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 Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Jr.'s State of the State Address Business Involvement, Community Colleges, Economic/Workforce Development, Postsecondary -- Continue aligning the needs of businesses with workforce development and training programs through the Jobs Cabinet and community colleges. Dual/Concurrent Enrollment, High School -- Propose a comprehensive, statewide concurrent-enrollment plan to give high school students an opportunity to earn college credits while finishing high school--a student-centered concept intended to give kids a reason to stay in school and accelerate their progress toward degrees and workforce-readiness. Facilities, Finance--Facilities, Finance--Resource Efficiency, Rural -- Work on a plan for wind and solar projects on schools in rural Colorado--to help reduce schools' energy costs. P-16, Student Achievement--State -- Continue to offer reform proposals through The P-20 Council. -- Continue to implement Senate Bill 212, the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids. http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1229571409958&ssbinary=true Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue's State of the State Address Accountability, Accountability--Rewards, Accountability--Sanctions/Interventions, School Districts, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Student Achievement -- Encourage more school systems to enter into an IE2 contract with the State Board of Education. Under this contract, the state holds the system accountable for increased student achievement above and beyond state and federal requirements, in exchange for local control/flexibility; the system will face serious consequences if they fail to meet the goals. Assessment, Finance--Performance Funding, Governance, High School, High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates, Leadership, Student Achievement -- Propose legislation to establish a high school principal incentive pay program for principals who increase student achievement – raising graduation rates and improving SAT and End of Course Test scores. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--Bonds, Postsecondary -- Introduce a bond package, totaling over $1.2 billion in new investment, to create an estimated 20,000 new jobs and build infrastructure. This package will feature many projects in which both design and construction are funded in the same year, in an effort to ensure their timely completion. The projects will be state-wide and include new construction at our universities, technical schools, local school systems and libraries. Finance, Finance--District, School Districts -- Relax expenditure controls on local school systems to allow them more flexibility. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Recommend using a one-time strategy to help balance this year's budget--use the maximum amount available for appropriation from the reserves, appropriating $50 million this year and $408 million next year, as well as $187 million for the midyear education adjustment. Finance--Performance Funding, Student Achievement, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Propose merit pay legislation to award teachers who show evidence that their classroom instruction leads to increased student achievement. Governance, Leadership, School Boards -- Propose legislation to clearly define what citizens expect from school board members and give the state the ability to replace board members with responsible, local citizens when accreditation is threatened. Mathematics, Science, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Differentiate pay for math and science teachers--introduce a market dynamic into the salary schedule to address these areas. http://gov.georgia.gov/00/press/detail/0,2668,78006749_129886711_130508560,00.html Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's State of the State Address Career/Technical Education, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, High School, High School--Career Pathways -- Expand proven programs like Jobs for Amercia's Graduates to provide work-ready certificates, training and internships to link our students to the education of their career futures. Economic/Workforce Development -- Continue to work toward reversing past years of migration out of our state. Faculty, Finance, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Streamline civil service; make sure to reward employees based on performance, not just length of service. -- Set up a commission of streamlining government. Finance, Finance--Funding Formulas, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance (Postsecondary), Postsecondary -- Change higher education formula. Finance, Finance--Funding Formulas, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Reform the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) formula (which determines the cost of a minimum foundation program of education in public elementary and secondary schools and helps to allocate the funds equitably to parish and city school systems). Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Reform the budget process to prevent budget cuts falling disproportionately on higher education and healthcare, which are two areas we must invest in to continue to move the state forward. High School, High School--Career Pathways, High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates -- Reduce the high school dropout rate. Encourage every student to complete their high school education and continue their studies. http://www.gov.state.la.us/index.cfm?md=newsroom&tmp=detail&articleID=1183 Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm's State of the State Address Adult Learning/Continuing Education, Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance (Postsecondary), Financial Aid, Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Continue to support the Worker Left Behind initiative which trains workers for skilled jobs available in Michigan. This program provides free college tuition, up to $5,000 per year for two years. Currently 52,000 citizens are being trained through the initiative. At-Risk, Economic/Workforce