2009 State of the State Addresses Education-Related Proposals by Issue

The following summary includes education-related proposals from the 2009 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 9 Accountability--Rewards 1 Accountability--Sanctions/Interventions 1 Accountability--School Improvement 1 Assessment 4 Assessment--College Entrance Exams 1 At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention) 8 At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention)--Alternative Education 1 Bilingual/ESL 2 Business Involvement 19 Career/Technical Education 10 Choice of Schools 2 Choice of Schools--Charter Schools 5 Civic Education--Character Education 1 Class Size 2 Curriculum 5 Curriculum--Arts Education 1 Curriculum--Foreign Language/Sign Language 1 Curriculum--Language Arts 1 Curriculum--Language Arts--Writing/Spelling 2 Curriculum--Mathematics 13 Curriculum--Science 11 Demographics--Enrollments 1 Economic/Workforce Development 45 Education Research 1 Equity 1 Federal 15 Finance 48 Finance--Adequacy/Core Cost 2 Finance--Bonds 2 Finance--District 3 Finance--Facilities 12 Finance--Federal 14 Finance--Funding Formulas 12 Finance--Local Foundations/Funds 1 Finance--Lotteries 5 Finance--Performance Funding 2 Finance--Resource Efficiency 12 Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures 45 Finance--Taxes/Revenues 20 Governance 10 Governance--School Boards 4 Governance--State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies 28 Health 10 Health--Mental Health 1 Health--Nutrition 4 High School 13 High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates 9 High School--Dual/Concurrent Enrollment 1 High School--Early Colleges/Middle Colleges 1 High School--Exit Exams 1 High School--Graduation Requirements 2 International Benchmarking 1 Leadership 8 Mentoring/Tutoring 2 Middle School 1 Minority/Diversity Issues 2 Online Learning--Virtual Schools/Courses 4 P-16 or P-20 3 P-3 15 P-3 Early Intervention (0-3) 1 P-3 Family Involvement 1 P-3 Finance 5 P-3 Grades 1-3 5 P-3 Kindergarten 6 P-3 Preschool 4 P-3 Public/Private Partnerships 1 Parent/Family 7 Postsecondary 40 Postsecondary Accountability 1 Postsecondary Affordability--Financial Aid 17 Postsecondary Affordability--Tuition/Fees 22 Postsecondary Faculty 5 Postsecondary Finance 25 Postsecondary Governance and Structures 1 Postsecondary Institutions--Community/Technical Colleges 16 Postsecondary Institutions--For-Profit/Proprietary 2 Postsecondary Participation--Access 4 Postsecondary Participation--Enrollments (Statistics) 1 Postsecondary Students--Adults 10 Postsecondary Students--Graduate/Professional 2 Postsecondary Success--Completion 4 Promotion/Retention 1 Public Involvement 5 Reading/Literacy 2 Rural 4 Scheduling/School Calendar 3 Scheduling/School Calendar--Extended Day Programs 3 Scheduling/School Calendar--Summer School 2 School Safety 4 School/District Structure/Operations 10 School/District Structure/Operations--School Size 1 Service-Learning 1 Social/Emotional Learning and Non-Cognitive Skills 2 Special Education 3 Special Populations--Foster Care 3 Standards 4 State Policymaking 2 STEM 1 Student Achievement 13 Students 1 Teaching Quality 18 Teaching Quality--Certification and Licensure 1 Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay 25 Teaching Quality--Induction Programs and Mentoring 2 Teaching Quality--Preparation 3 Teaching Quality--Professional Development 3 Teaching Quality--Recruitment and Retention 5 Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's State of the State Address Charter Schools, Finance, Finance--Funding Formulas, Finance--Performance Funding, School Districts, Student Achievement, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Expand the Q Comp program (gives school districts more funding if they pay staff for improvements in student learning, rather than just paying for seniority) to every school district and charter school. For school districts not currently in Q Comp, this proposal will permanently increase per pupil funding by an amount comparable to a 5 percent increase in the general education funding formula. Charter Schools, Governance, Leadership, School Districts -- Improve the management of our schools. -- Require school districts and charter schools to come together to purchase in bulk to lower costs, eliminate waste and put more money in the classroom. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance--Taxes/Revenues -- Propose a Minnesota Jobs Recovery Act. -- Cut the state's business tax rate in half (from 9.8 percent to 4.8 percent) over the next 6 years. -- Provide a 50 million dollar package of tax credits that to create over 100 million dollars in new investments and jump start small business job creation. -- Propose a 25 percent refundable tax credit for small business owners that re-invest in their business quickly. -- Provide a capital gains exemption for qualifying investments in small Minnesota businesses. -- Eliminate the sales tax rebate on equipment and provide a 100 percent exemption from the sales tax – applies when the business buys the equipment. -- Enact a green jobs initiative. -- Create green JOBZ tax free zones for renewable energy jobs created anywhere in the state. Finance, Finance--Funding Formulas, Finance--Performance Funding, School Districts, Student Achievement -- Increase school district funding by up to an additional 2 percent per student for students meeting standards or at least showing reasonable growth towards achievement. Finance--Taxes/Revenues -- Ask each member of the legislature: Please don't add to the people's burden by increasing their bill from government; please don't take more of the people's money; and please don't raise taxes. