The following summary includes education-related proposals from the 2012 state of the state address. To assure that this information reaches you in a timely manner, minimal attention has been paid to style (capitalization, punctuation) or format.
|
Governor Bob McDonnell's State of the State Address
PROPOSALS
Dual Enrollment
-- Promote greater dual enrollment in high school and community college.
Finance
-- Increase funding for K-12 education by $438 million over this biennium. Funding will go towards:
+ Communities in Schools program
+ For all 10th graders to take the PSAT
+ Hire more teachers in science, technology and math
+ Improve financial literacy
+ Increase dollars going to the classroom
+ Start up of new health science academies
+ Strengthen the Virginia Retirement System for teachers and school employees
+ Strengthen Virginia's diploma requirements
P-3 - Reading/Literacy
-- Fund policies to ensure all young people can read proficiently by third grade.
Postsecondary - Finance
-- Invest over $200 million in new funding for colleges and universities.
-- Institute a dynamic new funding model for higher education.
+ Reward institutions for increasing the number of degrees, especially in STEM-H fields; improving graduation rates, and expanding practical research.
+ Require colleges to be more accountable and efficient by re-prioritizing 5 percent of their current general fund dollars by 2014 to meet the key policy goals enacted last year.
School Calendar
-- Repeal the state mandate that school divisions begin their school term after Labor Day unless they receive a waiver. Give local districts the flexibility to choose.
School Choice
-- Expand charter schools
-- Require a portion of the state and local share of Standards of Quality (SOQ) student funding to follow the child to an approved charter school.
-- Make approval process and acquisition of property easier for new charters.
Teacher Quality - Evaluations and Employment (tenure)
-- Implement an improved evaluation system.
-- Remove continuing contract status from teachers and principals and replace with annual contract status.
Virtual Schooling
-- Ensure that a portion of the state and local share of SOQ student funding follows the student to the virtual school sector.
-- Implement new regulations for accrediting virtual schools and teachers.
Vouchers--Tax Credits
-- Provide a tax credit for companies that contribute to an educational scholarship fund.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Finance
-- Invested wisely for the future in education.
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/MediaLibrary/Speeches/2012/SOC.cfm |
|