2012 State of the State Addresses Education-Related Proposals by Issue

The following summary includes education-related proposals from the 2012 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 7 Accountability--Reporting Results 6 Accountability--Sanctions/Interventions 3 Accountability--School Improvement 2 Assessment 4 Assessment--College Entrance Exams 3 Assessment--Formative/Interim 1 At-Risk--Alternative Education 1 Attendance 3 Career/Technical Education 7 Alabama Governor Robert Bentley's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Choice, Charter Schools --Create a limited number of charter schools. District Flexibility --Propose the School Flexibility Act of 2012, to allow more decision-making at the local level. Allow local school systems to develop their own innovative strategies, free from state or federal bureaucracy. Finance --Budget proposal includes protecting +Alabama Reading Initiative +ACCESS Distance Learning +Alabama Math Science and Technology Initiative +Advanced Placement +Pre K programs. Teaching Quality, Leadership --Ensure that every child's classroom and school is led by a highly effective, professional educator free to use their talents to create a stimulating and innovative learning environment in their own classroom. --Form a "Teacher Cabinet", made up of teachers, administrators, school board members and parents to provide the administration with unfiltered feedback on the needs of public schools. Teacher Expenditures on Classroom Supplies --Propose a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for every teacher who spends their money on their classroom. Career/Technical Education, Workforce Development --Propose new investment in Alabama's workforce development and career tech programs. ACHIEVEMENTS http://blog.al.com/bn/2012/02/alabama_gov_robert_bentleys_st.html Georgia Governor Nathan Deal's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Finance -- Appropriate an additional $146.6 million to fully fund enrollment growth in K-12 schools. -- Put an additional $3.7 million toward funding for school nurses, and move school nurses and the school nutrition program and transportation funding into the Quality Basic Education funding formula. These funds will be allocated using the same formula local districts are accustomed to, but they will have complete flexibility in how to spend them.  -- Appropriate an additional $55.8 million to fund salary increases for teachers based on training and experience.  P-3 and Reading -- Provide funding for increasing the Pre-K school year for 84,000 students by 10 days, bringing it to 170 days.  -- Make a concerted effort to increase the percentage of children reading at grade level by the completion of 3rd Grade. The best evidence tells us that children not meeting this standard often fail to catch up and are more likely to drop out of school, go to prison and have higher unemployment rates later in life than their reading-proficient peers.  Students must "learn to read" in order to be able to "read to learn" and when we fail to invest in our youngest students, we are forced to spend money on remediation for the remainder of their academic careers.  -- Budget $1.6 million for a reading mentors program. This program will assist schools and teachers as they work to help more young Georgians achieve this strategic benchmark – reading at grade level by the completion of 3rd grade. Charter Schools and Innovation -- Put in place strategies that provide students with opportunities to practice and apply what they are learning in a high-quality, real-world environment. This is one reason we allotted nearly $20 million of our Race to the Top money for the creation of an Innovation Fund.  This initiative asks schools to partner with businesses, non-profits and postsecondary institutions and places a primary focus on developing applied learning opportunities.  -- To spur innovation, recommend $8.7 million in supplemental grants in both the Amended budget and next year's budget for state chartered special schools affected by the Georgia Supreme Court ruling on charter schools.  -- Develop a plan to ensure that charter schools can thrive in Georgia.  Postsecondary and Job Readiness -- Clarify the mission of our schools. Students graduating from our high schools … those young men and women who have done everything asked of them by our K-12 system … should be fully ready for postsecondary study or a job! Ensure that there is a more seamless transition from High School to further study … and from postsecondary study to the workforce.  Financial Aid -- For every student who earned HOPE this year, maintain the same HOPE Scholarship award amount next year. -- Appropriate $20 million for the needs-based one percent student loan program which eases the burden of affording a college education Postsecondary and Economic/Workforce Development -- Ensure that postsecondary institutions maintain an intense focus on employability and creating job opportunities. In today's competitive global environment where technology is constantly reshaping the economy, that means abandoning the "ivory tower" model and adapting to meet the needs of business.     -- Add $111.3 million in funding to address anticipated enrollment growth in both the technical college and university systems. -- Work together to ensure that Georgia has the craft professionals to meet present and forecast demand. Boost the state's pipeline by launching Go Build, a public-private initiative that will round out the state's workforce development program by educating young people and the public at large about the skilled trades. Already, the business community is unable to fill many positions calling for highly-skilled industrial and commercial construction professionals, jobs that on average pay 27% more than the average Georgian currently brings home.  -- Be a destination for cancer research and a resource for every family battling this disease. Georgians deserve a world-class, public medical university, and it will be a priority of this administration to have a medical college among the top 50 nationally. Within this push, the Georgia Health Sciences University will seek to become the state's second National Cancer Institute designated Cancer Center, alongside the Winship Cancer Center at Emory. Invest $5 million to support this goal of a second Georgia-based Cancer Center. In order to address the need for additional health professionals in Georgia, we have been investing in the expansion of undergraduate medical education for several years.  We must now take the next step in this process by funding 400 new residency slots in hospitals across the state.  ACCOMPLISHMENTS Finance -- Restored the Rainy Day Fund.  The balance today is $328 million, an increase of 183%. -- Passed structurally balanced budgets that fund the essential services without raising taxes. Financial Aid -- Appropriated $20 million for the needs-based one percent student loan program which eases the burden of affording a college education. Half of the newly-appropriated $20 million funds went to students who had no assistance from their families. http://gov.georgia.gov/00/press/detail/0,2668,165937316_165937374_180385525,00.html Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear's State of the State Address PROPOSALS P-3 --Continue restructuring preschool and day-care programs to ensure every child is mentally and physically prepared for kindergarten. Formalize the Early Childhood Advisory Council (created via executive order) through legislation. --Find funding to increase access to high-quality early education and care programs. Career/Technical Education and Governance --Propose legislation to move oversight of Career Technical Education to the state department of education (currently one program is operated by local school districts, and the other by the state department of workforce investment). This will enable the state to elevate the importance of this segment of the educational system, consolidate administrative staffs and improve the consistency of the programs by uniting them under one vision and leadership. High School Attendance --Urge passage, for the third year in a row, of legislation to phase in an increase in the mandatory school age from 16 to 18. ACCOMPLISHMENTS P-3 --Created a standard definition of school readiness, one that gives both public and private programs a consistent, singular mission. Created the Early Childhood Advisory Council to implement this readiness definition. Health --Saw a drop in the last 10 years in the number of middle-schoolers who smoke from 22 percent to less than 9 percent. --Improving dental care for tens of thousands of children by training more dentists in pediatric techniques and taking treatment to schools. Economic/Workforce Development --Next month, Kentucky will become only the 3rd state to begin identifying and certifying "work-ready communities." Career/Technical Education, Dual/Concurrent Enrollment --Increasing the quality of Career and Technical Education courses to integrate them more fully into the secondary education system, and give them a more rigorous academic foundation. --Signed a dual credit agreement to allow students in high school to earn college credit for approved courses, including in career and technical education. This will speed a student's path to a certificate or degree, reduce his or her costs and keep them in school by tying class work directly to their future careers. http://governor.ky.gov/Speeches/20120104SOTC.pdf Maine Governor Paul LePage's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Student Achievement -- Create an educational system that can help us compete globally. Maine can and must lead the nation [in student performance]. -- Improving education in Maine starts with one simple step: putting students first. That is not a slogan. It is not a cliche. We all must ask ourselves "What is best for the student?" -- Ensure children's educational needs are determined by their families – not by their street address. Teaching Quality/Effectiveness -- Introduce a series of reforms related to Maine's teacher effectiveness policies. Career and Technical -- Ensure that every student has access to a wider array of educational opportunities. Increase access to, and improve upon, Maine's Career and Technical Education System. Students should have the ability to choose to study trades, and develop skills before joining the workforce. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Charter Schools -- Passed charter school legislation. Finance -- Increased general purpose aid to K-12 education by $63 million. http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=Gov_Speeches&id=345707&v=article2011 Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Community Colleges, Economic/Workforce Development --Community colleges are uniquely positioned to help close the state's skills gap and get people back to work. Community colleges must become a fully integrated part of the state's workforce development plan.  