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 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 Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy's State of the State Address PROPOSALS P-3 - Access, Quality -- Enhance families' access to early childhood education by creating new seats for 500 children who can't afford preschool. And work to get to universal pre-K access. -- Investing in a new early childhood education rating system to improve quality.  Accountability - School Improvement -- Strengthen and expand high-quality school models – whether they are traditional schools, magnet schools, charter schools, or other successful models – and hold them accountable for their results and inclusiveness. Accountability - Interventions -- Transform schools with the worst legacies of low achievement.  The state will serve as a temporary trustee of schools that lack the capacity to improve themselves.  These schools will become part of a Commissioner's Network and they will receive our most intensive interventions and supports. Finance -- Spend 128 million dollars to increase funding for education, much of it targeted to the lowest performing districts. -- Add 50 million to the Education Cost Sharing formula, with the vast majority of that money targeted to the districts serving students with the greatest need.  State Policymaking -- Remove red tape and barriers to success.  The state can streamline its systems – in teacher certification, data collection, and elsewhere – and free districts to innovate and perform. Teaching Quality -- Create new career opportunities with a new master teacher certificate so that teachers do not have to leave the classroom to advance in their profession.  Teaching Quality - Teacher Preparation -- Overhaul teacher preparation programs so that the brightest young people go into teaching and graduate with the skills to succeed.  Teaching Quality - Tenure -- Reform tenure policies. Tenure will have to be earned and re-earned – earned by meeting certain objective performance standards, including student performance, school performance, and parent and peer reviews. If teachers want to keep that tenure, they will have to continue to prove their effectiveness in the classroom as their career progresses. Teaching Quality - Pay-for-Performance -- Allow local school districts, if they choose, to provide career advancement opportunities and financial incentives as a way of rewarding teachers who consistently receive high performance ratings. Teaching Quality - Professional Development -- Invest in better on-the-job training, such as one-on-one coaching in the classroom. -- Provide professional development (responsibility of district) to a teacher that begins to struggle at any point after they've earned tenure ACCOMPLISHMENTS -- n/a http://www.governor.ct.gov/malloy/cwp/view.asp?A=11&Q=498904 Florida Governor Rick Scott's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Finance, State Pensions --Continue commitment to education, to ensure that the difficult budget decisions to be made are focused on prioritizing things known to be essential to the state's future. Governor's recommended budget includes $1 billion in new state funding for education. --Build a leaner, more effective government, and continue to responsibly manage and reform the state's pension system. Postsecondary --Look closely at the higher education system, to understand how to ensure that in the future, job creators from around the world will have to look to Florida to find the talented and educated workforce they need to compete. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Choice --Increased school choices for parents. Educator Tenure --Refocused an outdated tenure system into a system that can reward its best performers. State Pensions --Reengineered the pension system for state workers so that those who share in its rewards also share in its funding. http://www.flgov.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/01-10-2012-State-of-the-State-Remarks-for-Delivery.pdf Illinois Governor Pat Quinn's State of the State Address PROPOSALS P-3 Systems - Finance -- Invest more dollars in early childhood education. Attendance - Compulsory -- Raise the minimum school attendance age to 18. Finance; Facilities -- Invest in education through the Illinois Jobs Agenda for 2012. This investment will create jobs now as classrooms are upgraded with modern labs, smart technology, digital books, high-speed Internet access, and 21st century efficiency. Postsecondary - Financial Aid -- Make a significant investment in more state MAP scholarships to help students attend college. Postsecondary Success - Completion Rates -- Set goal to have at least 60 percent of adults in the state to have a college degree, an associate degree or a career certificate by 2025. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Accountability - Reporting -- Passed laws that improve school report cards so that parents have more information about the schools that educate their kids. Facilities -- Built and renovated more than 400 schools from Western Illinois University's new riverfront campus in Moline to the new Transportation Education Center at SIU in Carbondale and from the repurposed Cole Hall at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb to the new electrical and computer engineering building at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. School Calendar -- Passed laws that lay the groundwork for a longer school day and a longer school year. Teacher Quality - Evaluations; Tenure -- Passed laws that set clear benchmarks for teacher evaluation and put performance above tenure. Postsecondary - Financial Aid; Immigrant Education -- Passed the Illinois DREAM Act to help high school graduates from immigrant families. http://www.