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 New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine's State of the State Address At-Risk, At-Risk--Foster Care -- Continue to support the newly created Department of Children and Families in its efforts to help at-risk and foster children. At-Risk, Equity, Finance, Finance--Funding Formulas -- Continue to seek court approval for the new school funding formula, which recognizes that 50 percent of the state's disadvantaged students live beyond the borders of Abbott school districts. Business Involvement, Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Help New Jersey citizens cope with these challenging economic times--this must be the first, second and third priority. -- Plan, as the national recession continues to take a toll on our revenues, to recommend additional, painful cuts. However, we must continue to do everything possible to limit the impact of cuts on our children's education. -- Encourage new lending through innovative credit facilities and placing deposits with New Jersey's community-oriented banks.  -- Commit, before any federal infrastructure investment program, $4.7 billion in high-return investments--saving or creating as many as 42,000 New Jersey jobs. -- Recommend giving local governments the option of deferring a percentage of their employee pension payments. Curriculum, High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates, Standards -- Work to upgrade standards, curricula, and graduation requirements in all of our schools. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--Facilities -- Create jobs by accelerating public investments in roads, bridges, school construction, and the new mass transit tunnel under the Hudson. Finance, Financial Aid, Postsecondary -- Continue to expand financial aid for the state's low- and moderate-income college students that need help. High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates -- Continue to collaborate with Colin and Alma Powell in their effort to substantially lower dropout rates. http://www.nj.gov/sos2009/speech.html New York Governor David A. Patterson's State of the State Address Business Involvement, Facilities, Finance--Facilities, Finance--Resource Efficiency, Postsecondary, Health -- By 2015, New York will meet 45 percent of its electricity needs through improved energy efficiency and clean renewable energy--initiative will be called the "45 by 15" program. The greening of our schools and hospitals is a critical priority--money will be saved in energy costs to balance our budgets, educate our children, and keep our families healthy. -- Create a clearinghouse to serve as a single point of access for information on all energy efficiency programs for schools, hospitals, and local governments. As a public private partnership between State agencies and the private sector, the clearinghouse will coordinate the dissemination of energy information around the State. -- Create a New York Energy Policy Institute to coordinate the necessary knowledge base and expertise of our higher education institutions. Curriculum, Social & Emotional Development, Parent/Family -- Call upon all parents to increase their efforts to teach their children respect for all people — no matter their race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability or national origin. -- Strengthen our school-based curriculum to reinforce the critical message of acceptance and tolerance. Early Colleges/Middle Colleges, High School -- Establish, through public-private partnerships, new early college high schools throughout New York. Early Learning, Early Learning--Readiness -- Continue ongoing commitment achieve universal pre-k to better prepare all children for the education they need and deserve. Economic/Workforce Development, Postsecondary -- Create 21st century jobs by building a 21st century infrastructure that will allow our private sector to make its own 21st century investments--including investing in higher education institutions. -- Strengthen our colleges and universities so that New York will always have a skilled and educated workforce. Finance, Finance (Postsecondary), Financial Aid, Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Expand the SAY YES program, which offers free college tuition to students who meet educational standards. -- Establish the New York State Higher Education Loan Program, which will provide more than $350 million in loans to students in need. Health, Health--Nutrition -- Introduce a five-point plan to reduce childhood obesity--plan includes the Healthy Food/Healthy Communities Initiative which will ban junk food sales in schools, and place a surcharge on sugared beverages like soda. http://www.ny.gov/governor/keydocs/speech_0107091.html North Dakota Governor John Hoeven's State of the State Address Curriculum -- Enhance curriculum, using funds from the $130 million listed below. Finance -- Provide $130 million to fund the recommendations of the Commission on Education Improvement. Those recommendations include resources to build student performance, enhance curriculum, provide strong professional development and mentoring, and improve compensation for our teachers. -- Reach the goal set 25 years ago for the state to fund 70 percent of the cost of public education--which is now within the state's grasp. Financial Aid, Finance (Postsecondary), Tuition/Fees -- Provide $170 million in both ongoing and one-time funding to help campuses maintain and improve the quality of education they provide--this sum includes funding for ACT-ND, Aid for College Tuition in North Dakota. -- Do more with non-needs based assistance to attract and prepare young people for new jobs and careers. -- Offer up to $2,000 a year for five years - $10,000 in total - to help students in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math with their technical training or education (funding from STEM Grants, a merit-based program). Student Achievement -- Build student performance, using funds from the $130 million listed above. Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Improve teacher compensation, using funding from the $130 million listed above. Teaching Quality--Induction and Mentoring -- Provide strong professional development and mentoring, using funding from the $130 million listed above. Teaching Quality--Professional Development -- Provide strong professional development and mentoring, using funding from the $130 million listed above. http://governor.nd.gov/media/speeches/090106.html Ohio Governor Ted Strickland's State of the State Address Accountability, Public Involvement, School Districts, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Establish a new level of school district accountability and transparency. -- Establish performance audits for school districts overseen by the Department of Education--to make sure they are maintaining academic and operating standards. -- Require districts to report their spending plans before each school year and then account for every dollar at the conclusion of the school year. -- Provide parents, public officials, and taxpayers an annual fiscal and operational report card for every school district. When we send districts funding to help students who need additional attention and instruction, we will now be able to track our dollars to see that they directly reach those students. -- Establish a process for districts who fail to comply with the new standards. Upon a certain level of non-compliance, the State Board of Education will revoke the school district's charter. Accountability, Charter Schools -- Establish a new level of accountability in charter schools. Charter schools should meet the same standards demanded of traditional public schools. Arts in Education, Language Arts--Writing/Spelling, Mathematics, Science, Student Achievement, Technology -- Create new academic achievement competitions and awards.  -- Create the Ohio Academic Olympics, where students will compete in science, math, writing, debate, the arts and technology. Assessment, Assessment--College Entrance Exams, Assessment--National Tests, High School, High School--Exit Exams, High School--Grad Requirements, Service Learning/Community Service, -- Replace the Ohio Graduation Test with the ACT and three additional measures. All students will: (1) take the ACT college entrance examination; (2) take statewide 'end of course' exams; (3) complete a service learning project; and (4) submit a senior project.  Assessment, Elementary Education, Middle School  -- Rewrite assessments in grades 3 through 8 to test for mastery of the information and skills in the curriculum. At-Risk, High School, High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates -- Provide enhanced intervention services in schools with high dropout rates, by building on our 'Closing the Achievement Gap' initiative. Character Education, Citizenship Education, Comprehensive School Reform, Curriculum, Education Research, Service Learning/Community Service, Social & Emotional Development, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Student Achievement, Teaching Quality -- Introduce my plan to rebuild our education system--using an evidence-based education approach that applies research findings to Ohio's specific circumstances. [note: this plan encompasses many of the initiatives throughout this summary] -- Add new subjects including global awareness and life skills to the curriculum. -- Use teaching methods that foster creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, communication and collaboration, media literacy, leadership and productivity, cultural awareness, adaptability and accountability. -- Direct the Ohio Department of Education to set standards for Ohio schools requiring innovative teaching formats. -- Make interdisciplinary methods, project-based learning, real world lessons, and service learning the norm. -- Build the learning experience around the individual student. -- Provide dedicated resources for instructional materials and enrichment activities. Community Colleges, Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Maintain commitment to affordable access to our colleges and universities. -- Maintain tuition freeze for the next two years. Early Learning, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Unite all of our early childhood development programs and resources into the Department of Education. This comprehensive early childhood system will focus on the whole child and provide quality early learning and care while improving our efficiency and effectiveness. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance--Taxes/Revenues -- Renew the Technology Investment Tax Credit to attract investors for new Ohio start-up technology companies. -- Broaden the Job Retention Tax Credit and Job Creation Tax Credit. -- Create a Film Tax Credit to spur the growth of the film industry. -- Create a New Markets Tax Credit based on the existing federal program, to help cities and towns spur investment in downtown multi-use projects. -- Introduce a second jobs stimulus package in the coming months. The package will include an expansion of Ohio's Third Frontier program, regulatory reform and streamlining measures, and additional investments. Education Research, International Comparisons, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Create a Center for Creativity and Innovation within the Department of Education--to monitor research and results from across the country and across the world. Extended Day Programs, Health, Mentoring/Tutoring, Service Learning/Community -- Expand the learning day for all students with activities such as community service, tutoring, and wellness programs.   Federal--Aid, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance--Taxes/Revenues, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Reduce spending by 3.2 billion dollars from 2009 planning levels. -- Reduce a significant number of programs and services; will call for many program reductions of 10 to 20 percent. -- Ask state employees to endure a financial sacrifice.  -- Balance the budget. Without the infusion of federal resources, we would have had to impose far more substantial cuts to balance our budget. -- Will not raise taxes. -- Leverage existing resources and one-time cash transfers. -- Increase various state agency fees, fines, and penalties.  Finance, Finance--District, Finance--Local Foundations/Funds, Finance--Taxes/Revenues, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Eliminate aspects of our current funding system that are indefensible. -- Eliminate the practice where the state asks school districts to pay their bills with phantom dollars. -- Lower the local taxpayer contribution to local schools from 23 to 20 mills. The state will assume responsibility for providing the difference between what those 20 mills raise and the cost of the full range of educational resources our students need according to our evidence-based approach. -- Provide districts the option of asking voters to pass a conversion levy. Financial Aid, Postsecondary, Teaching Quality--Hard-to-Staff Schools -- Provide scholarships for future teachers who agree to teach in hard to staff schools or in hard to staff subjects. Governance, Leadership, Standards -- Strengthen our licensing standards for school principals. -- Give principals the ability and responsibility to properly manage their schools. -- Create standards for the mastery of both education and management principles for school superintendents, school treasurers and other business officials. Health -- Place nurses in our schools. Kindergarten  -- Require universal all-day kindergarten. Outreach Programs, Parent/Family, Public Involvement -- Create community engagement teams in our schools. -- Place professionals in the schools who will help educators, families and community service providers come together to help our children succeed. P-16 -- Continue to support a comprehensive P through 16 system. Postsecondary, Teaching Quality--Preparation--Professional Development Schools -- Redesign university teacher education programs to meet the needs and standards of our primary and secondary schools. Empower the Chancellor of Higher Education to reward university education programs that best prepare their students for success as teachers in Ohio. Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Continue tuition freeze tuition in 2010, and keep any tuition increase to no more than 3.5 percent in 2011 (main university campuses). Scheduling/School Calendar -- Add 20 instructional days to the school calendar, over a ten-year period in order to bring the state's learning year up to the international average of 200 days. State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Call on all state agencies to make government services simpler, faster, better and less costly.  Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Certification, Teaching Quality--Induction and Mentoring, Teaching Quality--Preparation, Teaching Quality--Preparation--Professional Development Schools, Teaching Quality--Professional Development, Teaching Quality--Working Conditions -- Improve educator quality. -- Introduce a four-year residency program to advance teacher preparation and development. Under the program, new teachers will be guided by an accomplished senior teacher and successful candidates will earn their professional teaching license. -- Introduce a career ladder that begins with residency and may build up to lead teacher. This allows teachers the opportunity to advance their careers based on objective evidence of student progress.  -- Provide collaborative planning time. -- Make mentoring, coaching and peer review standard. -- Have the Chancellor of Higher Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction collaborate to provide professional development programs and innovative techniques for the classroom. -- Give administrators the power to dismiss teachers for good cause, the same standard applied to other public employees. -- Create a Teach Ohio program to open a path to licensure for professionals who have the subject knowledge but lack coursework in education methods. Successful participants will be eligible to begin the four-year residency program. http://www.governor.ohio.gov/GovernorsOffice/StateoftheState/StateoftheState2009/tabid/984/Default.aspx 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 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 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