They must be aligned with: + Employers, voc-tech schools and Workforce Investment Boards in the regions where they operate + Each other in core course offerings + The Commonwealth's job growth strategy. --Channel more state workforce training dollars through the community colleges. Community College Funding, Governance --Create a unified community college system to: + Help students find courses specifically tailored to meet local workforce needs alongside a core curriculum that emphasizes STEM subjects and with credits that are easily transferable to another community college or a four-year college. + Create "learn and earn" programs across the entire state enabling students to get practical workplace experience while completing course work.   + Offer the students the opportunity to earn a certificate of workplace readiness, opening doors in their chosen field anywhere in the state. And as they near course completion, offer one-stop career centers right on campus to help them move into, or back into, the workplace. --Streamline the funding and governance of community colleges, and increase overall funding by $10 million. --Challenge to the business community: Match that new funding with an additional $10 million. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Public Employee Pensions --Made meaningful reforms in the pension system. Student Safety --Legislature approved and funded the "Safe and Successful Youth Initiative."  Student Achievement --Massachusetts students lead the nation in overall achievement and the world in math and science. http://www.mass.gov/governor/pressoffice/speeches/23012012state-of-the-commonwealth-address.html Ohio Governor John Kasich's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Career/Technical Education --Bring vocational education back strong in K-12 education. Charter Schools --Ask the legislature to exercise proper oversight of charter schools. Urban --Change urban education in Ohio. SStudy successful schools in urban areas. Economic/Workforce Development--Research --Use university research to commercialize, and create jobs and spinoff companies. Workforce Development, Community Colleges --Ask companies to forecast workforce needs so the state can point students to where the jobs are. --Match community colleges with business community needs and forecasting. --Develop workforce training reform plan. Postsecondary Completion --Improve completion rates for technical degrees, community college degrees, and university degrees. --Increase graduation rates for all universities. Postsecondary Finance, Facilities --Have universities collaborate on single capital bill. --Increase postsecondary collaboration to reduce duplicative programs across campuses. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Accountability --Allow parents, teachers to take over a school that continues to fail. --Public reporting on how schools are doing statewide. Teacher Evaluation --Took teacher evaluation framework to state board of education. Teachers want to make sure there are multiple ways for them to be measured. Teach for America --Brought Teach for America to Ohio. Vouchers, Charters --Went from 13,000 vouchers to 30,000 families. Next year there will be 60,000 vouchers. --Lifted the charter school cap. Postsecondary, Economic Development --Created a course at several universities, community colleges to train students in risk management to work in Cleveland financial sector. http://governor.ohio.gov/Portals/0/2012%20State%20of%20the%20State%20Address%20Transcript.pdf Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber's State of the State Address PROPOSALS P-3 --Implement the recommendations of the Early Learning Council to: +Streamline disparate programs as part of a plan to ensure coordination and accountability +Consolidate boards +Get programs focused on outcomes for children and families. --Serve more at-risk kids and make sure they're ready to learn from day one. --Develop the capacity to measure program effectiveness before children reach kindergarten, and better transition them once they reach the K-12 system.  Accountability, High School--Dropout/Graduation Rates, Goal-Setting --Obtain an NCLB waiver and create a home-grown alternative that provides smart accountability and better paths to student success. Legislation to be introduced in February creates educational achievement compacts and is essential to obtaining a waiver. The legislation is also essential to meeting the state goal of 100% high school graduation for Oregonians by 2025; with 80% of those graduates receiving at least two years of post-secondary education or training; and 40% earning a bachelor's degree or higher. --Use achievement compacts to replace the federal, compliance-based approach with partnership agreements between the state and educational institutions – districts, community colleges and universities. The compacts express a common commitment to improving outcomes, but tailor outcomes to unique circumstances of individual districts. And they allow for the comparison of results and progress between districts with comparable populations. Class Size, Non-Core Curriculum --Reduce class sizes in K-12. --Add courses like art, music, PE and career and technical skills back into the curriculum. K-12 and Postsecondary Finance --Provide additional resources. Public education system is underfunded at all levels. --Do not let the absence of adequate funding foreclose a real discussion about how to more effectively spend existing resources. --Target existing resources to leverage points – like early learning, third-grade reading, and college completion – that are proven