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 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 Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper's State of the State Address PROPOSALS P-3 - Early Literacy -- Consolidate early childhood services into a new office in the Department of Human Services. -- Create a state-local strategy that integrates prevention and intervention, quality early learning and family support and engagement. -- Make Colorado a national model for early literacy. -- Promote early child literacy by developing intervention strategies with parents and teachers to identify failing students long before they reach the third grade and keep them from an illiterate future. Finance -- Will appeal the decision to secure a final resolution of the constitutional issues raised in the court decision on school funding, but the question of finding additional revenue for education is one of Colorado's greatest budget pressures. -- Support authorization of $7.7 million to continue the implementation of the teacher effectiveness reforms. Governance --Scrub every state agency to eliminate red tape. Teaching Quality Support passage of legislation approving these state board rules that implement S.B. 191, the comprehensive bill on teacher effectiveness. ACCOMPLISHMENTS --Colorado is a nationally-recognized model for teacher effectiveness http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=GovHickenlooper%2FCBONLayout&cid=1251615257131&pagename=CBONWrapper 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 Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels' State of the State Address PROPOSALS Postsecondary --Assist students with the cost of higher education by empowering the Higher Ed Commission to limit the "credit creep" that increases both time to graduation and student expense. ACCOMPLISHMENTS K-12 Finance --K-12 spending is now 56% of the entire state budget, the highest percentage of any state in the nation. Public Education Reform --Others are praising Indiana's public education reforms. Others are following Indiana because of the state's commitment to rewarding the best teachers, liberating principals and superintendents, and providing low- and middle-income parents the same choices as their wealthier neighbors. This year, Indiana will end practice of promoting students who can't read to 4th grade, and reducing college costs for students who graduate from high school in 11 years. State Employees --Indiana now pays state workers on a performance basis, so those doing the best job are properly rewarded for their superior efforts. http://in.gov/gov/2012stateofstate.htm?WT.cg_n=GOV_billboards&WT.cg_s=090211_01_SOS2012 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/ 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 Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant's State of the State Address PROPOSALS P-3 --Monitor the learning opportunities in licensed child care centers. --Combine the functions of the department of health and department of human services for inspection and monitoring of licensed child care centers, in order to streamline services and improve the state's ability to identify the quality of early childhood learning programs. --Gather additional information from ongoing programs such as Building Blocks, Excel by 5, Allies for Quality Childcare Project, and the Quality Rating System, to provide the metrics needed to determine best practices for early childhood learning. Charter Schools --Pass a charter school act. K-12 Finance --Make an executive budget recommendation that will level fund MAEP (Mississippi Adequate Education Program, state funding formula). --Seek to replace the funding for high growth areas. --Set aside 2% of state revenue to replenlish state's rainy day fund. Teen Pregnancy --Begin the public discussion of how to reduce teen pregnancy in Mississippi. --Governor has asked the director of the department of human services and the state health officer to provide, within 30 days, an aggressive plan to address the state's teen pregnancy rate and suggestions on how to curb it. Reading, Dylslexia --Put reading at the forefront of the state's educational plan. --Encourage teachers and parents who believe a child is dyslexic to seek assistance from the Mississippi Dyslexia Program at the department of education. Work to improve state response to this challenge to success. School/District Structure, Operations --Ask the legislature to pass the Education Administration Consolidation Bill, which mandates that districts' non-educational duties (i.e., centralized human resources, centralized purchasing, centralized transportation and other duties) be consolidated to one central county office by 2014. Teaching Quality, National Board Teacher Certification, Teach for America, Mississippi Teachers Corps --Make sure teachers graduate from college prepared to teach. Dr. Hank Bounds (state superintendent) and Dr. Tom Burnham (commissioner of higher education) are working to increase minimum entrance standards for teacher training programs at state universities. --Fully fund the national board certified teacher program. --Once data are available from a pilot program to quantify the characteristics of a quality teacher, recommend a teacher "Pay for Performance" program based on student attainments and not on subjective evaluations. --Make executive budget recommendation allocating $12 million toward Teach for America and the Mississippi Teachers Corps. Local districts will add a portion to this appropriation to keep participating teachers in the classroom. Dual Enrollment, Economic/Workforce Development --Ask the state department of education, the community colleges and the Mississippi Department of Employment Security to come together to implement a dual enrollment process to allow students on the verge of dropping out of school to enroll in a community college workforce training program. Economic/Workforce Development--Research --Create the Biomass Center for Excellence, a partnership of the public, private and education sectors to coordinate and promote biomass research, development and manufacturing. ACCOMPLISHMENTS n/a http://www.governorbryant.com/governor-phil-bryant-gives-his-first-state-of-the-state-address/ (scroll down to beginning of 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 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 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 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 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 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