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 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 Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano's State of the State Address Drugs/Alcohol -- Direct that substance abuse dollars be targeted so that the families of children in the child protective system are first in line for treatment and services. Early Learning -- Implement the voter-approved initiative aimed at early childhood. Beginning with the youngest children, focus on preschool and quality child care, so that children are fully prepared for the all-day kindergarten we now provide. English Language Learners -- 15 percent of students come from families that do not speak English. These students must learn to read, write and speak in English as soon as possible. I put this challenge to legislative leadership: take our tax dollars out of court and put them back in the classroom, where they belong. Health --Implement KidsShare to allow families – who are currently shut out of the health care system – to buy health insurance for their children at the parents' cost, with no subsidy from the state's general fund. -- Direct the Department of Administration to find ways for the State Health Insurance plan to allow all young adults – up to the age of 25 – to continue coverage on their parents' insurance, so long as this can be done in a way that is cost-neutral to taxpayers. High School -- Look at everything – including AIMS – to make sure we're testing for the right things, at the right times, and for the right reasons. Now that we've changed the graduation standards, tests need to be changed to match. -- Make reasonable alternatives available for students who can't succeed in a regular classroom (An Arizona diploma should demonstrate that a student is fully prepared for higher education, whether in a technical or vocational setting, a community college, or a university.) -- Implement strong support for students to meet the higher expectations; reward students when they succeed. -- Create the Centennial Scholars program to guarantee free tuition at Arizona's community colleges or universities for any student who stays out of trouble and maintains at least a "B" average during high school (beginning with the eighth graders of today who are the high school class of 2012 – Arizona's centennial class, and with all the classes that follow). -- Raise the high-school dropout age to 18. Teaching Quality -- Sustain a higher-quality corps of math and science teachers by expanding teacher loan forgiveness, scholarships, and incentives. Tuition -- For students who begin college at an Arizona university, prohibit raising his or her tuition for four years. Postsecondary Completion -- Double the number of bachelor's degrees issued by state universities by 2020. Provide support to universities to increase graduation rates, retain more students, create more options for students in rural areas, enroll more first-generation students, and boost the number of students coming from community colleges. http://www.governor.state.az.us/dms/upload/GS_2008%20SOS%20Address.pdf Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm's State of the State Address Focus on four things: 1) A job for every worker. 2) Affordable health care for every family. 3) Safe places to live and work for all of us. 4) Quality education for our citizens - kids and adults. Accountability -- Give our state superintendent broader authority to close schools that consistently fail to meet academic goals. -- Reward colleges and universities when their students complete degrees. Also reward them when they create opportunity for low-income students, and when they find ways to turn research ideas into businesses. Invest more in higher education and expect more in return. Early Learning Significantly expand early childhood education. Economic/Workforce Development -- Create Centers of Excellence across the state to bring alternative energy companies and Michigan universities together to create new products and new jobs. -- Double the number of college graduates to give Michigan the best-educated workforce in the nation. To reach that goal, make progress throughout our education system, from preschool to grad school to on-the-job training. -- Invest more in training for adults already in the workforce. This past year, we took a giant step forward in workforce training when we launched the No Worker Left Behind initiative. Our goal is to give 100,000 workers displaced by changes in our economy access to college education and other training that prepares them for specific high demand jobs. We're offering free tuition for training in areas of need to the first 100,000 workers who sign up. Unfortunately, the huge demand for No Worker Left Behind will soon exhaust the federal funds used to pay for this program. That means Michigan residents who want new skills are on waiting lists when they could be on payrolls. The budget I propose next week will ensure that the thousands who need training are able to get it this year. Finance -- Increase our investment in our K-12 schools and significantly expand early childhood education. Financial Aid -- Expand the vision of the Kalamazoo Promise to communities across our state. (In Kalamazoo, anonymous donors promised full college tuition for every high school graduate.) Tutoring/Mentoring -- Recruiting 10,000 more mentors for kids. High School -- Establish a 21st Century Schools Fund to replace large impersonal high schools that fail, with smaller schools that use firm discipline and strong personal relationships to help students reach high expectations. Free from red tape and bureaucracy, these schools will deploy the new three Rs - rigor, relevance and relationships - to keep students in high school and then get them to college or technical training. Our 21st Century Schools Fund will give school districts the resources they need to create high schools that work. A pioneering group of schools in Michigan is showing us today there is a better way. -- Create 100 more early college high schools to help ensure every student in Michigan leaves high school with the skills it takes to succeed in college and the work place. In the past year, we created six early college high schools, which each partner with a major hospital in our state and a college or university. -- Raise the dropout age to 18. Kindergarten -- Ask all of our school districts to begin offering full day kindergarten. http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168--184537--,00.html 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