to significantly drive costs down. Postsecondary Finance --Expand the capacity of public universities significantly to accommodate tens of thousands of additional graduates. ACCOMPLISHMENTS P-20, Finance, Governance, Teacher Professional Development, Learning Options for Students --Created the Oregon Education Investment Board. --Created legislation promoting the professional development of teachers. --Created more learning options for students (dual enrollment, Advanced Placement, two-plus-two, International Baccalaureate). --In taking these actions, the legislature made the first steps toward a more student-centered system. For the first time, funding and governance will be aligned across the full continuum from early childhood services through K-12 and post-secondary education and training to achieve the state's educational, social and economic objectives.  P-3 --Created the Early Learning Council focused on restructuring the fragmented, inefficient way the state provides early childhood services. Currently, the state spends over $800 million every biennium on programs for children ages 0-5, yet 40% of Oregon children still arrive at school at risk because their needs were not adequately addressed. Continuing to support a system with these outcomes should no longer be acceptable. http://governor.oregon.gov/Gov/media_room/speeches/s2012/cityclub_011312.shtml Career/Technical Education--Career Academies/Apprenticeship 1 Choice of Schools 4 Choice of Schools--Charter Schools 11 Choice of Schools--Charter Schools--Research 1 Choice of Schools--Vouchers 5 Civic Education--Professional Development 1 Continuous Impr/Performance Mgmt. 2 Continuous Impr/Performance Mgmt.--Promising Practices--Schools 1 Curriculum 1 Curriculum--Foreign Language/Sign Language 1 Demographics--Condition of Children/Adults--Welfare 1 Distance Learning/Virtual University 5 Economic/Workforce Development 12 Economic/Workforce Development--Research 3 Economic/Workforce Development--STEM 6 Economic/Workforce Development--Workforce Demand 3 Federal 1 Finance 24 Finance--Facilities 1 Finance--Federal 2 Finance--Funding Formulas 4 Finance--Resource Efficiency 2 Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures 2 Governance 3 Governance--Deregulation/Waivers/Home Rule 1 Health--Teen Pregnancy 1 High School 3 High School--Advanced Placement 3 High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates 4 High School--Dual/Concurrent Enrollment 6 High School--Graduation Requirements 1 High School--International Baccalaureate 1 Instructional Approaches 1 Leadership 1 Leadership--Principal/School Leadership--Evaluation and Effectiveness 2 Leadership--Principal/School Leadership--Preparation 1 No Child Left Behind 2 No Child Left Behind--Flexibility 1 P-16 or P-20 1 P-3 Early Care & Intervention 2 P-3 Early Care & Intervention--Child Care 1 P-3 Early Care & Intervention--Health & Mental Health 1 P-3 Early Grades 2 P-3 Early Grades--1-3 1 P-3 Early Grades--Kindergarten 3 P-3 Early Grades--Kindergarten--Full Day 1 P-3 Early Grades--Preschool 7 P-3 Systems 2 P-3 Systems--Ensuring Quality 3 P-3 Systems--Evaluation/Economic Benefits 1 P-3 Systems--Finance 2 P-3 Systems--Governance 3 P-3 Systems--Teaching Quality/Prof. Dev. 1 Postsecondary 1 Postsecondary Accountability--Student Learning 1 Postsecondary Affordability--Financial Aid 7 Postsecondary Affordability--Tuition/Fees 1 Postsecondary Affordability--Tuition/Fees--Undocumented Immigrants 1 Postsecondary Finance 13 Postsecondary Finance--Efficiency/Performance-Based Funding 1 Postsecondary Finance--Facilities 3 Postsecondary Governance and Structures 2 Postsecondary Institutions--Community/Technical Colleges 6 Postsecondary Participation--Enrollments (Statistics) 2 Postsecondary Success--Completion 3 Postsecondary Success--Completion--Completion Rates (Statistics) 4 Postsecondary Success--Transfer/Articulation 1 Reading/Literacy 12 Rural 1 Scheduling/School Calendar 3 Scheduling/School Calendar--Extended Day Programs 1 School Safety 2 School Safety--Bullying Prevention/Conflict Resolution 1 School/District Structure/Operations--District Structure 1 School/District Structure/Operations--Facilities 4 School/District Structure/Operations--School Structure--Class Size 1 School/District Structure/Operations--Transportation 1 Special Education 2 Special Populations--Immigrant Education 1 Standards 2 Standards--Common Core State Standards 2 State Policymaking 7 Student Achievement 7 Student Supports--Integrated Services 1 Students--Promotion/Retention 3 Teaching Quality 6 Teaching Quality--Certification and Licensure 2 Teaching Quality--Certification and Licensure--Highly Qualified Teachers 1 Teaching Quality--Certification and Licensure--Natl. Bd. for Prof. Teach. Stds. 1 Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay 2 Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay--Pay-for-Performance 6 Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay--Retirement/Benefits 6 Teaching Quality--Employment--Reduction in Force 1 Teaching Quality--Employment--Tenure or Continuing Contract 10 Teaching Quality--Evaluation and Effectiveness 16 Teaching Quality--Induction Programs and Mentoring 1 Teaching Quality--Preparation 3 Teaching Quality--Preparation--Alternative Preparation 1 Teaching Quality--Professional Development 2 Teaching Quality--Recruitment and Retention 2 Teaching Quality--Recruitment and Retention--At-Risk Schools 3 Teaching Quality--Recruitment and Retention--High-Needs Subjects 1 Technology--Instruction 2 Urban--Change/Improvements 1 Youth Engagement 1 359