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=2&RecNum=9997 Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's Inauguration Address 2012 PROPOSALS Choice of schools -- Real reform lies in providing more choices and more opportunities for parents, for families, and for children. Finance -- The key to reforming education here in Louisiana is not massive spending and tax increases ... Throwing more money at the problem has proven to be a failure.  That experiment has been tried for decades, and it has failed. State policymaking -- I believe we all need to check our party affiliations, our ideologies, and our political agendas at the door when it comes to improving our schools. -- Reforming and improving education should not be a partisan issue.  Getting our kids ready to face the challenges this world has to offer, getting them prepared to succeed and triumph should not be a political matter. Teaching Quality (See link to reform plan for more details) -- Every kid does have a right to a quality education from an excellent teacher.  And by getting a good education, kids then do have the opportunity to pursue their dreams. ACCOMPLISHMENTS I could go on boasting about all the progress the people of Louisiana have made over these past four years… But I won't…and here's why…All of that was yesterday We will not stand still or rest on our laurels.  We can either go forward or backward…those are the only two options.  Standing still IS going backwards. Full text of Inauguration Address: http://www.gov.state.la.us/index.cfm?md=newsroom&tmp=detail&catID=3&articleID=3187 Link to Governor Jindal's reform plan Fact Sheet (released 1/17/2012): http://www.gov.state.la.us/index.cfm?md=newsroom&tmp=detail&catID=2&articleID=3198&navID=12 Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's State of the State Address PROPOSALS -- n/a ACCOMPLISHMENTS Preschool -- Launched the Office of Great Start to focus on youngest kids. Teacher Quality - Tenure -- Reformed teacher tenure. School Choice -- Lifted cap on charter schools. School Safety -- Passed an anti-bullying law. http://www.michigan.gov/documents/snyder/011812_OUTLINE_State_of_the_State_2012_final_374006_7.pdf Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Economic Development --Enact "Jobs Now" tax credit to encourage businesses to hire unemployed Minnesotans, Veterans, and recent college graduates. --Expand the Minnesota GI Bill to provide education benefits to all eras of veterans. Finance --Repair buildings and upgrade classroom equipment at state colleges and universities via passage of a bonding bill. State Policymaking --Develop education initiatives in cooperation with teachers, rather than in conflict with them. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Federal --Had the state's No Child Left Behind Waiver application approved. Finance --Increased the per-pupil aid formula by $50 per student in each year of the biennium. --Successfully applied for Race to the Top dollars. P-3 and Early Literacy --Expanded Early Childhood Education. --Enacted "Read by Third Grade." Teaching Quality --Enacted an Alternative Licensure path for teachers. --Established evaluation requirements for both teachers and principals. Full text: http://mn.gov/governor/images/2012_State_of_the_State.pdf New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's State of the State Address PROPOSALS School Choice - Charters -- Reform the process for authorizing charter schools. School Choice - Vouchers -- Establish tax credits to provide scholarships for low income students in the worst-performing schools in the state to enable them to attend a better school, either out of the district or a private school. Teacher Quality - Seniority -- End the system of "last in, first out." If layoffs are necessary remove the least effective teachers instead of just the most junior ones. Teacher Quality - Tenure -- Reform tenure – by measuring teacher effectiveness, both with professional observation, and objective, quantifiable measures of student achievement – and then by giving tenure to those with strong evaluations, and taking it away from those whose ratings are unacceptably weak. Teacher Quality - Compensation -- Pay teachers more when they are assigned to a failing school or to teach a difficult subject. Teacher Quality - -- End forced placements. Teachers should not be assigned to schools without the mutual consent of the teacher and the principal. ACCOMPLISHMENTS School Choice - Charters -- Passed the Urban Hope Act. This new law will allow school districts in Newark, Camden and Trenton to partner with experts in the private sector to build and operate renaissance schools in these districts so in need of change. Teacher Quality - Retirement -- Reformed the pension system which led to every teacher's pension being more secure today. http://www.state.nj.us/governor/news/news/552012/approved/20120117c.html South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Accountability -- Introduce new accountability system: test students at the beginning of the year, to set a baseline, in the middle of the year, to allow for a mid-course correction, and at the end. Assessments -- Require more than 2,000 high school students take the National Career Readiness Certificate test. Standards -- Common Core State Standards -- Adopt Common Core Standards -- Provide aggressive training programs for teachers on teaching the Common Core Standards. STEM and Applied Learning -- Expand the scrubs camp concept (free, one-day, hands-on training) into engineering camps and technical camps and math camps. Teaching Quality -- Evaluation, Effectiveness and Employment -- Implement the "South Dakota Investing in Teachers" initiative. -- Introduce new teacher evaluation system - consider growth in test scores, classroom evaluations and other factors. -- Provide training programs to help administrators learn new teacher evaluation system. -- End the availability of tenure, effective July 1 of this year, for anyone who doesn't have it by that date. Pay-for-Performance -- Beginning in the 2014-15 school year, identify top 20% best teachers based upon the new evaluation system and give each teacher a bonus of $5000. -- Beginning in the 2013-14 school year, pay every middle school and high school math or science teacher a bonus of $3500 every year. Postsecondary - Community/Technical Colleges, Technology, Distance Learning -- Develop hybrid courses to deliver instruction both on-line and in the lab for technical training. -- Expand the technical training (specifically, welding) in the Springfield corrections facility. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Instructional Approaches -- Hundreds of SD students have experienced the "scrubs camps" organized by the state Department of Health. Scrubs camps are free, one-day, hands-on health career camps for high school students. Student Achievement -- High school graduation rates are strong. -- High school graduates go on to post-secondary education at one of the highest rates in the nation. -- Students' test scores, ACT and NAEP, routinely exceed national averages. http://sd.gov/governor/docs/State%20of%20the%20State%20Address.pdf Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Dual Enrollment -- Promote greater dual enrollment in high school and community college. Finance -- Increase funding for K-12 education by $438 million over this biennium. Funding will go towards: + Communities in Schools program + For all 10th graders to take the PSAT + Hire more teachers in science, technology and math + Improve financial literacy + Increase dollars going to the classroom + Start up of new health science academies + Strengthen the Virginia Retirement System for teachers and school employees + Strengthen Virginia's diploma requirements P-3 - Reading/Literacy -- Fund policies to ensure all young people can read proficiently by third grade. Postsecondary - Finance -- Invest over $200 million in new funding for colleges and universities. -- Institute a dynamic new funding model for higher education. + Reward institutions for increasing the number of degrees, especially in STEM-H fields; improving graduation rates, and expanding practical research. + Require colleges to be more accountable and efficient by re-prioritizing 5 percent of their current general fund dollars by 2014 to meet the key policy goals enacted last year. School Calendar -- Repeal the state mandate that school divisions begin their school term after Labor Day unless they receive a waiver. Give local districts the flexibility to choose. School Choice -- Expand charter schools -- Require a portion of the state and local share of Standards of Quality (SOQ) student funding to follow the child to an approved charter school. -- Make approval process and acquisition of property easier for new charters. Teacher Quality - Evaluations and Employment (tenure) -- Implement an improved evaluation system. -- Remove continuing contract status from teachers and principals and replace with annual contract status. Virtual Schooling -- Ensure that a portion of the state and local share of SOQ student funding follows the student to the virtual school sector. -- Implement new regulations for accrediting virtual schools and teachers. Vouchers--Tax Credits -- Provide a tax credit for companies that contribute to an educational scholarship fund. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Finance -- Invested wisely for the future in education. http://www.governor.virginia.gov/MediaLibrary/Speeches/2012/SOC.cfm Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Accountability -- Improve our schools and ensure that every kid - no matter what zip code they live in - has access to a great education. -- Developing a uniquely Wisconsin school and school district accountability plan. -- Rate every school that receives public funds – be it a traditional public school, a charter school or a choice school – by a fair, objective and transparent system. -- Enable educators, parents and even employers to look at the scores of schools and school districts all across the state.  Reading/Literacy -- Fund screeners to assess every child entering kindergarten  so that teachers know the reading levels of each of their students and can put together plans to get kids reading at grade level.  -- Require the state's Young Star program which works with child care providers to include a new focus on reading skills and new training on early childhood education. -- Implement a more rigorous licensure exam for elementary education programs patterned after the highly successful program in Massachusetts. -- Create a Read to Lead development council to raise support for reading programs all across Wisconsin.  -- Ask more citizens to become a reading mentor. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Finance -- Balanced the $3.6 billion budget deficit with long-term, structural reforms. -- Decreased the school property tax levy for the first time in six years.  The total school tax levy actually went down by more than $47 million.  -- Allowed school districts to bid out their health insurance. That is saving school districts millions of dollars across the state. Teaching Quality and Compensation -- Allowed local school districts to staff based on merit and pay based on performance. -- Empowered local officials who were elected at the local level to make the decisions about their schools.  Reading/Literacy -- Joined with Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers [and several legislators] to put together and work with a Read to Lead task force – which was a diverse group of educators, reading specialists, parents and others from across the state to create a plan for improving the reading skills of students.  http://www.walker.wi.gov/Default.aspx?Page=d00003d4-91e4-4aeb-a13a-9f097ca9adcd 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