Development, Finance (Postsecondary), Financial Aid, Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Create Promise Zones in 10 Michigan communities struggling with high rates of poverty--use the promise of free college education to spur greatness in our kids and economic development in those communities. Business Involvement, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Technology -- Reform state government. I have asked Lt. Governor Cherry to lead a comprehensive effort to dramatically change the shape and size of state government—reducing the number of our departments from 18 to 8, reforming our civil service system, creating public/private partnerships and infusing technology everywhere. -- Urge the State Officers Compensation Commission to reduce the salaries of all state elected officials in Michigan by 10 percent. Community Colleges, Finance, Finance (Postsecondary), Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Ask state universities and community colleges to freeze tuition for the next academic year. Completion/Postsec. Graduation, Postsecondary -- Double the number of college graduates in the state. Comprehensive School Reform, High School, High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates, School Districts, Student Achievement -- Help school districts replace high schools that don't work, with small, rigorous ones that do, through the 21st Century Schools Fund. Plans are already under way to create more than 25 of these rigorous new high schools that keep kids in school and put them on the path to success in college and careers. Economic/Workforce Development -- Fight for good paying jobs and educate and train Michigan citizens to fill those jobs. -- Continue to make renewable energy a key focus of our economic development strategy. -- Diversify our economy without deserting our major industry, the American automobile industry. -- Announce that: Wonderstruck Animation Studios will invest $86 million to build a new studio in Detroit; Stardock Systems, a digital gaming manufacturer, will build its production facilities in Plymouth; and Motown Motion Pictures will invest $54 million to build their new film studios at a former GM plant in Pontiac. Motown Motion Pictures alone will create 3,600 jobs. -- Announce that Great Lakes Turbine will locate in Monroe, creating hundreds more jobs building wind turbines. -- Create jobs by reducing the state's reliance on fossil fuels for generating electricity by 45 percent, by 2020. We will do this through increased renewable energy, gains in energy efficiency and other new technologies. Instead of spending nearly $2 billion a year importing coal or natural gas from other states we'll be spending our energy dollars on Michigan wind turbines, Michigan solar panels and Michigan energy-efficiency devices, all designed, manufactured and installed by Michigan workers. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance--Facilities -- Create the Michigan Energy Corps to put thousands of unemployed citizens back to work this year, weatherizing homes, schools and other public buildings, installing renewable energy technology, and turning our abundant natural resources into renewable fuels. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Postsecondary, School Districts -- Require cities, townships, counties, school districts, colleges and universities to adopt their own Buy Michigan First policies. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Realize that the state's budget situation is difficult, but it pales in comparison to the situation many states are in. Mathematics, Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Professional Development -- Give teachers, through the Algebra for All initiative, the professional development they need to teach algebra in a proven way that ensures all kids master it. The program will begin this summer. http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/SOS2009_265915_7.pdf 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 Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour's State of the State Address Adult Learning/Continuing Education, Community Colleges, Early Learning, Economic/Workforce Development, Postsecondary -- View education as the number one economic development and quality of life issue. The term "education" includes not only K-12 but also workforce development at state community colleges, commercially viable research at state universities and early childhood education: all in all, lifelong learning. Adult Learning/Continuing Education, Economic/Workforce Development -- Keep funding workforce development and job training at current or higher levels -- Help more of our workers upgrade their skills--the key to economic growth. Charter Schools -- Urge the legislature to expand the charter school law, which sunsets this year. Early Learning, Early Learning--Business Involvement, For-Profit/Proprietary, Pre-Kindergarten -- Support the creation, from the existing pre-K infrastructure, of a program to get children ready for school by age five. The private sector has joined the Department of Education, The Early Childhood Institute at Mississippi State, and scores of pre-school programs – whether church, for profit or not, or Head Start – in this effort. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--Bonds -- Consider job creation the number one goal. -- Ask the legislature for bonding authority for protecting and increasing jobs, upon adoption of the federal stimulus package. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance (Postsecondary), Postsecondary -- Ask legislature to fund higher education, universities and community colleges, at levels that allow it to play the critical roles it has in generating economic growth. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Cut funds of the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP). State revenue for this fiscal year, which ends June 30, is expected to fall between one hundred seventy-five and three hundred ten million dollars below the budgeted level. State law authorizes the governor to cut any department or agency by five percent of its appropriation; however, no department or agency may be cut by more than five percent until every department and agency has been cut five percent. Thus, cuts must be made in MAEP. Governance, Leadership, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Reform state government, to give agency leaders maximum flexibility to run their agencies effectively. Agency leaders need lump sum appropriations and most need relief from Personnel Board rules, if they are to reorganize their departments to do the job expected of them, with reduced appropriations. High School, High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates -- Continue to support the program to redesign high school and reduce dropouts. http://www.governorbarbour.com/news/2009/Jan/2009StateoftheState.htm 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 Carolina Governor Bev Perdue's State of the State Address Access, Financial Aid, Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Begin the College Promise program to remove financial barriers for access to higher education. Access, Distance Learning/Virtual University, High School, Teaching Quality, Technology, Technology--Access/Equity -- Use technology to modernize the classroom and enable teaching to catch up with the way our kids live. -- Continue to support North Carolina's Virtual Public High School--levels the education playing field for students and assures educational equity. Accountability, Business Involvement, High School, High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates, Parent/Family, Persistence/Retention, Public Involvement, School, Students, Student Achievement, Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Teacher Attitudes -- Hold schools accountable. -- Will not give any child permission to drop out of school. -- Will not give any teacher permission to give up on a student. -- Will not give any parent a free pass from their responsibility to be fully involved in their child's education. -- Will not give any segment of our community, particularly our business community, a free pass on education. These leaders need to put the same effort into helping North Carolina be the home of the nation's best educated workforce. Accountability, Governance, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Reorganized (earlier this year) the public school system with Bill Harrison becoming both the CEO of the State Board of Education and of the Department of Public Instruction. Adult Learning/Continuing Education, Economic/Workforce Development -- Create jobs and provide ways for those who are out of work to learn new skills. -- Put people back to work building bridges, paving roads, and expanding and renovating our infrastructure. -- Transform our traditional industries into 21st century jobs. Adult Learning/Continuing Education, Economic/Workforce Development -- Create jobs and provide ways for those who are out of work to learn new skills. -- Put people back to work building bridges, paving roads, and expanding and renovating our infrastructure. -- Transform our traditional industries into 21st century jobs. Assessment, Standards--State -- Eliminating duplicative or unnecessary state tests. Business Involvement, Economic/Workforce Development, Postsecondary -- Become a Mecca for biotech, pharmaceuticals, and life sciences by bringing together government, higher education and private business. Career/Technical Education, Community Colleges, Early Learning, P-16, Postsecondary, Pre-Kindergarten, -- Create a pathway, starting in pre-kindergarten that offers courses of study that fit students' needs -- all the way through vocational, community college, or college. Seamless learning, pre-K through 20, that's the goal. Federal, Federal--Aid, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Ensure the recovery dollars are spent with maximum efficiency, transparency, and accountability. -- Created the Office of Economic Recovery & Investment to track every dollar. Taxpayers can go to www.NCRecovery.gov to see how the money is spent. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Pay our state's bills. -- Confront the $3 billion plus shortfall and make hard, painful decisions to balance the budget. -- Propose to reduce and cut state government programs and services that are effective but which we cannot afford. Finance, Finance--Funding Formulas, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Will not sacrifice education--it is the priority. -- Increase per-pupil spending. Health, Persistence/Retention -- Keep all our kids healthy and in school. http://www.governor.state.nc.us/stateofstate.aspx 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 Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry's State of the State Address Economic/Workforce Development -- Establish a permanent funding source for the EDGE Endowment, which nurtures research and enterprise that will create good-paying jobs. Finance, Finance--Resource Efficiency, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Face a budget hole of nearly $600 million.    -- Ask state agencies to tighten their budgets.   -- Put some projects on hold.   -- Propose a balanced budget that makes precise, while protecting vital state functions such as education, healthcare, transportation and public safety. -- Challenge all state agencies to reduce energy consumption by 10 percent by 2010. -- Protect the gains we have made in the classroom. Health -- Continue to support the Crystal Darkness Initiative that fights meth addiction, which still preys on our children. High School, High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates, Mentoring/Tutoring, Public Involvement -- Propose a "graduation coaches" program that will bring volunteers from our communities into our schools to serve as guides, mentors and champions for students at risk of dropping out.   http://www.gov.ok.gov/stateofthestate2009.php 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 Star® 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/ Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen's State of the State Address Business Involvement, Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Mathematics, Science, Postsecondary -- Ask the General Assembly, the private sector, our university system, and Oak Ridge to work with me in the months ahead to invent a way to become a national leader in basic solar research. Oak Ridge—in combination with UT Knoxville—has the research tools to draw not only scientists from all over the world to come work here, but also Tennessee's brightest young math and science students. Completion/Postsec. Graduation, Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- "Fix" the fact that as the costs of Tennessee higher education continue to grow, the likelihood increases of some students abandoning the dream of a college degree. -- Ask the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees, the Board of Regents and the THEC commissioners: work with me and the General Assembly to figure out how we can keep higher education affordable, get more kids to graduate and fashion a true 21st century higher education system for our state. