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 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 Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue's State of the State Address Early Learning -- Allocate an additional $6.4 million in lottery funds to bring the total number of Pre-K slots up to 79,000. (The first Pre-K class enters college this fall.) Economic Development -- Invest $40 million for venture capital to commercialize research in areas like biosciences and medicine coming out of our universities. Deregulation -- Continue to link flexibility with accountability. Follow through on the work of the Investing in Educational Excellence (IE2) task force by offering new options in exchange for performance.  Grant public schools some of the flexibility that charter schools enjoy through new contracts between the state and the local school systems. These contracts would require clear and measurable accountability standards, and would link flexibility with student achievement.  Finance -- Eliminate the state portion of property tax. -- Invest $65 million in funding two priority needs for schools – transportation (school buses) and 21st century technology.     Parent Involvement -- Institute the "VIP Recruiter" program – Very Important Parent Recruiters.  Invest $14.25 million, targeting our schools with the poorest attendance rates.  Simply put, a child's attendance record is a direct result of parental involvement.  These recruiters will help parents understand the education system, to help them make a connection with their child's teachers.  They will learn how and why to be supportive of their child's education.  Teacher compensation -- Continue to issue the $100 Classroom Gift Card to teachers.  http://gov.georgia.gov/00/press/detail/0,2668,78006749_102386494_103230743,00.html Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's State of the State Address Parent Involvement -- Promote, in every conceivable way, parent involvement and parent responsibility. Teaching Quality -- Recruitment, Alternative Certification -- Expand the talent pool of public educators. -- Attract and expand opportunities for mid-career professionals to become teachers. -- Attract the most talented young people to teaching. -- Make it easier for rising stars with needed subject-matter expertise to follow alternative pathways into the profession. Teaching Quality -- Math and Science Teachers -- Improve teacher training and evaluation but prioritize by focusing on areas of the most need and highest impact -- math and science. -- Increase funding for regional math and science academies by 50 percent -- to give teachers enhanced knowledge and skills that improve student performance. -- Design and deploy a world-leading summer training institute for the state's math and science teachers. Feature training in world-class .teaching methods, curriculum, technology and subject matter mastery. Train 1000 over the next two summers. Teaching Quality -- Tenure -- Improve teacher training and accountability by implementing a system of post-tenure review. Technology -- Develop a world-class, digitally stored, always available, anytime, jaw-dropping, eye-popping teaching toolbox accessible to all students and teachers. http://www.governor.state.mn.us/stellent/groups/public/documents/web_content/prod008674.pdf Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr.'s State of the State Address Assessment -- Kids are given way too many standardized tests, with little information flowing back. Let's find a way to allow teachers to do what they do best: teach. Continuing Education -- Aspire to produce true lifelong learners. Economic Development, Partnerships -- Reach beyond the fundamentals of education. Be more creative, innovative and flexible in adapting to the frequent changes in the labor market. Our approach to education, and life, must be a partnership with family, community and business. Finance -- Make historic investments in education. But investment must be coupled with new ideas and reform. We must raise standards, be more imaginative, re-evaluate how we test students and be realistic about our 21st Century workforce needs. Leadership -- Bolster principals with the accountability and responsibility they need to manage their schools. Principals should be given the ability to reward the good teachers and replace the bad ones. They need the tools to assess accurately how students in their schools are faring. Parental Involvement -- Encourage parents to reach higher with our kids. Spend more time with them and be a part of their education. Teachers cannot do it alone. We must read with them. Study with them, or attend Back to School Night. Scheduling/School Calendar -- Do not allow students, buildings and teachers to sit idle for three months every year. We don't have a good way to provide year-round contracts to our teachers: let's do it by beginning with math and science. We don't have good options for our kids to remediate or accelerate in their studies during the summer months: let's find them. We aren't ensuring that our students are prepared to meet the workforce needs of tomorrow: let's get it done. Teaching Quality -- Compensation: Continue our current rate of increasing compensation over the next four years so that, for the first time ever, Utah can surpass the national average. -- Preparation/Recruitment: Increase the number of educators being trained in our colleges. Right now 2,300 teachers graduate annually. In four years we can, and should, have 1,000 more teachers coming out of our colleges every year to teach in our classrooms. http://www.utah.gov/governor/news/2008/news_01_22_08.html 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