2008 State of the State Addresses Education-Related Proposals by Issue

The following summary includes education-related proposals from the 2008 state of the state addresses. To assure that this information reaches you in a timely manner, minimal attention has been paid to style (capitalization, punctuation) or format. To view the documents, click on the blue triangle next to the state. Accountability 2 Accountability--Sanctions/Interventions 2 Accountability--School Improvement 3 Assessment 2 At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention) 1 At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention)--Drugs/Alcohol 4 Attendance 1 Bilingual/ESL 1 Career/Technical Education 3 Career/Technical Education--Career Academies/Apprenticeship 1 Choice of Schools 1 Choice of Schools--Charter Schools 1 Counseling/Guidance 1 Curriculum 2 Curriculum--Arts Education 1 Curriculum--Mathematics 2 Curriculum--Science 3 Economic/Workforce Development 22 Finance 4 Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner's State of the State Address Early Learning -- Continue to support the efforts of the Vision 2015 group, an organization of business leaders, educators and state officials who are committed to a plan to make our schools the best in the world. In that effort, we will recommend an appropriation of $500,000 to continue to invest in early childhood education. Distance Education -- Make the virtual school a reality by investing more than $250,000 in that cutting-edge project. Finance -- Devote any cost savings through this effort to our early childhood education initiatives and other classroom programs. Cost savings were identified by the 18-member Leadership for Education Achievement in Delaware (or LEAD) Committee.) Health -- Get Lieutenant Governor Carney's Challenge program in every single elementary school in Delaware by this time next year. (In Delaware schools, nurses, teachers, and principals have been innovative in creating programs to address the growing problem of childhood obesity through this program -- now in 43% of elementary schools.) Kindergarten -- Continue funding for full-day kindergarten, a program that helps children get additional time in the classroom as they are building the foundation for their educational success. Budget proposal for the next fiscal year includes state funding for full-day kindergarten in 11 districts and nine charter schools Financial Aid -- Pass the Student Academic Reward scholarship program, or STAR. The STAR scholarship would enable high-achieving SEED graduates to continue on to a four-year, tuition-free bachelor's degree. (The SEED scholarship program offers free college tuition to any student who works hard, stays out of trouble, and gets good grades.) Safety -- Support the Departments of Education and Safety and Homeland Security in joining forces to protect our children. Beginning this spring, the Delaware State Police will begin offering fingerprinting and other safety-related tools to every fourth-grader in every elementary school in our state. Over time, every school-age child will participate in this program. http://governor.delaware.gov/speeches/2008_state_of_the_state.shtml#TopOfPage Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius' State of the State Address Early Learning -- Extend the state's network of quality early learning opportunities for children during their most formative years. -- Make sure that more Kansas children have a successful start by funding pre-natal care and newborn screening, Parents as Teachers, Early Head Start and quality child care. -- Provide a new Early Childhood Block Grant, driven by research-based programming and accountability measures, focused on at-risk children and under-served areas. -- Fund all-day kindergarten. Economic Development -- Open centers at Colby Community College and Neosho Community College, concentrating on attracting investment, job growth, and business development to our rural areas. Finance -- Extend the current three-year, billion-dollar school finance plan adopted in 2006. Financial Aid -- Invest significant new state resources proposed for post-secondary education, to lower the costs for parents, students and Kansas families. Provide an additional $3 million in scholarship money to ensure that 2,000 more students can afford the opportunity to compete in our new innovation economy. High School -- Fund the Kansas Academy of Math and Science -- to open in 2009 at Fort Hays State University -- to ensure that talented young Kansans have the opportunity to be the next generation of world-class innovators. Teacher Recruitment -- Provide 1 million for teaching scholarships in math, science and technology. http://www.kansascity.com/static/pdfs/2008_sos.pdf Maine Governor Jon E. Baldacci's State of the State Address Early Learning -- It's my goal that children start school ready to learn, and graduate from college ready and able to succeed here in Maine. -- Continue to work with more than 200 Maine business and community leaders to transform the Children's Cabinet Task Force on Early Childhood into a Children's Growth Council. Economic Development -- Keep more of our home-grown graduates here, and open the door of opportunity for the next generation of Maine entrepreneurs and leaders. Finance -- By the end of next year we will have invested more than $1 billion new State dollars in local education. -- Bring together three of the largest purchasers of health care in the State for a new initiative to save taxpayer money and provide better care to consumers. The Maine State Employees Health Commission, the University of Maine System and the Maine Education Association will join forces and put their enormous buying power to work to lower prescription drug costs. Financial Aid -- The