2011 State of the State Addresses Education-Related Proposals by Issue

The following summary includes education-related proposals from the 2011 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 6 Accountability--Reporting Results 1 Accountability--Sanctions/Interventions 1 Accountability--School Improvement 2 Assessment 4 At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention) 1 At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention)--Alternative Education 1 Attendance 2 Bilingual/ESL 1 Business Involvement 5 Career/Technical Education 4 Choice of Schools 3 Choice of Schools--Charter Schools 8 Choice of Schools--Charter Schools--Cyber Charters 1 Choice of Schools--Charter Schools--Finance 1 Choice of Schools--Choice/Open Enrollment 2 Choice of Schools--Tax Credits 2 Choice of Schools--Vouchers 2 Choice of Schools--Vouchers--Privately Funded 1 Class Size 1 Curriculum--Foreign Language/Sign Language 1 Curriculum--Mathematics 1 Curriculum--Science 1 Economic/Workforce Development 18 Finance 17 Finance--Adequacy/Core Cost 1 Finance--District 3 Finance--Facilities 3 Finance--Federal 3 Finance--Funding Formulas 3 Finance--Resource Efficiency 1 Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures 13 Finance--Taxes/Revenues 2 Governance 7 Governance--School Boards 2 Governance--State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies 2 Health 1 High School 7 High School--Advanced Placement 3 High School--College Readiness 6 High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates 2 High School--Dual/Concurrent Enrollment 1 High School--Graduation Requirements 2 Leadership--District Superintendent 2 Leadership--District Superintendent--Compensation and Diversified Pay 1 Leadership--Principal/School Leadership 4 Online Learning--Virtual Schools/Courses 2 P-16 or P-20 5 P-3 5 P-3 Grades 1-3 4 P-3 Kindergarten 1 P-3 Kindergarten--Full-Day Kindergarten 3 P-3 Preschool 2 Parent/Family 1 Postsecondary 8 Postsecondary Accountability 1 Postsecondary Affordability--Financial Aid 6 Postsecondary Affordability--Textbooks 1 Postsecondary Affordability--Tuition/Fees 5 Postsecondary Affordability--Tuition/Fees--Prepd/College Savings Plans 1 Postsecondary Faculty--Compensation 1 Postsecondary Finance 13 Postsecondary Finance--Efficiency/Performance-Based Funding 1 Postsecondary Institutions 2 Postsecondary Institutions--Community/Technical Colleges 3 Postsecondary Participation--Access 6 Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Make education our top priority. Pre-K -3 -- Utilize federal, state and private resources to develop a leadership position in the Governor's office for early education. This person will coordinate efforts across departments and in the private sector as we lay the groundwork for the future establishment of a Department of Early Childhood. Finance -- Implement what is an overdue increase in the alcohol tax and a fee on soda and similar drinks. We can no longer ignore the fact that consumption of these and other such products contribute to rising public health costs. Revenues from these fees will be used to repair the public health infrastructure and also to fund prevention and education programs. Governance -- Immediately resolve the appointed school board issue. In the coming weeks, the legislature needs to give me the enabling legislation allowing the Governor to appoint the school board [voters approved a Constitutional amendment but implementation details will be handled through legislation]. College Access and Completion -- Increase the number of college graduates by 25 percent by 2015 (Hawaii Graduation Initiative). We can achieve this goal by keeping education affordable and reaching out to students across the state who have not been traditionally well served at the University of Hawaii (UH), including Native Hawaiians and neighbor island students. -- Organize a Hawaiian language university-within-a-university. Language is a key element in ensuring that the Hawaiian culture remains strong and perseveres into the future for the benefit of all. When our young children master language, they master themselves. When they master themselves, they can achieve anything. Postsecondary Facilities -- Convene a group of experts and University officials to consider the future of sports and the future of development on Oahu to make a definitive decision on Aloha Stadium and any future stadium we might build. Other than maintenance related to health and safety, I will divert all other capital improvement dollars for Aloha Stadium to other projects. Right now, multimillion dollar plans to extend the life of Aloha Stadium by 20 years could take 40 years to implement. It is time to reprioritize. Economic Development -- Strongly support measures to increase the capacity of research programs at the University. These programs play a big part in our economic recovery by bringing external dollars into the State and building innovative industries. The University's current research activity brings $450 million to the table. Use a new program -- The New Day Work Projects -- to directly attack unemployment and jumpstart business activity. It will provide an economic boost that will reverberate throughout the state. Utilize the bonding power of the state, partner with willing private parties, streamline processes, and provide work that will result in