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 4 Assessment 4 Assessment--College Entrance Exams 3 Assessment--Formative/Interim 1 At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention)--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 Class Size 1 Curriculum 1 Curriculum--Foreign Language/Sign Language 1 Demographics--Condition of Children/Adults 1 Economic/Workforce Development 16 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 Iowa Governor Terry E. Branstad's Condition of the State Address PROPOSALS P-3 Early Grades and Reading -- Use a new kindergarten assessment to measure whether children start kindergarten ready to learn and leave prepared to flourish in first grade. -- Assure that children can read by the end of third grade.  Otherwise, they will fall further and further behind.  An intensive focus on literacy means working closely with families and providing more support for reading and writing in schools starting in preschool, and continuing through kindergarten, first, second, and third grades. Because reading is so essential for later success in school, it is unfair to promote an illiterate child. High School -- Put in place end-of-course tests for core subjects that will demonstrate that high school students are ready to graduate. These will be designed with teachers, and will emphasize not just knowing content but being able to apply it. -- Require all juniors to take a college entrance exam, with the state covering the cost. In addition, they should have the option of taking a work skills readiness test.  This will tell us whether Iowa students are college and career ready for life after high school. Standards -- Continue to improve the Iowa Core —our state standards in math, science, English, and social studies. But well-rounded, healthy students need more than just these core areas. The Department of Education will also help for educators to develop new standards for music and other fine arts, character education, physical education, entrepreneurship education, applied arts, and foreign languages. -- Promote competency-based learning that personalizes education for each child, and begins the process of moving us away from the time-based industrial model of education. Teachers and Leaders -- Ensure a great teacher in every classroom and a great principal leading every building by being more selective about who can become an educator. A "B" college grade-point average for admission to Iowa's teacher-preparation programs is not asking too much. -- Require all prospective teachers seeking a state license to demonstrate content and teaching mastery to assure they are ready for the crucial work of teaching our children. -- Change the School Administration Manager program to provide more time for principals to be instructional leaders. Other staff can take on management tasks to free principals to observe and coach teachers in their classrooms. Technology and Innovation -- Encourage more schools to be innovative by establishing an Innovation Acceleration Fund.  Schools and partners will identify education problems and innovative solutions.  Competitive grants will fund the best ideas, which may be scaled up statewide. Youngsters need more opportunities to engage in real-world experiences–including internships–in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Doing well in these subjects is the gateway to fast-growing fields with some of the best-paying jobs—whether students are headed for career training or a two- or four-year college. -- Promote online learning that complements learning in traditional classrooms. Overarching goals: -- Adopt common sense solutions for Iowa's schools to give children a world class education and to again have the nation's best school system. -- Commit long-term to make Iowa ready to support the jobs and careers of the future–the very careers that will keep Iowans home and bring new economic opportunities to our state. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Finance -- Took the necessary steps to put the state's fiscal house back in order; ended dependency on one time revenue; funded a balanced budget using on-going revenue; and passed a biennial budget that funds most areas for two years. Leadership --Convened an education summit that brought together some of the best minds from Iowa, our nation, and the world -- Followed the summit with the release of an initial blueprint to start a statewide conversation on how to give kids the best education -- Hit the road to hold an unprecedented number of education town halls to engage students, parents, teachers, job-creators, and other Iowans in a true give-and-take dialogue about the future of Iowa's education system -- Revised the blue print into actual reforms that are before the legislature now. https://governor.iowa.gov/2012/01/gov-terry-e-branstad-delivers-2012-condition-of-the-state-address-to-the-iowa-general-assembly/ 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 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 High School--Advanced Placement 3 High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates 4 High School--Dual/Concurrent Enrollment 6 High School--Graduation Requirements 1 Instructional Approaches 1 Integrated Services/Full-Service Schools 1 International Baccalaureate 1 Leadership 1 Leadership--Principal/School Leadership--Evaluation and Effectiveness 2 Leadership--Principal/School Leadership--Preparation 1 No Child Left Behind 3 Online Learning--Virtual Schools/Courses 5 P-16 or P-20 1 P-3 2 P-3 Child Care 1 P-3 Early Intervention (0-3) 2 P-3 Ensuring Quality 3 P-3 Evaluation/Economic Benefits 1 P-3 Finance 2 P-3 Governance 3 P-3 Grades 1-3 3 P-3 Health and Mental Health 1 P-3 Kindergarten 3 P-3 Kindergarten--Full-Day Kindergarten 1 P-3 Preschool 7 P-3 Teaching Quality/Professional Development 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 Promising Practices 1 Promotion/Retention 3 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--Facilities 4 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 STEM 6 Student Achievement 7 Teaching Quality 6 Teaching Quality--Certification and Licensure 2 Teaching Quality--Certification and Licensure--Alternative 1 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--Evaluation and Effectiveness 16 Teaching Quality--Induction Programs and Mentoring 1 Teaching Quality--Preparation 3 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 Teaching Quality--Reduction in Force 1 Teaching Quality--Tenure or Continuing Contract 10 Technology--Computer Skills 2 Urban--Change/Improvements 1 Youth Engagement 1 356