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

The following summary includes education-related proposals from the 2009 state of the state addresses. To assure that this information reaches you in a timely manner, minimal attention has been paid to style (capitalization, punctuation) or format. To view the documents, click on the blue triangle next to the state. Accountability 9 Accountability--Rewards 1 Accountability--Sanctions/Interventions 1 Accountability--School Improvement 1 Assessment 4 Assessment--College Entrance Exams 1 At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention) 8 At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention)--Alternative Education 1 Bilingual/ESL 2 Business Involvement 19 Career/Technical Education 10 Choice of Schools 2 Choice of Schools--Charter Schools 5 Civic Education--Character Education 1 Class Size 2 Curriculum 5 Curriculum--Arts Education 1 Curriculum--Foreign Language/Sign Language 1 Curriculum--Language Arts 1 Curriculum--Language Arts--Writing/Spelling 2 Curriculum--Mathematics 13 Curriculum--Science 11 Demographics--Enrollments 1 Economic/Workforce Development 45 Education Research 1 Equity 1 Federal 15 Finance 48 Finance--Adequacy/Core Cost 2 Finance--Bonds 2 Finance--District 3 Finance--Facilities 12 Finance--Federal 14 Finance--Funding Formulas 12 Finance--Local Foundations/Funds 1 Finance--Lotteries 5 Finance--Performance Funding 2 Finance--Resource Efficiency 12 Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures 45 Finance--Taxes/Revenues 20 Governance 10 Governance--School Boards 4 Governance--State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies 28 Health 10 Health--Mental Health 1 Health--Nutrition 4 High School 13 High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates 9 High School--Dual/Concurrent Enrollment 1 High School--Early Colleges/Middle Colleges 1 High School--Exit Exams 1 High School--Graduation Requirements 2 International Benchmarking 1 Leadership 8 Mentoring/Tutoring 2 Middle School 1 Minority/Diversity Issues 2 Online Learning--Virtual Schools/Courses 4 P-16 or P-20 3 P-3 15 P-3 Early Intervention (0-3) 1 P-3 Family Involvement 1 P-3 Finance 5 P-3 Grades 1-3 5 P-3 Kindergarten 6 P-3 Preschool 4 P-3 Public/Private Partnerships 1 Parent/Family 7 Postsecondary 40 Postsecondary Accountability 1 Postsecondary Affordability--Financial Aid 17 Postsecondary Affordability--Tuition/Fees 22 Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano's State of the State Address Adult Learning/Continuing Education, Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Propose legislation to extend in-state tuition to every veteran in Arizona--to support our veterans and increase the number of college graduates in our state. Charter Schools, Choice -- Expand and preserve school choice through the growing institution of quality public charter schools. Completion/Postsec. Graduation, Enrollment, Postsecondary, Postsecondary--Statistics -- Continue to charge the universities with the task of doubling the number of bachelor's degrees earned in Arizona by 2020. Economic/Workforce Development, Enrollment, Facilities, Finance--Resource Efficiency, Finance--Facilities, Postsecondary -- Implement the plan passed by the legislature last year to build and improve the physical infrastructure of our universities – a plan that accommodates future enrollment growth while creating needed construction jobs. -- Continue to build an educated workforce by increasing our research capacity – through our universities as well as institutions like TGen and Science Foundation Arizona. -- Build energy efficient school buildings--the construction of which will provide an economic stimulus. Finance -- Increase the proportion of our education funds spent in the classroom. Finance (Postsecondary), Postsecondary -- Avoid additional university budget cuts. Governance, Leadership, School Boards, Teaching Quality--Compensation, Teaching Quality--Working Conditions -- Continue to improve the professional status – and the pay – of our classroom teachers. -- Demand more of our administrators and elected school boards. http://www.governor.state.az.us/documents/sos/2009/2009%20SOS%20Address.pdf 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 Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell's State of the State Address Financial Aid, Finance (Postsecondary), Tuition/Fees -- Introduce special, $25 million program to help students and their families with low-interest college loans (announced December, 2008). Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Recommend deep budget cuts that will affect every agency, every program and every service provided by state government (governor's budget to be presented February 2009). http://www.ct.gov/governorrell/cwp/view.asp?A=3675&Q=431362 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 Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels's State of the State Address Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Aim for protecting education funding at this year's levels, considering the economic environment. -- Spend the education dollar more efficiently. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Kindergarten -- Postpone plan for complete state funding of Full-Day Kindergarten--revive plan when favorable economic conditions return. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance (Postsecondary), Financial Aid, Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Postpone plane for guaranteed college tuition--revive plan when favorable economic conditions return. Finance, Finance--Resource Efficiency -- Rectify the fact that 39 cents of every education dollar is spent outside the classroom. -- Move tax dollars out of the back office and into the classroom. -- Invite every legislator to help shape an effective new approach that sends many more education dollars into the classrooms. Class Size, Finance, School Size, Student Achievement, Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Aim for smaller schools, smaller classrooms, more and better paid teachers, better academic opportunities for students, through lower overhead. Safety/Student Discipline, Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Working Conditions -- Urge the Assembly to approve the bill previously introduced to reestablish complete, unquestioned discipline in the schools.   http://www.in.gov/portal/news_events/34390.htm 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 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 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 Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer's State of the State Address Accountability, Accountability (Postsecondary), Postsecondary -- Hold government accountable. -- Ensure that all public monies are spent efficiently and government is held accountable for money spent on our universities. This includes the 170 million in university research funds which currently has little oversight. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Will do all we can to give you opportunity again. Montana's state budget is in better shape than almost every other state. -- Created a rapid response team to assist workers who have experienced job loss and help direct families in need of healthcare and unemployment benefits. The team will be headed up by the state Department of Labor and DPHHS and will involve many more state agencies. Economic/Workforce Development, Federal, Federal--Aid, Finance, Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Create jobs building roads and bridges, pipelines, transmission lines and improving school efficiency--using money from the federal stimulus package. -- Assist with college expenses, using money from the federal stimulus package. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Postsecondary, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Freeze the wages of state employees. State employees have agreed to this. Finance, Finance--Taxes/Revenues, Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Will not increase property tax revenues. -- Support HB 388, a bill to impose a surcharge on oil and gas production to fund higher teacher salaries in the state. For more information on HB 388, please go to: http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2009/billpdf/HB0388.pdf http://governor.mt.gov/docs/SotSOutline_FINAL.pdf New Hampshire Governor John Lynch's State of the State Address At-Risk--Foster Care -- Redesign foster care reimbursement rates, increasing the average daily rate but ending special bonus payments. -- Change state policies to move children more quickly out of expensive placements and into permanent homes.  Community Colleges, Finance, Finance (Postsecondary), Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Postsecondary -- Minimize the financial impact on the Community College and University Systems. Both systems will see a slight increase in the state contribution over actual state spending in fiscal years 2008-2009. -- Expect both the University and Community College systems to work aggressively to mitigate tuition increases for students. -- Close the Tobey School--these students will continue to be served in appropriate community college settings. Economic/Workforce Development, Federal, Federal--Aid, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Coordinate with neighboring states to develop a 2,000- to 3,000-bed Northern New England Correctional Facility--in order to provide jobs in a struggling part of our state. -- Accelerate important road projects in our ten-year plan, which will create jobs--use the estimated $130 million in federal transportation stimulus funds to help do this. -- Submit to the Public Utilities Commission a proposal for using our greenhouse gas and renewable energy funds to create new jobs for our citizens – by expanding weatherization of older homes; by providing training for energy-related jobs; by upgrading the energy efficiency of state and municipal buildings; and by creating a low-interest loan fund to help businesses upgrade to reduce their energy costs. -- Created an Office of Economic Stimulus to make sure we use stimulus funds wisely and quickly so that we can put New Hampshire citizens back to work. -- Focus (in the capital budget) on critical maintenance projects that we can begin quickly, to help create jobs. Faculty, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Postsecondary, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Teaching Quality -- Cut current expenses, organizational dues, out-of-state travel, equipment, employee training, and subscriptions across state agencies. -- Asked agencies to identify