paychecks for families across our islands. This includes ambitious capital improvement plans for the University of Hawaii system, including the UH West Oahu campus and the Palamanui campus in Kona, which will provide new educational opportunities for students. ACCOMPLISHMENTS N/A - Newly-elected Governor http://hawaii.gov/gov/our-voyage-together.html Illinois Governor Pat Quinn's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Employee Training - Increase support for the Employer Training Investment Program, to invest in the state's workforce to meet the changing needs of business. P-20 - Begin at birth to provide the foundation that is needed to prepare our children for high school and success in college and careers. Postsecondary Access - Revamp the higher education system to increase access for all students. Regional Superintendent Funding - Eliminate state funding for the salaries and office costs for regional school superintendents. Scholarship Programs - Increase funding for the monetary assistance program, which provides scholarships for qualified needy students, with a particular focus on community college students. - Abolish the legislative scholarship program. College scholarships--paid for by Illinois taxpayers--should only go to those that have true financial need for them. School District Consolidation - Propose the formation of a commission to review the number of school districts in the state. Illinois currently has 868 districts and our fiscal reality demands consolidation. ACCOMPLISHMENTS P-20 - Appointed member of the first P-20 Council in Illinois. http://www2.illinois.gov/budget/Documents/FY%202012/FY12_Budget_Speech.pdf Missouri Governor Jay Nixon's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Pre-K-3 -- Fund programs to get youngsters off to a good start, like First Steps, Head Start, and Early Childhood Special Education. Economic Development -- Roll three worker training programs into one, and align it with our Compete Missouri incentives. Worker training assistance will be available to businesses as small as Ardent Outdoors, which employs 15 people in Macon, and as large as Boeing, which employs thousands. -- Provide an additional $5 million for job training, giving employers more resources to maintain a highly skilled workforce, and sharpen their competitive edge. Finance -- Protect our investment in K-12 classrooms. -- Partner with school districts to allow additional federal funds received to be used to keep stable funding for our K-12 classrooms - not only for fiscal year 2011, but also for fiscal year 2012. College Access and Completion -- Do more to help students make the leap from high school to college. Budget millions of dollars for Missouri's most successful college scholarship programs, including: Bright Flight, to help keep our top students at our excellent Missouri institutions; Access Missouri, which serves students with the greatest financial need; and A+, which has helped more than 50,000 students afford and attend college. -- Give a $500 bonus to A+ and Access Missouri recipients who score well on Advanced Placement exams in math and science. -- Extend our A+ program so that outstanding students all across the state are guaranteed access to A+ college scholarships. For too long, too many excellent Missouri high school students have been unable to get A+ scholarships - through no fault of their own - simply because their schools weren't designated as A+ schools. Student Achievement -- In the next ten years, Missouri student achievement must rank in the nation's top ten, if we expect to compete for the best jobs in the global economy Technology -- Bring broadband to every corner of the state. Connect tens of thousands of homes in rural Missouri to a network of vital community services like fire and police, schools and hospitals, libraries and government. ACCOMPLISHMENTS College Access and Completion -- Kept tuition and fees flat for two years running. Even if some schools impose modest tuition increases next year, we'll have protected Missouri families from the sharp tuition spikes seen in other states. -- College enrollment jumped by 10,000 students last year, hitting record highs at more than half of Missouri's universities, and boosting applications at all of them. Economic Development -- Put Missouri's first State Parks Youth Corps in action. At a time when it's been especially tough for young people to find jobs, the State Parks Youth Corps put money in the pockets of more than 1,000 young workers - at no cost to the state. The National Association of State Park Directors gave our State Parks Youth Corps its top award for innovation in 2010. Technology -- MoBroadbandNow partnership was a stunning success. Finance -- Reformed and modernized the state pension system, which will keep it solvent now, and for years to come. -- Required insurance companies to start providing meaningful coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of children with autism. http://governor.mo.gov/newsroom/speeches/2011/2011_State_of_the_State.htm Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer's State of the State Address PROPOSALS College Tuition -- Urged lawmakers not to raise college tuition, as his proposed budget provides enough state funding for colleges to cap tuition for students. Education Funding -- Increase state funding for the University System and public schools; not the time for education budget cuts because funding is available. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Accessibility, Finance, Technology -- Created an education system that is more affordable, more accessible more digital and more relevant. Full-Day Kindergarten -- Invested in full-day kindergarten four years ago and it is just now starting to pay off. http://governor.mt.gov/speeches/speeches.asp?ID=182 Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell's 2011 State of the Commonwealth Address PROPOSALS Postsecondary Access and Affordability, STEM, Economic Development -- Implement major reforms and more accountability in higher education to make college more affordable and accessible for our students -- Create a pathway towards the issuance of 100,000 more degrees in the Commonwealth over the next 15 years, with a focus on science, technology, engineering, math and healthcare, which lead to the good jobs of the future -- Make college more affordable and accessible and create a better educated workforce and more jobs by making a $50 million investment in higher education, much less than needed to fund our base adequacy model, but a start in getting there ("Top Jobs for the 21st Century" Virginia Higher Education Opportunity Act"). The new dollars will be targeted to undergraduate financial aid and funding incentives for efficiency and economic development, technology, increased four-year graduation rates, year round use of facilities and degree attainment. State Retirement System -- Begin to have all state employees begin paying for their share of their retirement plans. Currently Virginia is one of only four states in which the employer picks up the entire cost. The 5% retirement contribution that we will ask all employees to pay be offset by a 3% raise for our state employees, the first in years. Thus, with a net 2% contribution from Virginia employees, and an additional 2% from the state that I included in the amended budget, we will provide $311 million a year, or $4.2 billion over 10 years, in new funding for the system. (According to the recent JLARC report, the Virginia Retirement System currently faces an unfunded liability of $17.6 billion. The system is funded at only 75% of its future liabilities, and that is projected by VRS to decline to 61% by 2014, and only 57% for the teacher retirement system.) Governance -- Reform state government by prioritizing state spending, eliminating or consolidating targeted agencies, boards and commissions, and reforming our state pension system to ensure its long term viability for our employees and their families http://www.governor.virginia.gov/News/viewRelease.cfm?id=555 ACCOMPLISHMENTS Washington Governor Christine Gregoire's State of the State Address PROPOSALS K-12/Governance/High School Senior Year -- Create one agency - the Department of Education - which will focus solely on student education with one plan for a seamless system from pre-school to Ph.D. -- Make the 12th grade relevant and exciting. Give our students a leg up in the competitive world of tomorrow by ensuring they leave their senior year on their way to certification, apprenticeship or college credits. Postsecondary Attainment/Postsecondary Affordability/Postsecondary Accountability -- Encourage every student to "complete to compete"— complete an AA, bachelor's or advanced degree so he or she can compete for the jobs of tomorrow. -- Establish tuition flexibility at our colleges and universities to keep the doors of higher education open to all and to maintain high-quality education in good and bad times. -- Adopt the recommendations of the Higher Education Funding Task Force, which increases the number of graduates, requires greater accountability from our colleges and universities, ensure stable funding, and establish a $1 billion Washington Pledge Scholarship Program. ACCOMPLISHMENTS -- Not prominently included, focused on proposals. http://www.governor.wa.gov/speeches/speech-view.asp?SpeechSeq=217 Postsecondary Participation--Affirmative Action 1 Postsecondary Students 1 Postsecondary Success--Completion 7 Postsecondary Success--Developmental/Remediation 1 Postsecondary Success--Transfer/Articulation 1 Privatization 1 Promotion/Retention 3 Reading/Literacy 2 Remediation (K-12) 2 Rural 2 Scheduling/School Calendar 1 Scheduling/School Calendar--Extended Day Programs 1 School Safety 2 School/District Structure/Operations--District Consolidation/Deconsolidation 2 School/District Structure/Operations--Facilities 1 School/District Structure/Operations--Shared Services 2 Special Education 2 Special Populations--Military 1 Standards 2 Standards--Common Core State Standards 1 State Policymaking 5 STEM 6 Student Achievement 8 Teaching Quality 6 Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay 5 Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay--Pay-for-Performance 3 Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay--Retirement/Benefits 5 Teaching Quality--Evaluation and Effectiveness 8 Teaching Quality--Paraprofessionals 1 Teaching Quality--Recruitment and Retention 1 Teaching Quality--Tenure or Continuing Contract 5 Technology 4 Technology--Computer Skills 5 Technology--Equitable Access 1 Technology--Teacher/Faculty Training 1 Textbooks and Open Source 1 Youth Engagement 1 329