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

The following summary includes education-related proposals from the 2009 state of the state addresses. To assure that this information reaches you in a timely manner, minimal attention has been paid to style (capitalization, punctuation) or format. To view the documents, click on the blue triangle next to the state. Accountability 9 Accountability--Rewards 1 Accountability--Sanctions/Interventions 1 Accountability--School Improvement 1 Assessment 4 Assessment--College Entrance Exams 1 At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention) 8 At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention)--Alternative Education 1 Bilingual/ESL 2 Business Involvement 19 Career/Technical Education 10 Choice of Schools 2 Choice of Schools--Charter Schools 5 Civic Education--Character Education 1 Class Size 2 Curriculum 5 Curriculum--Arts Education 1 Curriculum--Foreign Language/Sign Language 1 Curriculum--Language Arts 1 Curriculum--Language Arts--Writing/Spelling 2 Curriculum--Mathematics 13 Curriculum--Science 11 Demographics--Enrollments 1 Economic/Workforce Development 45 Education Research 1 Equity 1 Federal 15 Finance 48 Finance--Adequacy/Core Cost 2 Finance--Bonds 2 Finance--District 3 Finance--Facilities 12 Finance--Federal 14 Finance--Funding Formulas 12 Finance--Local Foundations/Funds 1 Finance--Lotteries 5 Finance--Performance Funding 2 Finance--Resource Efficiency 12 Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures 45 Finance--Taxes/Revenues 20 Governance 10 Governance--School Boards 4 Governance--State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies 28 Health 10 Health--Mental Health 1 Health--Nutrition 4 High School 13 High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates 9 High School--Dual/Concurrent Enrollment 1 High School--Early Colleges/Middle Colleges 1 High School--Exit Exams 1 High School--Graduation Requirements 2 International Benchmarking 1 Leadership 8 Mentoring/Tutoring 2 Middle School 1 Minority/Diversity Issues 2 Online Learning--Virtual Schools/Courses 4 P-16 or P-20 3 P-3 15 P-3 Early Intervention (0-3) 1 P-3 Family Involvement 1 P-3 Finance 5 P-3 Grades 1-3 5 P-3 Kindergarten 6 P-3 Preschool 4 P-3 Public/Private Partnerships 1 Parent/Family 7 Postsecondary 40 Postsecondary Accountability 1 Postsecondary Affordability--Financial Aid 17 Postsecondary Affordability--Tuition/Fees 22 Postsecondary Faculty 5 Postsecondary Finance 25 Postsecondary Governance and Structures 1 Postsecondary Institutions--Community/Technical Colleges 16 Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Jr.'s State of the State Address Business Involvement, Community Colleges, Economic/Workforce Development, Postsecondary -- Continue aligning the needs of businesses with workforce development and training programs through the Jobs Cabinet and community colleges. Dual/Concurrent Enrollment, High School -- Propose a comprehensive, statewide concurrent-enrollment plan to give high school students an opportunity to earn college credits while finishing high school--a student-centered concept intended to give kids a reason to stay in school and accelerate their progress toward degrees and workforce-readiness. Facilities, Finance--Facilities, Finance--Resource Efficiency, Rural -- Work on a plan for wind and solar projects on schools in rural Colorado--to help reduce schools' energy costs. P-16, Student Achievement--State -- Continue to offer reform proposals through The P-20 Council. -- Continue to implement Senate Bill 212, the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids. http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1229571409958&ssbinary=true 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 Maine Governor John E. Baldacci's State of the State Address Community Colleges, Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance (Postsecondary), Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Postsecondary -- Combine the efforts of the Department of Labor, Maine State Housing, the Public Utilities Commission and our universities and community colleges to create a green-collar workforce. -- Propose an advanced technology and engineering campus as part of our redevelopment plans for Brunswick Naval Air Station. The center will bring together the University of Maine and Southern Maine Community College in a joint venture that will support the economic development of the Midcoast while also training students for jobs of the future. This collaboration between the university and community college should be a model for greater cooperation between our institutions of higher learning. Economic/Workforce Development, Federal, Federal--Aid, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Use federal support to build roads, repair bridges, help people stay well and create jobs. -- Use money to preserve thousands more jobs at our schools. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Submitted $6.1 billion dollar budget in January--reduces state spending by about $200 million dollars. -- Execute a comprehensive development strategy--help regions identify their best assets and develop plans to build upon them. It's economic development from the ground up, instead of the top down. -- Balance the budget. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance (Postsecondary), Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Postsecondary, School to Work -- Proposed a three-year, $306 million dollar investment to create jobs, strengthen our economy and build our intellectual capacity by supporting higher education and innovation. -- Create a Weatherization Corps of young workers, who will learn important life and job skills right on the job. A joint program between the Department of Labor, Jobs for Maine Graduates, local CAP agencies and Maine Housing will train about 100 students to work on energy related projects. -- Capitalize on new jobs and build the industries of the 21st Century by investing in education, innovation and research and development. -- Realize that success today depends on a college education. -- Propose significant investments in Maine's institutions of higher learning so they can serve more students and make energy efficient improvements that will save money that can be put toward the classroom. Federal, Federal--Aid, Finance, Finance (Postsecondary), Graduate/Professional Education -- Propose using $3.5 million dollars in one-time recovery funds to help launch two innovative medical schools that will train the doctors we need in Maine. This will not require building new buildings--Tufts University will partner with Maine Medical Center and the University of Vermont will partner with Eastern Maine Medical Center and the University of Maine. Governance, Leadership, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Continue forward with the reform of K-12 administration and oppose referendum to repeal the state's school consolidation law (requires Maine's 290 school administrative units to be reorganized into about 80 regional units). We must stop wasting money on unnecessary bureaucracies and administrations. Parent/Family, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies, Technology, Technology--Laptop/Related Initiatives -- Revamp our laptop program for use of the entire family. The Department of Education and the Department of Labor will work to make sure every computer has software preloaded to connect students in seventh through 12th-grade and their families with the services available at our State's CareerCenters. http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=Gov+News&id=69160&v=Article-2006 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 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 Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman's State of the State Address Community Colleges, Finance, Finance (Postsecondary), Postsecondary, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Special Education -- Place a special priority on funding our children's education. -- Invest an additional $100 million in state aid to education, by increasing special education funding by $16.8 million, providing an additional $25.6 million to the University of Nebraska, and providing approximately $4 million for state and community colleges. -- Invest a record $1.7 billion annually in K-12 and higher education in the coming biennium. Economic/Workforce Development -- Create jobs to keep our sons and daughters in Nebraska. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Keep Nebraska as one of the few states not currently facing a financial crisis. -- Work with state agencies to encourage each department to find ways of saving money during the current fiscal year. State agencies that reduce spending now will have my support, and the support of your Appropriations Committee Chairman, in applying that savings toward next year's budget. Finance, Finance--Taxes/Revenues -- Ensure that there will be no tax increases. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Maintain a strong cash reserve in the budget to account for contingent liabilities, such as teacher and state employee pension losses due to a declining stock market. http://governor.nebraska.gov/news/pdf/0115_State_of_the_State_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 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 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 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/ Virginia Governor Tim Kaine's State of the State Address Business Involvement, Economic/Workforce Development, Finance -- Move forward on authorized capital projects and business incentives designed to help create jobs. Set a goal that a minimum of 30 state capital projects worth at least $250 million in construction costs be put to bid prior to the end of this fiscal year (equates to an average of six projects a month between February 1 and June 30, 2009). -- Invest $5 million in the Governor's Opportunity Fund to attract new jobs. Business Involvement, Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--Facilities, Finance--Resource Efficiency, Postsecondary -- Create green jobs. -- Support the Interagency Task Force for Energy Project Recruitment that will work with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership to build the state's case for renewable energy-related businesses. The task force will include state agencies, university research centers, and federal laboratories based in Virginia. -- Pursue changes to make it easier to take new energy technology discoveries made on Virginia campuses and turn them into new companies and new jobs in the state. In collaboration with technology-based economic development organizations, our universities will develop a single internet portal for investors to understand both the types of research being done on Virginia campuses and how they can be a part of bringing those new technologies to market. -- Require in the Code of Virginia that all state and local government buildings meet either LEED or Green Globes standards for efficiency. Focusing on conservation efforts will also lead to construction jobs. Employing carpenters, electricians, installers, and other contracting professionals to retrofit old buildings is one way to put people back to work. In addition, expecting new construction to meet enhanced environmental standards will provide additional opportunities for advanced construction jobs. Community Colleges, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance (Postsecondary), Financial Aid -- Propose difficult cuts in higher education. -- Propose a lesser cut for community colleges--the most affordable point of entry into the state's higher education system. -- Provide $26 million in additional support for need-based financial aid to assist middle and lower-income students. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance--Funding Formulas -- Propose targeted, performance-based cuts, instead of across-the-board cuts. -- Focus state funds to protect the students' experience in the classroom, which I consider that the state's core priority. -- Reduce funding for administrative and support personnel in schools and central offices by applying a funding cap for these positions (a cap is already applied to determine the number of teachers and principals the state funds). Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance--Taxes/Revenues -- Tighten the belt of government. -- Pledge to not meet the budget shortfall through a general tax increase on Virginia's families. -- Maintain tax cuts already put in place--elimination of the estate tax, sales tax holidays for school supplies and energy efficient appliances, and the elimination of all income taxes for nearly 140,000 low-income Virginia workers. -- Propose one targeted tax increase--a 30 cent per pack increase on the cigarette tax (would bring Virginia's tobacco tax up to about half the national average). http://www.governor.virginia.gov/MediaRelations/Speeches/2009/SOTC.cfm Washington Governor Christine Gregoire's State of the State Address Economic/Workforce Development, Federal, Federal--Aid, Finance, Finance--Facilities -- Create new jobs by rebuilding roads and schools, and creating a green economy for the 21st century — all in partnership with President-elect Barack Obama's "American Recovery and Reinvestment" plan. -- Accelerate nearly $1 billion in public works projects to quickly create thousands of new jobs. -- Introduce the "Washington Jobs Now" plan, which, in combination with the 1,400 transportation projects currently under way or about to start (worth $3 billion), will provide nearly 20,000 jobs over the next two years. -- Work with legislators and others to create an economic recovery plan that will quickly pass the legislature. Accountability, Business Involvement, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Postsecondary, Public Involvement, State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies -- Reform state government to bring it into the 21st century. For example, I've asked Auditor Sonntag to examine ways to sunset some of state's 470 boards and commissions. -- Partner with business and labor, state employees, and citizens to reform state government. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Propose difficult budget cuts. I don't like this budget, but I proposed it because I must. -- Tighten the belt of government, balance the budget and focus on basic needs — protection of our children, our schools and colleges, our public safety, our environment and our economy. Economic/Workforce Development, Mathematics, Postsecondary, Science, Technology -- Preserve our education system to make sure we provide workers skilled in science, math, engineering and technology. Community Colleges, Distance Learning/Virtual University, Postsecondary, Technology -- Support the 18,000 full-time students at state community and technical colleges that are earning course credits online. It would take an additional four community colleges to offer all those classes the old-fashioned way. http://www.governor.wa.gov/speeches/speech-view.asp?SpeechSeq=203 Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal's State of the State Address Career/Technical Education, Community Colleges, Finance, Finance--Funding Formulas, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Postsecondary -- Urge the legislature, particularly the Joint Education Committee, to work with the superintendent to figure out why the state ranks first or second in K-12 funding effort, but not in test scores, matriculation or drop out rates. The state is placing education funding at a high enough level that the goal of providing students an opportunity to acquire sufficient knowledge and skills at a minimum to enter the University of Wyoming and Wyoming community colleges, to prepare students for the job market or post-secondary, vocational and technical training and to achieve the general purposes of education, should be achievable. This question should be considered before the school financing formula is recalibrated. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Fund capital construction projects such as highways, airports and other projects across the state that impact the economy and create jobs. -- Provide $900,000 for targeted advertising to help maintain some normality in the tourism sector. The tourism sector is not only important for that sector itself, but it is important because it may be the one source of additional retail expenditures for many of the stores, cafes and other operations in Wyoming. -- Commit to investing funding in the future of the state. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures -- Make difficult decisions about the budget--decisions that have to do with saying "no" in a way that we have never had to say it before. Revenues are available, but that does not mean that they need to be spent. Now is a good time to consider whether we spend state funds properly. -- Fund the First Children's Finance Program--the state's continuing effort to address the lack of available child care in Wyoming. I have identified sources within the current funding stream to fund this program and thus am not asking for additional General Fund consideration. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Address accrued obligations, such as the actuarial shortfall in the retirement account caused by the past increase in teacher salaries. To address this I have allotted $150 million to eventually fund that shortfall. http://governor.wy.gov/Media.aspx?MediaId=745 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