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Continue to reform and improve our K-12 education system--one of our highest priorities. -- Plan to propose a budget in a couple of weeks that will rely on significant reductions in state spending, as well as using other resources currently available. -- Reduce funding for cities and counties. -- Reduce or eliminate as many state mandates as possible. Allow townships, cities or counties to opt-out of some state mandates by vote of their governing body. -- Freeze all state government wages for the next two years in order to minimize government employee layoffs. -- Enact legislation to require a wage freeze for any Minnesota government entity that accepts state money. -- Require local units of government to use the leverage of the state's buying power to purchase commodities such as road salt, paper and IT services at a reduced price, unless they can find a better price themselves. Governance, Leadership, School Districts, Unions/Collective Bargaining -- Change the way school districts and teacher unions negotiate and settle labor contracts. Begin using a fair arbitration process. High School, High School--Grad Requirements, Technology, Technology--Instruction -- Propose that state high school graduation standards require every student to participate in an online experience by the time they graduate. Postsecondary, Distance Learning/Virtual University -- Ask state colleges and universities to aggressively deliver more of their courses online. I'm grateful that MnSCU's board and leadership accepted my recent challenge to deliver 25 percent of their credits online by 2015. Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Impose a firm cap on tuition increases. Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Compensation, Teaching Quality--Preparation, Teaching Quality--Recruitment/Retention -- Recruit the best and the brightest to become teachers. -- Establish minimum entrance requirements for teacher preparation programs. -- Continue to improve and modernize the way we pay teachers. http://www.governor.state.mn.us/stellent/groups/public/documents/web_content/prod009309.pdf Missouri Governor Jay Nixon's State of the State Address Alternative Education, Finance, Safety/Student Discipline -- Increase funding for the Safe Schools program, which promotes alternative schools for disruptive students. Career/Technical Education, Finance -- Continue funding for career education. Early Learning, Early Learning--Finance, Finance -- Propose a larger investment in early childhood education. -- Increase funding for First Steps, a program that helps children get off on the right foot. Early Learning, Finance, Finance--Funding Formulas, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Postsecondary, Teaching Quality -- Fully fund the education foundation formula. Even in these difficult economic times, that is not negotiable. Must prepare every child to compete from pre-school to college. -- Propose more than 3 billion in state aid to classrooms. -- Continue funding for the Small Schools Program. -- Support our teachers. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Invest in technology, science, and innovation to create the next-generation jobs we need to compete in the 21st-Century. -- Create new jobs now. -- Proposed (several weeks ago) the initial pieces of our Show Me Jobs plan--a series of steps to create jobs and stimulate economic growth. -- Signed (several weeks ago) three executive orders to help spur job creation. -- Proposed a new low-interest loan program for small businesses. -- Create an Automotive Jobs Task Force to revitalize the automobile industry in Missouri. -- Expand The Quality Jobs Act. -- Increase funding for job development and training programs by 38 percent, despite budget problems. -- Ask the legislature to send me an emergency jobs plan before the March break. I'll sign a comprehensive, fiscally sound package. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Postsecondary -- Create and fund the Caring for Missourians program--an initiative to coordinate efforts between our two and four-year institutions to train our next generation of health care workers. Federal, Federal--Aid, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Established an Economic Stimulus Coordination Council to ensure that the state is prepared to wisely invest any federal stimulus package funds. Financial Aid, Finance (Postsecondary), Minority/Diversity Issues, Postsecondary, Rural, Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Hard-to-Staff Schools, Teaching Quality--Recruitment/Retention, Tuition/Fees, Urban -- Make the dream of a college education a reality for more Missouri families. -- Propose that state colleges and universities receive the same level of support next year that they currently receive. In exchange for the state's continued level of support, the presidents of the state's public colleges and universities have agreed not to increase tuition on Missouri students. -- Introduce and fund the Missouri Promise, which builds upon the A+ Schools Program (allows students at eligible high schools to get their two-year degrees at community colleges tuition free). Under the Missouri Promise, students who take advantage of A+ scholarships may continue at a Missouri public college or university and complete their four-year degree debt free, as long as they keep a B average and give back to their community. -- Continue funding scholarship programs such as the Missouri Teacher Education Program, Bright Flight, the Missouri Minority Teaching Program, the Urban Flight and Rural Needs Program. Finance, Parent/Family -- Continue funding for the Parents as Teachers program. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Face a significant budget shortfall. -- Bring our budget into balance by making difficult decisions, and by making government more efficient. -- Will not raise taxes on families or businesses. -- Face an immediate shortfall in fiscal year 2009 of more than a quarter of a billion dollars. -- Face even larger economic problems for fiscal year 2010. Thus, my budget eliminates or cuts 50 programs and proposes the elimination of more than 1,300 positions (will save nearly $200 million in overhead). -- Appoint a Taxpayer Protection Commission to implement top-to-bottom performance reviews of every agency and program to identify what's working and what's not working. -- Review all long-term government contracts. http://governor.mo.gov/newsroom/speeches/2009/2009_Missouri_State_of_the_State_Address.htm South Dakota Governor M. Michael Rounds's State of the State Address Business Involvement, Economic/Workforce Development -- Attain a goal of the 2010 Initiative by doubling visitor spending from $600 million to $1.2 billion by the year 2010. --Continue to approve qualified companies for REDI loans, which in turn will create jobs. Business Involvement, Economic/Workforce Development, Postsecondary, Science -- Partner with the Board of Regents to renovate and revitalize the science facilities at the state's public universities through a $65 million bonding plan--to assist students and state economic development plans. Federal, Finance, Rural, Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Compensation, Teaching Quality--Hard-to-Staff Schools, Teaching Quality--Recruitment/Retention -- Propose $4,000,000 in state funds to increase teacher salaries, pay teachers for additional training, and to help school districts hire teachers they need for their schools. -- Continue participation in the federal INCENTIVESplus program, a $20 million grant over 5 years, to attract teachers to high-need schools, primarily in rural areas. Finance--Resource Efficiency, Postsecondary -- Remove incandescent light bulbs from the state contract, so that lights in state government buildings will be replaced with energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. -- Require Energy StarŽ requirements in the specs of all bids for appliances used in state government. -- Require all future state buildings and major renovations to be built to meet LEED Silver rating standards. -- Propose the Energy Conservation Revolving Loan Fund--a low interest revolving loan fund, in that when the money comes back, it can be loaned out again and again to schools, cities, counties, universities, tech schools, and state agencies that have developed good ways to save tax dollars by becoming more energy efficient. Preference will be given to energy efficiency improvement projects with the shortest payback period.  Finance, Financial Aid, Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Expand Opportunity Scholarships by lowering the ACT requirement from 24 to 23 to allow more than 200 more students to qualify. Finance, High School, Postsecondary, Technology, Technology--Laptop/Related Initiatives -- Propose $2,954,000 for year 3 of the Classroom Connections Program, which provides classroom laptops for children. This would provide 4,600 more laptop computers for high school students and 400 more for their teachers--would raise the percentage of state high school students with computer access to 38 percent. -- Migrate the state's six public universities toward a mobile computing environment--so that students are on a path toward using computers for learning in public schools and universities are prepared to accept them.  Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Increase by 2.5 percent the per student allocation for state aid to local schools. -- Give local schools extra money if they have declining enrollments or increasing enrollments. http://www.state.sd.us/governor/ West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin III's State of the State Address Assessment, Extended Day Programs, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Language Arts--Writing/Spelling, Mathematics, Parent/Family, Promotion/Retention, Standards, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Student Achievement, Summer School -- Refocus on basic principles of learning. For dozens of years we have evaluated our children's educational competency at critical grade levels through statewide testing. The data is helpful, but we should use that information to keep our children from being prematurely promoted to the next grade level.     -- Propose, in cooperation with the Department of Education, legislation providing that if our children do not meet the educational standards we set at the third grade and eighth grade levels, they cannot move on until they meet those required educational standards, either through after-school programs, attending summer school or being retained for another year.  