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 Student Achievement 8 Teaching Quality 6 Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay 5 Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay--Pay-for-Performance 3 Idaho Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Business Involvement -- Advance the recommendations of the Education Alliance of Idaho (i.e., a coalition of key stakeholders of the Idaho education system formed as a result of a charge from Governor Otter to the Idaho Business Coalition for Educational Excellence to develop strategic recommendations for setting Idaho on a trajectory to become a global leader in education). Finance -- Call for a little more state support for public schools and significant, targeted investments. -- Shift priorities from how much we are spending to how much children are learning. High School, Mathematics, Science -- Invest in a third year of math and science in high school. High School, Postsecondary Entrance -- Pay for all juniors to take college entrance exams. Postsecondary, Financial Aid -- Look forward to the time when we can resume building on the Opportunity Scholarship Fund to ensure money is never a barrier to qualified students going on after high school. Teacher Pay-For-Performance -- Establish a pay system for teachers that emphasizes performance, not tenure. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Business Involvement, Postsecondary -- Acknowledge the expaning role of the business community, the Idaho National Laboratory and the Center for Advanced Energy Studies in their collaboration with colleges and universities on research and technology transfer issues. Finance, Student Achievement -- Acknowledge the fact that Idaho students continue to out-perform national averages on math and reading and generally score higher on achievement tests, despite the fact that the state spends far less per student than the national average. Postsecondary, Community Colleges -- Acknowledge that efforts to provide more affordable higher education options are paying off, as The College of Western Idaho is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the nation. Technology -- Congratulate the Idaho Education Network's (i.e., an entity formed to ensure high-speed broadband access for all students) expansion into every corner of the state where schools are using the Network to offer master's degree programs, POST Academy training, firefighter and paramedic training, and professional development courses for teachers. -- Congratulate the high school students who have earned 1,300 college credits by using the Idaho Education Network. http://gov.idaho.gov/mediacenter/speeches/sp_2011/State%20of%20the%20State%202011.pdf New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Accountability -- Reform poor-performing schools or close them. Economic Growth, Postsecondary -- Acknowledge that our system of colleges and universities is essential to our economic growth. Finance -- Continue to examine the amount and structure of municipal and school aid programs. -- Cut out-of-classroom costs and focus efforts on teachers and children. Leadership -- Empower principals. School Choice -- Expand the charter school program beyond the 6 approved this year and the 73 currently operating; this is a top priority. -- Attract the best charter school operators to the state. -- Increase authorizing capacity so charter school operators may start schools here. -- Implement the interdistrict school choice law passed last year. -- Pass the Opportunity Scholarship Act (gives businesses tax credits for funding scholarships for low-income students to attend private schools) to help children in failing schools. Teacher Compensation--Pension and Benefits -- Reform pension and health benefit systems for teachers; the state must begin to make its pension contributions. -- Raise (modestly) the retirement age. -- Curb the effect of COLAs -- Ensure a modest but acceptable contribution from employees toward their own retirement system. Teacher Evaluation -- Improve the measurement and evaluation of teachers; there is a task force of teachers, principals and administrators working on that now. Teacher Non-Renewal, Tenure -- Demand that when teacher layoffs occur, they be based on a merit system and not merely on seniority. -- Empower schools to remove underperforming teachers. -- Eliminate teacher tenure. Teacher Pay-for-Performance -- Reward the best teacher based on merit at the individual teacher level. ACCOMPLISHMENTS School Choice -- Created a permanent interdistrict public school choice program. -- Approved 6 new charter schools, with many more to come soon. http://www.state.nj.us/governor/news/news/552010/20110111d.html New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Nothing we do is more indispensable to our future well-being or will receive more attention from my administration than guaranteeing our children a quality education. Student Achievement, Accountability, Finance -- Place a command-focus on student performance and progress, not just on how much money we're spending. -- We must end the culture of low expectations. "Kids First, New Mexico Wins" plan is comprised of four key initiatives: -- First, get money out of the bureaucracy and into the classroom. Today, only 61 cents of every education dollar makes it to the classroom. -- Second, adopt an easy-to-understand, easy-to-implement system of grading. Schools will be assigned letter grades A, B, C, D or F. And these grades will be posted to the Web. That's real accountability that will yield real results. Greater accountability will ensure we identify struggling students in all grades.We will focus attention on the lowest-performing 25 percent of students. Get them help immediately. Target failing schools with immediate intervention. Currently, it takes approximately five years to identify and intervene in a failing school. -- Third, end social promotion, the practice of passing children from one grade to the next before they have mastered the basics. The New Mexico "Ready for Success" initiative will get struggling students the help they need before we pass them on to the next grade. Teaching Quality -- Reward New Mexico's best teachers. The most important people in the lives of our students are parents and teachers. The quality of our teachers is the key to improving our quality of education. A system that evaluates and rewards excellence will attract the best and brightest to New Mexico classrooms. ACCOMPLISHMENTS N/A - Newly-Elected Governor http://www.governor.state.nm.us/uploads/FileLinks/20e5f2e740f34a2297a940e2bacdfcce/011811_2.pdf 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