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 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 Delaware Governor Jack Markell's State of the State Address PROPOSALS AP Courses, Assessment Systems, Federal Aid, Incentive Pay for Teachers, Teacher Evaluation -- Make the state's Race to the Top competition plan a reality by: (1) Implementing a better assessment system, measuring student growth during the year and providing real-time feedback so teacher can adjust and improve student learning on-the-spot; (2) Measuring student growth in every subject area so we can link teacher evaluations with how much their students learning in their classroom, identify what works, and raise the quality of instruction across the state; (3) Give teachers more time to collaborate with their colleagues and work with data coaches in interpreting student data and developing strategies to address identified needs; (4) Meet parents' requests for more Advanced Placement courses; and (5) Provide incentive pay to attract highly effective teachers to high-needs schools. Common Core Standards -- Assess more accurately how proficient our students are at meeting the new common core standards. Early Learning -- Increase the focus on early learning within state government, improving assessment and the use of data, and better coordinating and integrating funding. Foreign Languages, Online Courses -- Offer high-quality online Chinese language courses developed with federal grant funding. STEM -- Fund a new STEM Teacher Residency Program to attract individuals with experience in the STEM areas to the teaching profession. -- Bring to the classrooms a former senior scientist with Astra-Zeneca and a Master's-level physicist with prior experience at NASA. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Common Core Standards -- Adopted new, clearer and higher "common core standards." Federal Aid -- Won the national Race to the Top competition. Foreign Languages -- Required completion of a world language in order to graduate. -- Offered Chinese language courses to students at virtually no cost to the state. School Improvement -- Launched the Partnership Zone effort to provide more focus on our lowest-achieving schools. Selected schools are required to implement significant and difficult changes and all four Partnership Zones have done so. School Safety -- Asked the Safety and Homeland Security Secretary to oversee creation of model comprehensive school safety plans for the 26 public schools with a State Police Resource Officer. STEM -- Created a STEM Council to ensure that schools have the high quality programs and partnerships necessary so that students gain the critical skills and knowledge needed for high-quality jobs. http://governor.delaware.gov/remarks/2011stateofthestate/2011stateofstate.shtml Georgia Governor Nathan Deal's 2011 State of the State Address PROPOSALS School Finance -- Increase a net $30 million in K-12 formula funding and no reduction in Equalization Grants. -- Appropriate 1% of the Revenue Shortfall Reserve for K-12 education to cover the Mid-Term Adjustment for Quality Basic Education and the shortfall for Non-Certified Personnel health insurance costs. Teacher Compensation -- End teacher furloughs and keep students in school for a full school year. Facilities Funding/STEM/Charter Schools -- Proposed projects for bond funding: ---->$231 million for K-12 construction, equipment and buses; ---->$15 million for funding for STEM charter schools that focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education, areas that are vital to our competiveness in the global economy; ---->$50 million for repairs and renovations in the University System; and ---->$28 million for upgrades at our technical colleges. Scholarships -- Save HOPE Scholarship we through programmatic changes during this legislative session. ACCOMPLISHMENTS N/A: Newly-Elected Governor http://gov.georgia.gov/00/press/detail/0,2668,165937316_166428912_167569533,00.html South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Postsecondary Readiness and Completion -- Ensure that every student who wants to go to college is fully prepared to enter and graduate. Technical Education -- Expand technical education opportunities, through partnerships with our tech schools and private businesses, so that high school students can have exposure to skilled, technical fields. -- Sponsor a bill to increase the bonding capacity of our postsecondary tech schools, to allow them to continue to expand their campuses and add new programs in technical fields. STEM -- Work toward new approaches to strengthen education in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Finance, Local Control -- Allow local school boards and school administrators to run their own districts. -- Sponsor bills to repeal the 100 student minimum for state aid to school districts and to remove the cap on school district reserve fund balances. Encourage Careers in Health Care -- Partner with health systems, professional organizations, educational institutions, and local governments to increase efforts to encourage students to consider careers in health care. -- Encourage local school districts to give high school credit toward graduation for training in fields like EMT, dietetics, or nursing assistants. -- Continue to promote the privately-funded DakotaCorps scholarship, which rewards young people who commit to staying in the state and entering health care and other high-need fields. ACCOMPLISHMENTS N/A: Newly-Elected Governor http://sd.gov/governor/docs/State%20of%20the%20State,%20Jan.%2011,%202011.pdf Texas Governor Rick Perry's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Dropout Rate, Employer Tax Incentives, Virtual High School - Improve efforts to reduce the dropout rate by requiring students to either be enrolled or working towards a GED if they want to get and/or keep their driver's license. - Create an incentive program for employers who encourage their employees to continue their high school education. - Offer employers a $1,500 tax incentive for every employee who earns their diploma or GED after receiving two hours off per week with pay to study or go to class. - Expand Virtual School Network, with a Virtual High School that will enable students who have dropped out to earn a diploma online and give students access to classes their own schools may not offer. Postsecondary/Veterans - Support what one school calls "College Credit 4 Heroes." The Texas Workforce Commission is working with the Higher Education Coordinating Board and the community colleges on a plan to offer veteran credit for their skills and experience. The goal is to accelerate them into the Allied Health Occupation, which are critically needed across our state. Shared Services - Encourage districts to enter into shared service arrangements with other entities in their area. STEM - Expand STEM academies. Tuition Freeze - Renew my call for a four-year tuition freeze, locking tuition rates at or below the freshman level for four years. - Challenge institutions of higher education to develop bachelor's degrees that cost no more than $10,000 including textbooks. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Postsecondary Cost Efficiency - Ordered a review of cost efficiencies at universities as a way to make education more affordable. One idea that emerged from that review is called "Outcomes-Based Funding" in which a significant percent of undergraduate funding, would be based on the number of degrees awarded. http://governor.state.tx.us/news/speech/15673/ Utah Utah Governor Gary Herbert 2011 State of the State Address PROPOSALS School Finance -- Funding our children's education must be the number one budget priority. Reading/All-Day Kindergarten/Workforce Development/STEM -- Address Education Excellence Commission Action Plan this session, including: ----> Ensure reading proficiency by the third grade ----> Match classroom instruction to real-world jobs-especially in the areas of science, engineering and math. ----> Focus on all-day kindergarten. Accomplishments -- Not prominently included. http://www.utah.gov/governor/news_media/article.html?article=4169 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 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