programs that no longer match current priorities. For example, in the Department of Education we cut a program that provided $17,500 for geography education at Keene State. -- Consolidate the staff and administrative functions of professional boards. -- Propose that all licensing boards and commissions be consolidated by subject matter within four major departments – health and human services, safety, environmental services, and the secretary of state. From there, commissioners will work with the boards to strengthen their operations, and we will implement a plan to achieve a full consolidation of all of the State's licensing functions by 2012. -- Eliminate the practice of "bumping"--where a laid-off employee can "bump" another employee in a different job, in some cases anywhere in the agency. -- Retain protections for employees based on their seniority within their specific unit and job classification. -- Reduce administrative burdens on state agencies so they can focus on their core missions and look at how we are using state employee time. -- Propose sunsetting all commissions, committees and non-regulatory boards by the end of fiscal year 2011and then only re-enact those that are essential. Faculty, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Teaching Quality--Compensation, Unions/Collective Bargaining -- Align the benefits of the retirees' health insurance plan to those provided to active state employees. -- Charge premiums to younger retirees similar to those that older retirees already pay. -- Propose a new health insurance plan for state employees focused on wellness, disease management and prevention. We can and should implement the change in the next biennium for unclassified and non-classified employees. To compensate employees for the change, this budget returns some of the savings to employees in the form of a one-time payment. -- Offer the same proposal above to unionized employees. If they are willing to participate in a wellness health plan, we will return some of the savings to them as one-time payments. -- Unfund nearly 400 vacant positions and continue the hiring freeze into the next biennium, allowing agencies to fill vacancies only with a waiver. Federal, Federal--Aid, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Send the money from the state fiscal stabilization fund included in the federal stimulus legislation to communities to offset other reductions. This will result in property taxpayers receiving the same or a slight increase in aid. Finance, Finance--Adequacy/Core Cost, Finance--Funding Formulas, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Review and improve the state's adequacy formula, which provides an additional $123 million to schools over the next biennium. In the long term, I believe we must direct more state resources to communities with the greatest needs. And, I continue to support a constitutional amendment that would make such a plan possible. But I also recognize that this was the formula approved by the legislature last session, and this is not the time for wholesale changes. That is why this budget funds the additional $123 million called for by the adequacy formula. Finance, Finance--Lotteries, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance--Taxes/Revenues -- Balance the state budget for fiscal years 2010-2011by using the remaining $60 million from the medical malpractice surplus, increase the tobacco tax by 35 cents, increase the meals and rooms tax by three-quarters percent and tax gambling winnings over $600. -- Would veto increases on either the income tax or sales tax. -- Project a $275 million revenue shortfall in the general and education trust funds for fiscal year 2009. -- Project that, on average, existing revenues will remain flat for the next two years. -- Re-think everything state government does and how we do it. -- Meet our education commitments by suspending revenue sharing, rooms and meals distribution, and reducing the state's contribution to retirement costs from 35 to 30 percent. Finance, Finance--Resource Efficiency, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Include $3 million in the capital budget to upgrade energy efficiency in state government buildings. http://www.governor.nh.gov/speeches/documents/021209budget.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 North Dakota Governor John Hoeven's State of the State Address Curriculum -- Enhance curriculum, using funds from the $130 million listed below. Finance -- Provide $130 million to fund the recommendations of the Commission on Education Improvement. Those recommendations include resources to build student performance, enhance curriculum, provide strong professional development and mentoring, and improve compensation for our teachers. -- Reach the goal set 25 years ago for the state to fund 70 percent of the cost of public education--which is now within the state's grasp. Financial Aid, Finance (Postsecondary), Tuition/Fees -- Provide $170 million in both ongoing and one-time funding to help campuses maintain and improve the quality of education they provide--this sum includes funding for ACT-ND, Aid for College Tuition in North Dakota. -- Do more with non-needs based assistance to attract and prepare young people for new jobs and careers. -- Offer up to $2,000 a year for five years - $10,000 in total - to help students in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math with their technical training or education (funding from STEM Grants, a merit-based program). Student Achievement -- Build student performance, using funds from the $130 million listed above. Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Improve teacher compensation, using funding from the $130 million listed above. Teaching Quality--Induction and Mentoring -- Provide strong professional development and mentoring, using funding from the $130 million listed above. Teaching Quality--Professional Development -- Provide strong professional development and mentoring, using funding from the $130 million listed above. http://governor.nd.gov/media/speeches/090106.html Ohio Governor Ted Strickland's State of the State Address Accountability, Public Involvement, School Districts, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Establish a new level of school district accountability and transparency. -- Establish performance audits for school districts overseen by the Department of Education--to make sure they are maintaining academic and operating standards. -- Require districts to report their spending plans before each school year and then account for every dollar at the conclusion of the school year. -- Provide parents, public officials, and taxpayers an annual fiscal and operational report card for every school district. When we send districts funding to help students who need additional attention and instruction, we will now be able to track our dollars to see that they directly reach those students. -- Establish a process for districts who fail to comply with the new standards. Upon a certain level of non-compliance, the State Board of Education will revoke the school district's charter. Accountability, Charter Schools -- Establish a new level of accountability in charter schools. Charter schools should meet the same standards demanded of traditional public schools. Arts in Education, Language Arts--Writing/Spelling, Mathematics, Science, Student Achievement, Technology -- Create new academic achievement competitions and awards.  -- Create the Ohio Academic Olympics, where students will compete in science, math, writing, debate, the arts and technology. Assessment, Assessment--College Entrance Exams, Assessment--National Tests, High School, High School--Exit Exams, High School--Grad Requirements, Service Learning/Community Service, -- Replace the Ohio Graduation Test with the ACT and three additional measures. All students will: (1) take the ACT college entrance examination; (2) take statewide 'end of course' exams; (3) complete a service learning project; and (4) submit a senior project.  Assessment, Elementary Education, Middle School  -- Rewrite assessments in grades 3 through 8 to test for mastery of the information and skills in the curriculum. At-Risk, High School, High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates -- Provide enhanced intervention services in schools with high dropout rates, by building on our 'Closing the Achievement Gap' initiative. Character Education, Citizenship Education, Comprehensive School Reform, Curriculum, Education Research, Service Learning/Community Service, Social & Emotional Development, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Student Achievement, Teaching Quality -- Introduce my plan to rebuild our education system--using an evidence-based education approach that applies research findings to Ohio's specific circumstances. [note: this plan encompasses many of the initiatives throughout this summary] -- Add new subjects including global awareness and life skills to the curriculum. -- Use teaching methods that foster creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, communication and collaboration, media literacy, leadership and productivity, cultural awareness, adaptability and accountability. -- Direct the Ohio Department of Education to set standards for Ohio schools requiring innovative teaching formats. -- Make interdisciplinary methods, project-based learning, real world lessons, and service learning the norm. -- Build the learning experience around the individual student. -- Provide dedicated resources for instructional materials and enrichment activities. Community Colleges, Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Maintain commitment to affordable access to our colleges and universities. -- Maintain tuition freeze for the next two years. Early Learning, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Unite all of our early childhood development programs and resources into the Department of Education. This comprehensive early childhood system will focus on the whole child and provide quality early learning and care while improving our efficiency and effectiveness. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance--Taxes/Revenues -- Renew the Technology Investment Tax Credit to attract investors for new Ohio start-up technology companies. -- Broaden the Job Retention Tax Credit and Job Creation Tax Credit. -- Create a Film Tax Credit to spur the growth of the film industry. -- Create a New Markets Tax Credit based on the existing federal program, to help cities and towns spur investment in downtown multi-use projects. -- Introduce a second jobs stimulus package in the coming months. The package will include an expansion of Ohio's Third Frontier program, regulatory reform and streamlining measures, and additional investments. Education Research, International Comparisons, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Create a Center for Creativity and Innovation within the Department of Education--to monitor research and results from across the country and across the world. Extended Day Programs, Health, Mentoring/Tutoring, Service Learning/Community -- Expand the learning day for all students with activities such as community service, tutoring, and wellness programs.   Federal--Aid, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance--Taxes/Revenues, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Reduce spending by 3.2 billion dollars from 2009 planning levels. -- Reduce a significant number of programs and services; will call for many program reductions of 10 to 20 percent. -- Ask state employees to endure a financial sacrifice.  -- Balance the budget. Without the infusion of federal resources, we would have had to impose far more substantial cuts to balance our budget. -- Will not raise taxes. -- Leverage existing resources and one-time cash transfers. -- Increase various state agency fees, fines, and penalties.  Finance, Finance--District, Finance--Local Foundations/Funds, Finance--Taxes/Revenues, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Eliminate aspects of our current funding system that are indefensible. -- Eliminate the practice where the state asks school districts to pay their bills with phantom dollars. -- Lower the local taxpayer contribution to local schools from 23 to 20 mills. The state will assume responsibility for providing the difference between what those 20 mills raise and the cost of the full range of educational resources our students need according to our evidence-based approach. -- Provide districts the option of asking voters to pass a conversion levy. Financial Aid, Postsecondary, Teaching Quality--Hard-to-Staff Schools -- Provide scholarships for future teachers who agree to teach in hard to staff schools or in hard to staff subjects. Governance, Leadership, Standards -- Strengthen our licensing standards for school principals. -- Give principals the ability and responsibility to properly manage their schools. -- Create standards for the mastery of both education and management principles for school superintendents, school treasurers and other business officials. Health -- Place nurses in our schools. Kindergarten  -- Require universal all-day kindergarten. Outreach Programs, Parent/Family, Public Involvement -- Create community engagement teams in our schools. -- Place professionals in the schools who will help educators, families and community service providers come together to help our children succeed. P-16 -- Continue to support a comprehensive P through 16 system. Postsecondary, Teaching Quality--Preparation--Professional Development Schools -- Redesign university teacher education programs to meet the needs and standards of our primary and secondary schools. Empower the Chancellor of Higher Education to reward university education programs that best prepare their students for success as teachers in Ohio. Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Continue tuition freeze tuition in 2010, and keep any tuition increase to no more than 3.5 percent in 2011 (main university campuses). Scheduling/School Calendar -- Add 20 instructional days to the school calendar, over a ten-year period in order to bring the state's learning year up to the international average of 200 days. State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Call on all state agencies to make government services simpler, faster, better and less costly.  Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Certification, Teaching Quality--Induction and Mentoring, Teaching Quality--Preparation, Teaching Quality--Preparation--Professional Development Schools, Teaching Quality--Professional Development, Teaching Quality--Working Conditions -- Improve educator quality. -- Introduce a four-year residency program to advance teacher preparation and development. Under the program, new teachers will be guided by an accomplished senior teacher and successful candidates will earn their professional teaching license. -- Introduce a career ladder that begins with residency and may build up to lead teacher. This allows teachers the opportunity to advance their careers based on objective evidence of student progress.  -- Provide collaborative planning time. -- Make mentoring, coaching and peer review standard. -- Have the Chancellor of Higher Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction collaborate to provide professional development programs and innovative techniques for the classroom. -- Give administrators the power to dismiss teachers for good cause, the same standard applied to other public employees. -- Create a Teach Ohio program to open a path to licensure for professionals who have the subject knowledge but lack coursework in education methods. Successful participants will be eligible to begin the four-year residency program. http://www.governor.ohio.gov/GovernorsOffice/StateoftheState/StateoftheState2009/tabid/984/Default.aspx Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell's State of the State Address