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 Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's State of the State Address Accountability -- Hold schools accountable. -- Focus on streamlined operations. Business Involvement, Economic/Workforce Development, Finance -- Need responsible resource development – including drilling, mining, timber and tourism – which will lead to more jobs. -- Propose the Alaska Legacy Plan. I issued an administrative order this week calling for the state's first comprehensive economic strategy. Need to involve business leaders, local officials, and other stakeholders in this strategic action plan for private sector and government to stimulate and diversify the economy. Career/Technical Education, Economic/Workforce Development -- Focus on vo-tech and workforce development. Early Learning -- Focus on early learning. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance -- Build a gas line. Alaska's revenue, careers and our ability to diversify our economy – all hinge on the success of this great undertaking. I assure you: The line will be built. Federal, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Use the state's share of federal funds and Congress' stimulus package for vital needs-- such as infrastructure for our gas pipeline and the Kodiak Launch Facility. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Reduce spending by seven percent from last year's expenditures. Unless the price of a barrel of oil dramatically increases soon, the state faces a potential revenue shortfall in excess of a billion dollars this year. -- Freeze hiring, exempting public safety, and restrict non-essential purchases. These actions reduce the draw on savings as we monitor revenue for the rest of 2009. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, School Districts -- Take the next step in our three-year education plan to offer every child the opportunity to learn and work and succeed. -- Fully forward-fund all our school districts with more than a billion dollars. Postsecondary -- Focus on an enhanced University. Special Education -- Encourage opportunities for students with special needs. http://www.gov.state.ak.us/news.php?id=1610 Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe's State of the State Address Adult Learning/Continuing Education, Business Involvement, Economic/Workforce Development, Finance -- Believe that education and economic development are intertwined and inseparable, and one cannot fully succeed without the other. -- Continue to support the Arkansas Economic Development Commission to attract new jobs and industry. -- Replenish the Governor's Quick Action Closing Fund with $50 million over the next two years, to position Arkansas to be at full speed when the recession lifts. -- Continue to work through the Workforce Cabinet agencies to educate, train, and re-train our workforce. At-Risk--Foster Care -- Work to place more foster children in qualified homes. Early Learning, Pre-Kindergarten -- Continue commitment to pre-Kindergarten. Finance, Finance--Adequacy/Core Cost, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Propose increases in funding for only public education and the Division of Children and Family Services--public education remains the highest priority. -- Reach beyond the legal definition of "adequacy" by providing school districts with additional per-student funds. Add 234 dollars of additional per-student funding over the next two years, and give school districts additional one-time enhancement money of 35 dollars per student. Finance, Finance (Postsecondary), Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Postsecondary, Pre-Kindergarten, Summer School -- Prepare students to attend postsecondary education by increasing overall education funding, through pre-k, Smart Core and stronger college prep programs, and now through pilot programs for after-school and summer learning. Finance, Finance (Postsecondary), Postsecondary, Financial Aid, Tuition/Fees -- Improve our scholarship programs so that scholarships reach more students, and the amount of assistance they receive is greater. -- Broaden the GO Opportunities Grant (a need-based financial-aid program initiated in 2007) to include more non-traditional students, to help additional students in two-year programs, and to expand the total financial support available. -- Rectify the dilemma of state merit scholarships never reaching the students who qualify for them. -- Make sure scholarship money remains available once promised to qualified students. -- Open the doors of higher education to students who qualify for both need-based and merit-based aid, while increasing scholarship amounts. -- Lessen and simplify scholarship paperwork, with the State providing a single application listing the college assistance available, rather than students and their families having to seek out their best match for financial aid. Finance, Finance--Lotteries, Finance (Postsecondary), Postsecondary, Financial Aid, Tuition/Fees -- Structure the lottery to be as efficient and as transparent as possible. Finance, Finance--Funding Formulas, Finance (Postsecondary), Postsecondary, -- Adjust the higher-education funding formula to stress graduation rates, rather than the number of students that happen to be on campus. Health, Health--Mental Health -- Expand statewide coordinated school-health system to provide new resources and equipment for our school nurses and in-school mental-health services for our children. -- Explore new outlets of care for autistic children. http://governor.arkansas.gov/newsroom/index.php?do:newsDetail=1&news_id=1384 Florida Governor Charlie Crist's State of the State Address Adult Learning/Continuing Education, Career/Technical Education, Early Learning, Early Learning--Readiness, Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Recommend a total of $2 billion in workforce investments. -- Recommend over $800 million for career education and employment services to retain 3,000 jobs. -- Recommend $6.6 million for Ready to Work to ensure job-seekers of all ages have the skills needed for most jobs today. Community