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 Teaching Quality--Evaluation and Effectiveness 16 Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Finance, Teacher Evaluation/Pay for Performance --Find a way to fund desired results and reward educators. Teacher Quality, School Safety, Choice, Data-Driven Decisionmaking, High Standards --Committed to quality teachers, a safe environment, a setting of parents' choosing, data driven decisions and the highest of standards. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Choice --State is a leader in allowing parents to choose a school that best meets their children's needs. http://www.azgovernor.gov/dms/upload/GS_010912_2012SoSAddress.pdf California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.'s State of the State Address PROPOSALS Accountability, Assessment, Data-Driven Decisionmaking, Teacher Mentoring and Evaluation --Reduce the number of tests and get the results to teachers, principals and superintendents in weeks, not months. --With timely data, principals and superintendents can better mentor and guide teachers as well as make sound evaluations of their performance. --Develop a qualitative system of assessments such as a site visitation program where each class is visited, observed and evaluated. Will work with the state board of education to develop this proposal. Finance --Devote more tax dollars to this most basic of public services (public education). --Pass proposed temporary taxes. Governance, Mandates, Finance, Local Control --Clearly delineate responsibility between the various levels of power that have a stake in California's educational system. What most needs to be avoided is concentrating more and more decisionmaking at the federal or state level. Set broad goals and have a good accountability system, leaving the real work to those closest to the students. Demand continuous improvement in meeting state standards, but not impose excessive or detailed mandates. ----Replace categorical programs with a new weighted student formula that provides a basic leveling of funding with additional money for disadvantaged students and those struggling to learn English. This will give more authority to districts to fashion the kind of programs they see their students need. Will also create transparency, reduce bureaucracy and simplify complex funding streams. Public Employee Pension Reform --Put forth 12-point proposal. Three times as many people are retiring as are entering the work force. Benefits, contributions and the age of retirement all have to balance. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Postsecondary Affordability--Tuition/Fees--Undocumented Immigrants --Enactment of the Dream Act. http://gov.ca.gov/docs/GOVERNOR_BROWN_OFFICIAL_STATE_OF_THE_STATE_ADDRESS_Final.pdf Delaware Governor Jack Markell's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Curriculum - Foreign Language -- Press ahead with the World Language Expansion Initiative. + Create partial immersion programs in twenty schools (in the next 5 years), where students will spend half the school day learning in another language. P-3 Early Grades - Ensuring Quality, Facility Evaluation, Teacher Evaluation (Early Learning Challenge winner) -- Properly train professionals who care for young children. -- Ensure that early childcare facilities where our children spend their days will have the best teaching and learning tools. -- Continually monitor the successes and challenges of centers to ensure continual improvement. -- Raise the percentage of high-need children in quality-rated programs from 20 percent to nearly 80 percent over the next four years. -- Introduce a new kindergarten assessment to let us know where our kids stand when they start school. Teacher Quality - Evaluations -- Implement without additional delay the Performance Appraisal System, with its focus on student progress. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Curriculum - Foreign Language; High School -Graduation Requirements -- Completion of a world language is a graduation requirement. Finance - Federal -- Won nationwide Race to the Top Grant. -- Won nationwide Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge. Standards -- Established high standards. Assessments, Accountability -- Put in place an improved assessment system so parents and teachers can track student progress and identify quickly when students risk falling behind. Teacher Quality -- Provide support to teachers with resources that help them raise student achievement. http://news.delaware.gov/2012/01/19/state-of-the-state-2012-transcript-delawares-time-to-lead/ Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Teacher Quality - Evaluations, Accountability -- Implement an evaluation system that not only measures, but achieves student growth; turns around low-performing schools; and supports teachers in increasing their effectiveness. P-3 Systems -- Implement an early education plan for the state that will be the guide for building a stronger quality early care and education system for our youngest children and their families. ACCOMPLISHMENTS --n/a http://hawaii.gov/gov/newsroom/in-the-news/investing-now-for-hawaii2019s-future-2012-state-of-the-state 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 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 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 Missouri Governor Jay Nixon's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Charter Schools - Evaluations -- Pass a comprehensive charter school accountability bill that holds all charter schools - and their sponsors - to high standards of academic achievement and financial integrity. Finance -- Increase funding for K-12 classrooms. Teaching Quality - Recruitment at High-Risk Schools, Evaluation and Effectiveness -- Recruit