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 Postsecondary Institutions--For-Profit/Proprietary 2 Postsecondary Participation--Access 4 Postsecondary Participation--Enrollments (Statistics) 1 Postsecondary Students--Adults 10 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 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 Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius's State of the State Address Adult Learning/Continuing Education, Business Involvement, Economic/Workforce Development, Community Colleges, Rural -- Redouble our efforts to educate and train ALL of our citizens for jobs in this new marketplace. -- Continue collaboration between education leaders and the business community, so that training for new and current workers matches the skill sets needed for the innovation economy. -- Focus on rural Kansas communities. -- Announce the first Center for Rural Opportunity recently opened at Sterling College. Soon, centers at Colby Community College and Neosho Community College will open, concentrating on attracting investment, job growth, and business development to our rural areas. At-Risk, Early Learning, Early Learning--Finance -- Propose a new Early Childhood Block Grant, driven by research-based programming and accountability measures, focused on at-risk children and under-served areas. Early Learning, Early Learning--Family Involvement, Early Learning--Finance, Health, Parent/Family -- Extend the state's network of quality early learning opportunities for children by funding pre-natal care and newborn screening, Parents as Teachers, Early Head Start and quality child care. Economic/Workforce Development, Business Involvement -- Issue an Executive Order creating the Kansas Innovation Consortium, charged with overseeing the continued growth of Kansas. Key business leaders will join educators and agency heads to continue expanding and diversifying our economy. Economic/Workforce Development, Finance, Finance (Postsecondary) -- Expand the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy, to nearly double capacity, assist with continuing education, and promote residency programs in hospital pharmacies around this state. Finance, Finance (Postsecondary), Financial Aid, Postsecondary, Tuition/Fees -- Propose $1 million for new teaching scholarships in math, science and technology. -- Provide an additional $3 million in scholarship money to make college more affordable for 2,000 students. -- Propose new state resources for post-secondary education, to lower the costs for parents, students and Kansas families Finance, Kindergarten -- Fund the third year of our investment in K-12 education. -- Propose a fourth year of the school finance plan which includes all-day kindergarten. Finance, Mathematics, Science, Technology -- Fund the Kansas Academy of Math and Science, opening this year at Fort Hays State University. The Academy is to provide students with a strong math and science education to prepare them to enter the workforce; as high-tech industries represent the fastest growing sector of the economy. http://www.governor.ks.gov/news/sp-stateofstate2008.htm Kentucky Governor Steven L. Beshear's State of the State Address Adult Learning/Continuing Education, Business Involvement, Economic/Workforce Development -- Modernize and restructure incentive programs to make them more responsive to today's economic needs and to give us flexibility to compete for new jobs. -- Support existing Kentucky businesses that seek to invest in their facilities and in the continued education of their workforce. This includes extending job-creation incentives for the first time to small businesses. -- Keep the comprehensive energy plan (released in November) a top state priority, as it is an economic opportunity of immense proportions. Business Involvement, State Policymaking -- Review the Kentucky Education Reform Act. Bring together education, business and legislative leaders to review the act and renew and re-energize our commitment to education. Early Learning, Early Learning--Readiness -- Prepare children to enter the K-12 system. -- Unveil (next week) a task force on early childhood development and education that will streamline and strengthen our network of child services and programs to create better coordination, less duplication and more consistent and higher standards. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance--Taxes/Revenues -- Fill a $456 million hole in the state budget by June 30 with an additional $150 million in spending cuts, limited transfers of funds and new revenue from increased taxes on tobacco. Already this year we have reduced spending by more than $430 million, shrunk the state workforce by 2,000 employees, we've cut travel, we've reduced administrative costs by restructuring and conducted examinations of efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Finance, Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures, Finance--Taxes/Revenues, Postsecondary, Teaching Quality -- Make classroom teaching and learning a priority for state investment. -- Make higher education a priority for state investment. -- Increase significantly our tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products--to protect investment in education. Postsecondary -- Continue to support the energy research and development work being conducted at state universities, particularly the University of Louisville, the University of Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky University. Teaching Quality--Compensation -- Continue to protect the retirements of teachers and others. http://www.governor.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/779887EE-31B7-430F-A055-FCB87FA67568/0/20090204_SCAddress.pdf 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 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 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/ 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