronger linkages to colleges and universities, a stronger workforce and new economic growth.

The governor said New Yorkers have the greatest human capital anywhere. Programs like Say Yes and the Higher Education Loan Program will help develop that precious asset and rebuild New York’s road to economic prosperity.

Nancy Cantor is chancellor and president of Syracuse University.