our best college students to become teachers in those urban and rural public schools that have the greatest needs and hold them accountable for what kids are learning. Special Education - Autism -- Pass legislation to increase access to care by expanding the number of licensed professionals working with children with autism. Postsecondary - Financial Aid -- Provide stable funding for our state college scholarships, including Bright Flight, Access Missouri, and A+. -- Increase number of A+ scholarships granted to students from 12,500 this year to 14,000 next year. High School - Dual Enrollment; Career/Technical Education - Apprenticeships; Postsecondary - Financial Aid -- Expand Innovation Campuses which allow students to enroll in college courses while still in high school, and then participate in high-impact apprenticeships throughout the college curriculum. Corporate partners will underwrite tuition scholarships, and faculty and employers will partner to guide each student. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Student Achievement -- Students have shown academic improvement for four years in a row. Distance Learning -- Expanded the ability of a local school in Otterville to provide web-based classes using streaming video. Finance -- Maintained level funding for K-12 classrooms during difficult economic times. Teaching Quality - Certification, Alternative Preparation -- Put teaching certifications on-line. Special Education - Autism -- Passed legislation to ensure that children with autism get the therapy they need. Community/Technical Colleges, Economic/Workforce Demand -- Established new higher-education programs like Caring for Missourians, Training for Tomorrow, MoHealthWINS and our Nurse Training Initiative through community colleges in order to prepare thousands more Missourians for rewarding careers. -- Increased investment in our Customized Training Program by 50 percent. The investment allowed employers to provide on-the-job training to nearly 37,000 workers who are currently working at more than 300 Missouri businesses. Postsecondary - Enrollment -- Increased enrollment at public colleges - over the past three years, we've added 31,000 students. That's set a new record each fall. High School -- Added 110 "A+" schools (The A+ Schools Program mobilizes an intensive partnership among high schools, community colleges, students, teachers, parents, labor, businesses, and communities to give these students the motivation, skills, and knowledge to graduate from high school. The schools create an innovative and well-designed path from high school to high skill, high wage jobs). -- Increased the number of students enrolled in A+ schools by 30%. Postsecondary - Tuition Affordability -- Froze tuition in 2009 and 2010 at all public colleges and universities. http://governor.mo.gov/newsroom/2012/Gov_Nixon_delivers_2012_State_of_the_State_address New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Accountability -- Develop preliminary, baseline grades for New Mexico schools. By this summer, every school will receive an official letter grade – A, B, C, D, or F. Assessment - College Entrance Exams, Formative/Interim -- Assess kids from the 4th to 10th grades to catch kids before they fall too far behind. -- Pay for 10th graders to take the Pre-SAT. High-School - Advanced Placement, Drop-out Rates -- Expand access to Advanced Placement classes for low-income students. -- Raise graduation rates. Reading/Literacy -- Assess children early on – in kindergarten, first, second grade… -- Buy every New Mexico first grader a reading book of their very own. -- Encourage parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles to read to their children. -- Invest $17 million in reading reforms -- Ensure every child learns the basics and identify and help those who struggle before the third grade. -- Provide immediate help through tutoring and extra individual attention to students who are struggling. -- Put more reading coaches in elementary schools. Teacher Quality - Evaluations -- Develop a new teacher evaluation system. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Finance -- Protected classroom spending. -- School districts cut administrative waste and increased the percentage of their funding that went directly into the classroom. Demographics - Condition of Children -- Provided school clothes for kids most in need. http://www.governor.state.nm.us/uploads/PressRelease/191a415014634aa89604e0b4790e4768/stateofstate2012.pdf New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Teacher and School Effectiveness -- Develop a meaningful teacher evaluation system. -- Improve management efficiency by making schools accountable for the results they achieve and the dollars they spend. -- Appoint a bipartisan education commission to work with the Legislature to recommend reforms in these key areas. -- Consider me (Governor Cuomo) a lobbyist for students. Economic Development -- Continue work to build SUNY institutions into leading centers of excellence, innovation, and job creation by committing $10m from the executive branch and $10m from SUNY for awards for which 60 campuses will compete. Finance -- Reform the pension system and create a Tier VI retirement plan. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Economic Development -- Enacted NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant Program (tied academic excellence to economic development) http://www.governor.ny.gov/stateofthestate2012 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 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 Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Economic Development -- Focus on education to make sure that Tennessee is a state that attracts companies and keeps its best and brightest graduates in state with good-paying, high-quality jobs. Make sure graduates have strong enough skills to meet companies' needs. Educator Quality -- Make the evaluation process better. The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) will be spending the year talking to teachers and principals statewide to evaluate the evaluation system, and after gathering and analyzing that information, there may be changes that need to be made. -- Recruit, retain and reward the best and brightest employees through the TEAM Act (Tennessee Excellence, Accountability and Management Act). Federal -- Be one of the first states to receive a waiver from the federal government's No Child Left Behind law. Build an accountability system that measures growth and improvement and gives every school a chance to success by doing better each year. Finance -- Rather than cutting the education budget, continue to fund the Basic Education Program (BEP) cost increases. -- Restore over $100 million out of $160 million of slated cuts that had included programs like the Coordinated School Health Program, extended teacher contracts, etc., to protect vital services Postsecondary Finance, Financial Aid and Costs -- Increase higher education's operating budgets. -- Increase the amount of money available in need-based scholarships. -- Keep tuition increases to a minimum to encourage more access to more students. -- Provide state funding for a number of new buildings and lab facilities on state campuses. Postsecondary Governance -- Strengthen the Tennessee Higher Education Commission's tie to the Governor's Office. THEC functions as a policy arm for higher education issues, and like the policy chief for K-12 education reports to the governor, it makes sense that higher education should have a similar structure. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Charter Schools -- Expanded charter school opportunities. Financial Aid -- Made lottery scholarships available to students for summer school to encourage them to finish faster and to help universities use their campuses year round. Teaching Quality -- Reformed tenure laws. http://forward.tn.gov/stateofthestate/files/2012StateoftheStateAddress.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 Washington Governor Chris Gregoire's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Accountability -- Step in and turn around schools where dropout rates are high, student performance and achievement are low, and where no progress is being made. Teaching Quality - Evaluations -- Overhaul the way teachers are evaluated by focusing on high-quality instruction, student achievement and growth. -- Provide a system to evaluate the performance of principals based on student achievement. Finance -- Lift the levy lid. -- Fund levy equalization. P-3 - Preschool, Kindergarten -- Continue implementation of all-day kindergarten for all kids. -- Create "All Start," a voluntary Washington preschool program to provide early learning opportunities to all 3- and 4-year-olds. Postsecondary - Community/Technical Colleges -- Provide funding to community and technical colleges to retrain 2,500 workers for the jobs of tomorrow. Postsecondary - Finance -- Provide four-year institutions with competitive tuition flexibility. -- Restore funding for the State Need Grant Program in order to keep the doors to higher education open to students of all income levels. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Student Achievement -- K-12 student test scores continue to rank high nationally. School Choice -- Innovative schools in cities around the state have been highly successful in raising vital math and science skills. Postsecondary - Community/Technical Colleges -- Community and technical college system is rated as one of the best in the nation Teaching Quality -- Rank fifth in the nation in board-certified educators. http://www.governor.wa.gov/speeches/speech-view.asp?SpeechSeq=213 West Virginia Governor PROPOSALS Accountability --Introduce legislation to establish a pilot program to improve struggling local schools. Under this pilot program, local administrators and educators will be granted flexibility to attract qualified teachers into those local schools in an effort to obtain better student results. This legislation will be implemented in coordination with the Reconnecting McDowell Project, a public-private partnership involving over 40 organizations that will focus on everything from jobs and economic development, housing and transportation, technology and services for students and their families. Finance --Find innovative ways to invest in new and improved schools. Public/Private Partnership, Literacy, Rural --Save the Children will match $1 million in state funds with a $500,000 investment in McDowell County. Save the Children will partner with 3 elementary schools and their administrators to focus on literacy. Teacher Evaluation --Introduce legislation incorporating student achievement into every teacher performance evaluation. This bill will codify a pilot program currently in place and expand it to require yearly assessments of teacher performance. Economic/Workforce Development--Research --Continue to bridge the gap between the education system, its research components and the potential for new business development. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Finance--Resource Efficiency --An efficiency audit conducted by private experts has generated ideas that can save approximately $90 million in the state education system every year. These recommendations have the potential to eliminate overlap and allow schools to work smarter and more efficiently. http://www.governor.wv.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/Documents/2012%20State%20of%20State%20Final%20-%20Press%20Copy.pdf 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