This bill also engages the most critical factor in the learning process – the parents. We have directed additional resources to ensure the success of this program and help our children learn the math and language skills they need to succeed at the next grade level.  Curriculum, School Boards, School Districts, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Student Achievement, Teaching Quality  -- Join the State Department of Education in introducing The School Innovation Zones Bill to give teachers, principals and school communities greater control over critical education factors that affect student achievement. This bill will allow school staff to implement improvement strategies that currently are restrained by State Board of Education policies or antiquated state law. -- Give our teachers and school systems the resources, curriculum and freedom to try innovative approaches to 21st century learning.   Early Learning, Postsecondary -- Do a better job of educating our children, starting from the ground up--from pre-school through college.   Economic/Workforce Development -- Commit to investing in the energy sources of the future. -- Introduce the Alternative and Renewable Energy Portfolio Act which includes incentives to locate new alternative energy facilities in West Virginia--to encourage the development of renewable energy resources and create jobs. -- Realize that the jobs of the future will go not to the places with the richest land or the most abundant resources, but the places with the richest minds. We must teach our children the job skills they need to compete. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance (Postsecondary), Graduate/Professional Education, Postsecondary, Teaching Quality--Recruitment/Retention, Tuition/Fees -- Recognize the workforce resource we have in our veterans. They have earned the right to further their education once they return to civilian life. -- Continue to support the Troops to Teachers program. -- Make sure our nation's veterans know they are welcome at West Virginia's colleges and universities. -- Propose legislation that will require each of our public colleges and universities to participate in the New GI Bill's "Yellow Ribbon Program" that will allow veterans from out of state to attend our public colleges and universities at the in-state rates. Schools would be free to participate for graduate and professional students, as well, if they choose. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Do not plan to cut essential government services, unnecessarily increase our state budget, or expand the size of state government.    -- Cannot include any base-building salary increases in this year's budget. -- Ask the legislature for the ability to share any additional money that we may have with our teachers, service personnel and state employees. Health, Health--Nutrition -- Continue to recognize the growing problem of childhood obesity. -- Recognize that schools must provide healthier food choices in their vending machines. Scheduling/School Calendar  -- Introduce a bill to require county school systems to begin the instructional term five days earlier and give schools the flexibility to extend the calendar if necessary to meet the 180-day requirement. http://www.stateline.org/live/details/speech?contentId=376640 Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle's State of the State Address Economic/Workforce Development, Federal, Federal--Aid, Finance -- Created the Wisconsin Office of Recovery and Reinvestment, lead by Gary Wolter, the CEO of MG&E, to quickly move federal stimulus funds to create jobs. Finance, Finance--Facilities -- Fix crumbling schools. Finance, Finance--Resource Efficiency, Standards, Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Recruitment/Retention -- Change school funding in a way that encourages the hiring and retention of good teachers, provides for high standards and encourages efficiencies in our school districts. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Postsecondary, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Face a budget gap estimated at $5.4 billion, or 17 percent of our biennial budget. -- Make additional spending cuts to address budget crisis--have already cut $500 million in spending for this year, halted state employee bonuses, stopped grants and started auctioning 500 vehicles. -- Work with Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty to make government more efficient and effective. -- Cannot place education funding off limits, but will not allow cuts that ruin the quality of our classrooms or make universities and technical colleges out of reach for working families. Health -- Make sure all our public places are smoke-free. -- Make sure kids with autism get the treatment they need. http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/journal_media_detail.asp?locid=19&prid=3922 Teaching Quality--Recruitment and Retention--At-Risk Schools 3 Teaching Quality--Teacher Attitudes 1 Teaching Quality--Tenure or Continuing Contract 1 Teaching Quality--Unions/Collective Bargaining 4 Teaching Quality--Working Conditions 3 Technology 13 Technology--Computer Skills 2 Technology--Devices/Software/Hardware 3 Technology--Equitable Access 1 Textbooks and Open Source 1 Urban 2 Whole-School Reform Models 1 799