Colleges, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance (Postsecondary), Teaching Quality, Tuition/Fees -- Renew our commitment to higher education. -- Continue our commitment to keeping our universities and community colleges affordable and enabling them to achieve excellence. Early Learning, Early Learning--Readiness, Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Recommend $621 million for the School Readiness program (helps preschoolers and parents maintain employment and achieve financial independence). An investment in getting the next generation off to a good academic start will retain more than 12,800 jobs for child-care providers and allow families to remain in the workforce. Economic/Workforce Development, Federal, Federal--Aid, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance--Taxes/Revenues -- Avoid tax increases and deep budget cuts thanks in part to the federal stimulus bill. -- Use money from the stimulus bill to provide immediate assistance in education. -- Save or create 206,000 jobs--with the stimulus money. -- Appoint Don Winstead as Special Advisor to the Governor for the implementation of the American Recovery Act. -- Approve the Compact between the state and the Seminole Tribe to preserve and create jobs. -- Invest, through the Quick Action Closing Fund, $45 million to attract and retain industries, aimed at providing more than 17,000 high-wage jobs. Finance, Finance--Funding Formulas, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Pass legislation requiring school districts to spend 70 percent of their budgets in the classroom for our students and teachers. -- Require school districts to provide dollar-by-dollar details online, to instill transparency. -- Consider increasing per-student funding. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Included a $21 billion investment in our students and teachers in recent budget recommendation to the legislature. -- Urge legislature to quickly approve the Compact between the state and the Seminole Tribe, which will release at least $25 billion over 25 years to help education. http://www.flgov.com/pdfs/20090303_stateofthestate.pdf Illinois Governor Pat Quinn's State of the State Address Accountability, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Invest in quality and accountable education. -- Will not cut back on education. Community Colleges, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance (Postsecondary), Postsecondary -- Increase funding for secondary education. -- Commit 40 million dollars to community colleges and higher education. Early Learning, Early Learning--Finance, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Increase funding for early childhood education. Economic/Workforce Development, Facilities -- Make creating an environment that provides useful, important jobs my top priority. -- Urge quick passage of the "Illinois Jobs Now" plan, a 26 billion dollar plan to support nearly 340,000 jobs across the state. This plan includes four billion dollars to repair schools and build new ones. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance--Taxes/Revenues -- Urge approval of the Illinois Economic Recovery and Tax Reform Act of 2009. The Act includes a sales tax holiday for ten days in August on the purchase of school clothes and school supplies. -- Realize that education is the key to equal opportunity and economic empowerment. Elementary Education, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Increase funding for elementary education. Faculty, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Order state employees to take furloughs of four days. -- Require across-the-board reductions in grant programs. -- Make targeted cost-reductions at every state agency. -- Fix and modernize the state's under-funded public pension systems (e.g. raise the retirement age for new workers and cap cost-of-living increases). Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Face an e11.5 billion-dollar deficit and a mountain of unpaid bills. -- Propose a budget plan that cuts costs and rescues our state's finances while raising ethical standards. -- Appoint a new Taxpayer Action Board to evaluate all state spending and all programs. http://budget.illinois.gov/documents/2009speechbudget.pdf Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius's State of the State Address Adult Learning/Continuing Education, Business Involvement, Economic/Workforce Development, Community Colleges, Rural -- Redouble our efforts to educate and train ALL of our citizens for jobs in this new marketplace. -- Continue collaboration between education leaders and the business community, so that training for new and current workers matches the skill sets needed for the innovation economy. -- Focus on rural Kansas communities. -- Announce the first Center for Rural Opportunity recently opened at Sterling College. Soon, centers at Colby Community College and Neosho Community College will open, concentrating on attracting investment, job growth, and business development to our rural areas. At-Risk, Early Learning, Early Learning--Finance -- Propose a new Early Childhood Block Grant, driven by research-based programming and accountability measures, focused on at-risk children and under-served areas. Early Learning, Early Learning--Family Involvement, Early Learning--Finance, Health, Parent/Family -- Extend the state's network of quality early learning opportunities for children by funding pre-natal care and newborn screening, Parents as Teachers, Early Head Start and quality child care. Economic/Workforce Development, Business Involvement -- Issue an Executive Order creating the Kansas Innovation Consortium, charged with overseeing the continued growth of Kansas. Key business leaders will join educators and agency heads to continue expanding and diversifying our economy. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance (Postsecondary) -- Expand the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy, to nearly double capacity, assist with continuing education, and promote residency programs in hospital pharmacies around this state. Finance, Finance (Postsecondary), Financial Aid, Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Propose $1 million for new teaching scholarships in math, science and technology. -- Provide an additional $3 million in scholarship money to make college more affordable for 2,000 students. -- Propose new state resources for post-secondary education, to lower the costs for parents, students and Kansas families Finance, Kindergarten -- Fund the third year of our investment in K-12 education. -- Propose a fourth year of the school finance plan which includes all-day kindergarten. Finance, Mathematics, Science, Technology -- Fund the Kansas Academy of Math and Science, opening this year at Fort Hays State University. The Academy is to provide students with a strong math and science education to prepare them to enter the workforce; as high-tech industries represent the fastest growing sector of the economy. http://www.governor.ks.gov/news/sp-stateofstate2008.htm Kentucky Governor Steven L. Beshear's State of the State Address Adult Learning/Continuing Education, Business Involvement, Economic/Workforce Development -- Modernize and restructure incentive programs to make them more responsive to today's economic needs and to give us flexibility to compete for new jobs. -- Support existing Kentucky businesses that seek to invest in their facilities and in the continued education of their workforce. This includes extending job-creation incentives for the first time to small businesses. -- Keep the comprehensive energy plan (released in November) a top state priority, as it is an economic opportunity of immense proportions. Business Involvement, State Policymaking -- Review the Kentucky Education Reform Act. Bring together education, business and legislative leaders to review the act and renew and re-energize our commitment to education. Early Learning, Early Learning--Readiness -- Prepare children to enter the K-12 system. -- Unveil (next week) a task force on early childhood development and education that will streamline and strengthen our network of child services and programs to create better coordination, less duplication and more consistent and higher standards. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance--Taxes/Revenues -- Fill a $456 million hole in the state budget by June 30 with an additional $150 million in spending cuts, limited transfers of funds and new revenue from increased taxes on tobacco. Already this year we have reduced spending by more than $430 million, shrunk the state workforce by 2,000 employees, we've cut travel, we've reduced administrative costs by restructuring and conducted examinations of efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance--Taxes/Revenues, Postsecondary, Teaching Quality -- Make classroom teaching and learning a priority for state investment. -- Make higher education a priority for state investment. -- Increase significantly our tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products--to protect investment in education. Postsecondary -- Continue to support the energy research and development work being conducted at state universities, particularly the University of Louisville, the University of Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky University. Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Continue to protect the retirements of teachers and others. http://www.governor.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/779887EE-31B7-430F-A055-FCB87FA67568/0/20090204_SCAddress.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 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 New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson's State of the State Address At-Risk, Early Learning, Early Learning--Finance, Early Learning--Readiness, Finance, Pre-Kindergarten -- Continue to invest in Pre-Kindergarten-- to close the achievement gap and help students enter school ready to learn. Economic/Workforce Development -- Form a "Green Jobs Cabinet" to build an aggressive clean energy strategy, so our state educates, trains, and prepares a clean energy workforce. I will issue an executive order directing key state agencies—from education to workforce development, and from economic development to energy—to form this cabinet. Education is the key to a green workforce. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance--Taxes/Revenues -- Propose a four-part economic security plan: (1) Create new jobs, (2) Build a better workforce; (3) Renew our role as an innovation state; and (4) Provide a safety net to catch those who fall. -- Propose a balanced budget to accomplish the economic plan--that targets cuts, maintains needed services, makes strategic investments to create more jobs and does not raise taxes. -- Continue stalled or stopped state projects that create jobs or protect public safety. -- Reinvest funds from stalled or stopped state projects that do not create jobs or protect public safety into this year's budget. -- Increase the Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit to help wind, and biomass projects boost their operations. -- Extend a tax credit to small businesses. Elementary Education, Health, Health--Nutrition -- Expand the healthy breakfast program to 270 elementary schools (more than 100 thousand elementary students). -- Provide children healthy food choices. -- Ensure children get physical education. Finance, Finance--Funding Formulas -- Change the school funding formula--upon direct approval of the voters. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Draw down the rainy day fund from ten to eight percent---to preserve our high bond rating and help balance the budget. Financial Aid, Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Continue the state's zero-percent tuition credit policy and hold down rising tuition costs. -- Change the College Affordability Fund and the 3% scholarships fund to direct 100 percent of grants to students with financial need. Health, Safety/Student Discipline -- Propose legislation that makes recruiting people into a criminal street gang a crime and makes recruiting a minor into a criminal street gang a felony. Mathematics, Student Achievement, Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Preparation -- Improve student achievement in mathematics by increasing the math requirement for new elementary and middle school teachers. Postsecondary -- Find a fiscally responsible way to assure that Santa Fe continues to host a four-year college, like the College of Santa Fe, to inspire and educate our next generation of actors and artists, painters and public servants. Scheduling/School Calendar -- Propose legislation to tighten the school calendar to make sure our students receive a full 180 days of instruction. -- Continue before- and after-school programs. State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Create a Task Force on Fair and Equal Pay (created by executive order) to look for ethnic, racial and gender gaps as well as job segregation in every state agency, and offer solutions for closing those gaps. -- Establish an ethics commission to provide independent oversight of all branches of state government. http://www.governor.state.nm.us/press/2009/jan/012009_01.pdf 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 Utah Governor Jon Huntsman's State of the State Address Business Involvement, Career/Technical Education, Economic/Workforce Development, Postsecondary, Technology -- Continue to support the recently introduced career and technical education bill (HB 15). -- Continue to support the goal of a Utah College of Applied Technology system that is more responsive to real-time business needs and is more accessible to Utah's students. Early Learning, Kindergarten -- Continue to support early childhood learning and full-day kindergarten. Economic/Workforce Development, Mathematics, Postsecondary -- Make this year the "Year of Math" for both public and higher education. This will be our economic development engine and our strongest tool in attracting companies to Utah. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Make balancing the budget the first priority. Unlike many other states, we have added flexibility in minimizing impacts to our most critical priorities. -- Reduce spending to hit short-term targets, while not losing sight of long-term goals. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Continue on our journey to offer teachers a more competitive wage. While in these difficult economic times we may not be able to further that investment, we must not lose ground. International Education -- Continue to support our 21st century foreign language education programs (including Chinese and Arabic). Postsecondary -- Continue to support energy development and innovation at our higher education campuses. http://www.utah.gov/governor/news_media/article.html?article=2301 Vermont Governor James Douglas's State of the State Address Business Involvement, Economic/Workforce Development -- Enhance economic development efforts and pass the Economic Growth Plan (introduced last fall) in the first 100 days of the session. -- Modernize the permit application process to allow businesses to grow and create jobs. -- Work with the legislature and others to create the Vermont Economic Response Team, which will use available public and private resources to assist companies at risk. Early Learning, Early Learning--Finance, Finance, Finance--Funding Formulas, Finance (Postsecondary), Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Postsecondary -- Balance distribution of state funds among early education, K-12, and higher education. We spend relatively little on early education – are among the highest in the nation for primary and secondary education – and near the bottom for higher education. -- Propose a 20% increase in early and higher education. Enrollment -- Recognize the realities of declining enrollments across the state. Finance, Finance--Funding Formulas, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Work with the legislature to establish a collaborative process to design a new education funding system that is simple, transparent and sustainable. The current education funding system is failing taxpayers and local voters and is not sustainable. -- Freeze per-pupil spending for schools and categorical grants at current levels until the new funding system is established. Finance, Finance--Resource Efficiency, Governance, Special Education -- Examine school consolidation, governance, special education costs, and other opportunities to achieve efficiencies. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Expect to have a shortfall of more than $150 million in fiscal year 2010. -- Reduce benefits and cut programs for the next fiscal year – primarily in human services – by at least $150 million out of a general fund budget of less than $1.2 billion. -- Link the general fund transfer to the education fund to changes in the level of general government spending. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Place the obligation for funding the teachers' retirement system in the education fund. This $40 million would leverage $97 million in state and federal Global Commitment money and reduce the need to cut critical programs. Finance, Finance--Taxes/Revenues -- End property tax subsidies for Vermonters making over $75,000 in order to lower tax rates even further for all payers. -- Collect no more from residential taxpayers next year than this year. Finance, Finance--Taxes/Revenues, Governance, School Districts -- Allow each school district to determine what works best for its students. -- Strengthen local control by holding school districts directly responsible for tax increases. Postecondary -- Integrate the University of Vermont and the Vermont State Colleges into a single organization. -- Charge a working task force with the responsibility to find academic and administrative efficiencies that will be achieved through consolidation of our university and state college systems. I will ask the task force to report with recommendations by November 15th. http://governor.vermont.gov/speeches/Inaugural_2009.pdf 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 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