Accountability, Governance, Leadership, School Districts, Student Achievement -- Adopt laws holding superintendents and principals accountable for boosting student achievement. -- Adopt laws requiring fundamental change when schools or districts fail to improve year after year. -- Direct school boards to focus their time to guide district improvement. Adult Learning/Continuing Education, Community Colleges, Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance (Postsecondary), Postsecondary -- Hold state institutions of higher learning to the same levels of funding that they currently receive. -- Increase funds for community colleges--which serve as the training ground for Pennsylvanians seeking new skills to help them re-enter the job market. Business Involvement, Economic/Workforce Development -- Put citizens back to work through continued infrastructure investments. -- Provide $27 million to ensure job-creating opportunities from projects such as the CSX and Norfolk Southern rail freight expansion. -- Expand the Business in our Sites program by $60 million. -- Create a $100 million working capital loan guarantee program and increase the funds available to water and other infrastructure improvements needed for business growth by $40 million. -- Add $10 million to the Infrastructure and Facilities Improvement Program to help businesses grow. -- Urge legislature to pass amendments to the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards, which will stimulate job growth. Community Colleges, Finance, Finance (Postsecondary), Financial Aid, Tuition/Fees -- Provide $35 million in funds to restore the PHEAA education grant cutbacks. -- Provide a $15 million increase in funding for enrollment at community colleges across the state. This will make it possible for 10,000 more students to receive grants to study in state community colleges next fall. -- Introduce the Pennsylvania Tuition Relief Act, which will provide critically needed college tuition assistance to Pennsylvania families earning less than $100,000 a year. Under this Act, all students who qualify and seek to attend public or community colleges will pay what they can afford (at least $1,000 per year) in accordance with established financial aid practices. -- Enact legislation to legalize video poker and tax its proceeds--to pay for the tuition relief described above. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance (Postsecondary), Postsecondary -- Believe that investing in higher education is the single most important thing we can do to grow the economy in the long run. Faculty, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Urge the legislature to pass legislation to consolidate health care benefits for all school employees in the state. -- Freeze wages for state positions where possible and stop salary increases for this year and next. Finance, Finance--Facilities, Finance--Resource Efficiency, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Enact a Pennsylvania Green Building Code. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance--Taxes/Revenues, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Unions/Collective Bargaining -- Face a current projected budget deficit of $2.3 billion. However, Pennsylvania is in a far better position than most. -- Hold counties at level funding. -- Allow counties to impose a sales tax increase of up to one percent on top of the state sales tax and share 50% of those proceeds with cities. -- Will not increase taxes on personal income, sales or businesses. -- Propose a tax on smokeless tobacco. -- Propose a tax on the minerals under state soil when extracted. -- Need to tap some of our Rainy Day reserves to help close our deficit this year and next. -- Cut current-year legislative spending by 4.25% (executive branch has already made these cuts). -- Welcome any revenue enhancement proposals by any member of the legislature. -- Decrease General Fund expenditures by 2%. -- Cut $395 million in spending by completely eliminating 20 percent of the 500 line items under the control of the Executive Branch. In some cases we are cutting terrific programs that we can perhaps restore when the economy recovers, such as the Governor's Schools of Excellence, a week-long series of academic enrichment forums offered by the Department of Education to students from all over the state. -- Cut the Scotland School permanently. This school was founded so that the orphans of the Civil War could receive a free public school education, however none of the current students in the school are orphans of veterans, and only seven have parents who are currently deployed. -- Continue negotiating with leaders of our state unions to reach agreement on ways to meet our fiscal challenges with the lowest possible number of layoffs. -- Accelerate local community mergers where it makes sense to do so (as recommended by the State Planning Board). -- Provide $300 million to help contain local property tax increases and pay for public school activities that have proven effective in the last six years. If the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes temporary support for schools, we should put this $300 million into a lockbox so that when the federal funds expire in two years we can ensure that our school districts continue on the path toward full adequacy funding. Finance, Finance (Postsecondary), Postsecondary -- Double state capital investment in projects at the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. -- Continue our annual commitment of $100 million in funding for important campus projects at the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University, Lincoln University, and Temple University. Governance, School Districts -- Establish funds for the creation of a legislative commission to study how best to right-size our local school districts. The commission should reporting back, within one year, a set of recommendations for the legislature's approval that sets forth an optimal number of local districts and a plan with specific timelines for adjusting our boundaries to meet the optimal size. Full-scale school consolidation provides an effective way to relieve the local property tax burden all across the state. I challenge the commission to develop a plan that includes no more than 100 local districts statewide. http://www.governor.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_24980_2985_368304_43/http%3B/pubcontent.state.pa.us/publishedcontent/publish/cop_general_government_operations/pagov/media/latest_news/09_2010_final_budget_address.pdf South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's State of the State Address Charter Schools, Choice -- Look for ways to ensure the state's educational system provides choices that reflect the individual diversity found in the more than 700,000 students in our state. If a school isn't working for a child, the child's parent or guardian ought to be given the option to go to the school that works best for the child. Lack of school choice may impact a number of things outside of education, such as rural economic development, or increases to property tax bills across the state. -- Pass a Charter School Parity bill. Economic/Workforce Development -- Update the Employment Security Commission, to better people's employment opportunities. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--Taxes/Revenues -- Provide lasting jobs and economic growth through the tax reform proposal introduced last month. -- Introduce the option of a flat tax of 3.65 percent on the individual income tax rate. This proposal works by allowing each citizen each year to pick between paying the current seven percent income tax rate, or forgoing their exemptions and paying a flat 3.65 percent. The result would be $131 million in income tax relief, paid for by a 30-cent increase to the state's cigarette tax, elimination of three state sales tax holidays, and a $3 per ton tipping fee for garbage disposal. --Eliminate the state's corporate income tax over a 10-year-time period, taking the rate from 5 percent to zero. Finance, Finance (Postsecondary), Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Link the price of higher education to its cost; by capping tuition increases, which would force coordination. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Prohibit one-time money from going to start, or fund, recurring programs. -- Find ways to better spend monies currently in the system. -- Enact education funding that follows the child. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Restructure state government by: passing the "South Carolina Restructuring Act" (H 3147/S 0208); letting the people decide whether a host of constitutional officers should be appointed rather than elected; consolidating agencies that perform overlapping functions; making state government more transparent; and instituting spending limits (i.e. limit government's growth to population plus inflation, then allocate everything beyond this to first paying down unfunded liabilities and then either set money aside for a rainy day or return it to the taxpayer). http://www.scgovernor.com/news/releases/sos2009.htm South Dakota Governor M. Michael Rounds's State of the State Address Business Involvement, Economic/Workforce Development -- Attain a goal of the 2010 Initiative by doubling visitor spending from $600 million to $1.2 billion by the year 2010. --Continue to approve qualified companies for REDI loans, which in turn will create jobs. Business Involvement, Economic/Workforce Development, Postsecondary, Science -- Partner with the Board of Regents to renovate and revitalize the science facilities at the state's public universities through a $65 million bonding plan--to assist students and state economic development plans. Federal, Finance, Rural, Teaching Quality, Teaching Quality--Compensation, Teaching Quality--Hard-to-Staff Schools, Teaching Quality--Recruitment/Retention -- Propose $4,000,000 in state funds to increase teacher salaries, pay teachers for additional training, and to help school districts hire teachers they need for their schools. -- Continue participation in the federal INCENTIVESplus program, a $20 million grant over 5 years, to attract teachers to high-need schools, primarily in rural areas. Finance--Resource Efficiency, Postsecondary -- Remove incandescent light bulbs from the state contract, so that lights in state government buildings will be replaced with energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. -- Require Energy 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/ 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 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