Alfond College Challenge provides a $500 dollar education grant to every child born in Maine that will help them start a college savings account. It began last week in Augusta and will expand statewide in 2009. Working through the Finance Authority of Maine and in cooperation with Maine's hospitals, families in this State will have been given a head start on higher education. School Districts -- We are on our way to a new structure that will better serve our people. It will save taxpayers money and provide a better education for our children. Legislation introduced this year and already approved by the Education Committee will further strengthen the new law (that law reduces the number of school administrative units from 290 to 80.) Continue with the work of reducing the number of school administrative units. http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=Gov+News&id=48517&v=Article-2006 Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman's State of the State Address Ensure a pre-kindergarten through college education system that is accountable, affordable, efficient, and student focused. Accountability, Standards -- Accountability requires measuring school district academic success and Nebraska needs a simplified student measurement system for comparing school district performance. The goal is better testing, not more testing. School district leaders need to focus their time and energy on closing the academic achievement gap. More parents need to be involved in their children's education. More rigorous academic standards are needed in our schools and overall academic performance must be improved. Economic Development -- Create a new tier of performance based incentives that reward the creation of higher paying jobs through a new program called the Nebraska Super Advantage. The Nebraska Super Advantage is about the next decade and the next generation of Nebraskans. Finance -- Expand the tax relief package passed during the 2007 session by directing an additional $75 million to property tax reductions. -- Fully-fund the state aid to schools formula. Provide an additional $53 million in funding for K-12 schools in FY 2008-09, bringing the state's appropriation for K-12 education to more than $900 million next year. Health -- Reverse the trend of childhood obesity. Obesity is a problem that needs to be addressed in our schools, in our work places, in our homes, and in our communities. This issue doesn't require a new law. It's about eating properly and exercising regularly. Both children and adults need to be physically active. State Student Information System -- Fund development of a single student information system for the University of Nebraska and the Nebraska State College System. Postsecondary -- Nebraska's higher education system should also be more accountable, more integrated and more efficient. The University of Nebraska, our state colleges and our community colleges can work together in a more cooperative manner. The University of Nebraska is a key component to Nebraska's future and they must redefine their priorities to reflect the education and financial challenges of the 21st century. -- Increasing the college attendance rate is critical. Expanded enrollment means increased tuition revenue growth which is necessary given the fiscal realities of the state budget. -- Increased enrollments and revenues to our colleges through innovation like the University of Nebraska at Omaha's differential tuition rate to attract more students to UNO are important. http://www.gov.state.ne.us/speeches/2008_01/200801StateOfTheState.pdf Finance--Adequacy/Core Cost 3 Finance--Facilities 10 Finance--Funding Formulas 5 Finance--Lotteries 1 Finance--Resource Efficiency 2 Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures 17 Finance--Taxes/Revenues 8 Governance 2 Governance--Deregulation/Waivers/Home Rule 2 Governance--State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies 1 Health 13 High School 11 High School--Advanced Placement 1 High School--College Readiness 1 High School--Dual/Concurrent Enrollment 1 High School--Early Colleges/Middle Colleges 1 International Benchmarking 1 Leadership 2 Mentoring/Tutoring 1 No Child Left Behind 1 No Child Left Behind--Choice/Transfer 1 No Child Left Behind--School Support 2 Online Learning--Virtual Schools/Courses 2 P-16 or P-20 3 P-3 16 P-3 Child Care 1 P-3 Ensuring Quality 1 P-3 Kindergarten 5 P-3 Kindergarten--Full-Day Kindergarten 1 P-3 Preschool 6 Parent/Family 3 Postsecondary 8 Postsecondary Accountability 1 Postsecondary Affordability--Financial Aid 16 Postsecondary Affordability--Tuition/Fees 6 Postsecondary Affordability--Tuition/Fees--Prepd/College Savings Plans 1 Postsecondary Finance 5 Postsecondary Governance and Structures 3 Postsecondary Institutions--Community/Technical Colleges 5 Postsecondary Participation--Access 3 Postsecondary Students--Adults 4 Postsecondary Success--Completion 2 Reading/Literacy 2 Remediation (K-12) 2 Scheduling/School Calendar 3 Scheduling/School Calendar--Extended Day Programs 2 School Safety 8 School/District Structure/Operations 2 School/District Structure/Operations--Transportation 1 Special Education 2 Standards 2 State Longitudinal Data Systems 1 STEM 8 Student Achievement 1 Student Achievement--Closing the Achievement Gap 1 Teaching Quality 5 Teaching Quality--Certification and Licensure 1 Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay 13 Teaching Quality--Induction Programs and Mentoring 2 Teaching Quality--Preparation 2 Teaching Quality--Recruitment and Retention 5 Teaching Quality--Recruitment and Retention--At-Risk Schools 1 Teaching Quality--Tenure or Continuing Contract 1 Technology 4 Technology--Computer Skills 1 Technology--Devices/Software/Hardware 1 Technology--Internet Safety 1 308