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Invest in creating jobs. -- Create jobs in the area of clean energy technology. Federal, Federal--Aid, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Send the legislature a conservative budget in March. I plan to wait until the federal government acts and then fashion a budget that incorporates the effects of that stimulus package. -- Understand that no proposed version of the stimulus bill is any panacea and substantial cuts will still be needed. -- Remain cautious about the use of rainy day funds. -- Stay focused on those things that are most important for the long term success of Tennessee: education and the creation of good jobs. High School, High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates, Mathematics, Postsecondary -- Want to tell the state's eighth graders this: you need more education than you think you do. In the years ahead, making things is something you'll do less and less with your hands and more and more with your minds. Stay in school. Take lots of math. Graduate. Go to college. http://www.tennesseeanytime.org/gov/state-of-the-state/2009-State-of-State-Address.pdf Texas Governor Rick Perry's State of the State Address Access, Finance (Postsecondary), Financial Aid, Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Make college accessible and affordable for more qualified, motivated students. -- Increase funding for the Texas Grant Program, an initiative for traditionally underserved Texans. -- Freeze a student's college tuition rates for four years at the level they pay as an entering freshman. -- Extend in-state tuition rates to all veterans, regardless of their home of record. Accountability, At-Risk, Student Achievement, High School, High School--Career Pathways, Minority/Diversity Issues, Public Involvement, Postsecondary -- Hold schools accountable for student performance. -- Make sure the accountability system continues to move students (especially low-income and minority students) along the path to graduating "college and career ready" while keeping parents and taxpayers informed on their district's performance. Adult Learning/Continuing Education, Community Colleges, Economic/Workforce Development, Postsecondary -- Increase significantly our investment in community colleges. Community colleges are anchors to their local communities and are ideally positioned to educate a growing population of workers that have either been displaced by the current economic turmoil, or have job skills that have been outpaced by rapidly-evolving technology. -- Expand the Workforce Commission's Skills Development Fund and its training partnerships. Bilingual/ESL, High School, Language Arts, Mathematics, Reading/Literacy, Science -- Reach our goal of ensuring every student graduates from Texas high schools with a strong foundation in math, science and English. Community Colleges, Postsecondary, Private Colleges/Universities -- Improve education at every level. -- Include community colleges and proprietary schools in any discussion of higher education. Completion/Postsec. Graduation, Postsecondary -- Reward four-year universities that increase the number of students they graduate. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Win jobs for Texans. A buyer's market for economic development is emerging and Texas is in better shape during this economic crisis than most other states. -- Replenish the Emerging Technology Fund, the Film Incentives and the Enterprise Fund, to keep drawing ideas, investment and jobs to Texas. -- Invest in adult stem cell research, which will create jobs. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--Taxes/Revenues -- Improve the reformed business tax implemented a few years ago. -- Raise the small business exemption to $1 million. -- Hold the line on taxes and regulatory encroachments, as more people move into the state. -- Upgrade the state's overburdened infrastructure. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Reduce the number of diversions in our budget--only spend tax dollars on the express purpose for which they were collected.  Health -- Address obesity in schoolchildren. I propose we test an incentive-based fitness program like those gaining popularity in the workplace. Mathematics, Science -- Improve math and science education. Postsecondary -- Call for additional transparency in institutions of higher education. Safety/Student Discipline -- Provide just under $32 million to address the gang threat head-on. These funds would be used to pay more officers, provide better coordination of multi-force efforts and fund prosecutions for gang-related offenses. Transnational gangs have been moving into our towns, schools and neighborhoods. School Districts, Technology, Technology--Instruction, Textbooks -- Help schools benefit from evolving educational technologies, by updating our laws and regulations. For example, allow school districts to purchase electronic versions of the text books that have been approved by the State Board of Education. Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Put an excellent teacher in every classroom. -- Continue the teacher incentive pay program. http://governor.state.tx.us/news/speech/11852/ 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