2013 State of the State Addresses Education-Related Proposals by Issue

The following summary includes education-related proposals from the 2013 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 3 Accountability--Rewards 2 Accountability--School Improvement 3 Assessment--High Stakes/Competency 1 At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention) 6 Attendance 2 Bilingual/ESL 1 Business Involvement 3 Career/Technical Education 4 Choice of Schools 4 Choice of Schools--Charter Schools 7 Choice of Schools--Choice/Open Enrollment 2 Choice of Schools--Tax Credits 1 Choice of Schools--Vouchers 3 Civic Education 2 Counseling/Guidance 1 Curriculum--Foreign Language/Sign Language 1 Curriculum--Mathematics 1 Economic/Workforce Development 19 Finance 24 Finance--Facilities 3 Finance--Federal 1 Finance--Funding Formulas 1 Finance--Lotteries 1 Finance--Performance Funding 1 Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures 6 Finance--Taxes/Revenues 3 Governance 3 Health 2 Health--Mental Health 1 High School 3 High School--College Readiness 3 High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates 1 High School--Dual/Concurrent Enrollment 2 High School--Exit Exams 1 High School--Graduation Requirements 1 Integrated Services/Full-Service Schools 1 Online Learning--Digital/Blended Learning 3 Online Learning--Virtual Schools/Courses 1 P-16 or P-20 1 P-3 4 P-3 Child Care 1 P-3 Early Intervention (0-3) 1 P-3 Finance 1 P-3 Kindergarten 4 P-3 Kindergarten--Full-Day Kindergarten 2 P-3 Preschool 16 Parent/Family 1 Postsecondary 5 Postsecondary Affordability 5 Postsecondary Affordability--Financial Aid 6 Postsecondary Affordability--Tuition/Fees 3 Postsecondary Finance 12 Postsecondary Finance--Efficiency/Performance-Based Funding 7 Postsecondary Finance--Facilities 1 Postsecondary Institutions 1 Postsecondary Institutions--Community/Technical Colleges 3 Postsecondary Online Instruction 1 Postsecondary Participation--Access 3 Postsecondary Success--Completion 4 Postsecondary Success--Developmental/Remediation 1 Reading/Literacy 13 Scheduling/School Calendar 2 Scheduling/School Calendar--Extended Day Programs 1 School Safety 9 Service-Learning 1 Special Education 4 Special Populations 1 Special Populations--Military 3 Standards 1 State Longitudinal Data Systems 1 State Policymaking 6 Maine Governor Paul LePage's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Accountability -- Develop a ranking system for Maine schools. Each school will be graded A-B-C-D or F. -- Help schools that are failing and reward schools as they improve. Choice -- Give more educational options to all kids and fund schools that best fit the student's needs. State Policymaking -- Hold a Governor's Conference on Education this March. We are bringing national experts to Maine to demonstrate what other states are doing to improve education. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Career/Technical Education -- Passed legislation to strengthen vocational education. Charter Schools -- Passed charter school legislation. http://www.governing.com/news/state/maine-governor-lepage-state-of-state-2013.html Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Health -- Add another 90-some thousand recipients dental coverage through the Healthy Kids Dental program P-3 - Preschool -- Make a major budget commitment to get as many kids as possible into the Great Start Early Childhood program (29,000 students currently eligible). State Policymaking/Workforce Development -- Hold a state-wide Education Summit in April with a focus on future employment needs are and future career opportunities, and have a great discussion about how to do a better job on supplying the talent. Student Supports - Counseling -- Extend Pathways to Potential program to 135 schools. Sending social worker's (calling them Success Coaches) out to work in 21 local public elementary schools in the cities with the highest crime and the biggest challenges to support students. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Accountability - School Improvement -- Created the Educational Achievement Authority which took 15 schools that were among the most persistently failing and put them into a system of schools, not a school district, but a system of schools to put the most resources possible in the classroom. Extended the school day and school year, offered three meals a day, and used a student centered learning model where the students are driving their own educational growth. In EAA there is no such thing as failing a grade; there is only a question of how long it takes you to master a level. The Gates Foundation gave the program one of their Break Through Awards for innovation in education. Autism -- Passed legislation that put evidenced-based systems in place that can materially improve the quality of life for autistic children. Civic Engagement -- Initiated the Summer Youth Initiative whereby young people were put to work in foremost challenged communities. Health -- Offered dental coverage to over 440,000 people in Michigan through the Healthy Kids Dental program. Student Supports -- Implemented Pathways to Potential program. Sending social worker's (calling them Success Coaches) out to work in 21 local public elementary schools in the cities with the highest crime and the biggest challenges to support students. Full Text: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2013-2014/Journal/house/pdf/2013-HJ-01-16-002.pdf Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Dropout Prevention -- Fund national certifications for high school students enrolled in workforce training. Choice - Charter Schools -- Pass a charter school act. Choice - Open Enrollment -- Implement an open enrollment policy. Choice - Vouchers -- Create privately funded Opportunity Scholarships for students who are below 250 percent of the poverty level and live in D and F schools districts. P-3 - Best Practices -- Fund $3 million to help Mississippi Building Blocks continue literacy research and thereby develop best practices in early education. Postsecondary -- Build new expansion at University of Mississippi's School of Medicine. With the addition of new classrooms and laboratories, each incoming class of medical students will increase to more than 160. Reading/Literacy -- End social promotion of third grade students who cannot read on a third-grade level. -- Fund $15 million to assist with literacy improvement efforts. These funds will help us train teachers on best-practices in reading instruction and will also help provide reading interventionists to help struggling third-graders and other students. Teacher Pay-for-Performance -- Reward best teachers with higher pay. Teacher Preparation --Raise the bar for new teachers by raising the entrance standard for education programs. A student must have a 21 ACT score and a minimum GPA of 3.0 to become a teacher. Why would we want anything less for our students? Teacher Recruitment - Scholarships -- Fund 200 scholarships for students who have a 28 ACT score, a 3.5 GPA, and who commit to teaching in Mississippi public schools for five years. ACCOMPLISHMENTS State Policymaking - Task Forces -- Formed a working group of educators at all levels to identify the core problems in Mississippi's public education system and develop realistic recommendations for improvement. Full Text: http://www.governorbryant.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/State-of-the-State.pdf North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Online Learning - Give schools more flexibility to spend lottery funds on digital and virtual learning, which school districts, according to current laws, are not allowed to do right now. Postsecondary Finance -- Lead a collaborative effort to help our universities come together as the competition for federal dollars is getting so tough. We need to come together as universities to maximize research funding. Business Involvement -- Expand strategic partnerships between the education community and the business community. State Policymaking -- Reinstate and lead education cabinet meetings. Technology -- Pursue legislation to reallocate a portion of money away from advertising and the large administration cost of the Lottery Commission, and use that money to directly help students access technology. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Economic/Workforce Development; Teacher Certification -- Signed Senate Bill 14 into law. This bill will help employers find qualified candidates for jobs, directs high schools and community colleges to share resources, and makes it easier for experts in a private sector to get certified for teaching.  Full Text: http://governor.nc.gov/newsroom/governor-mccrory-delivers-2013-state-state-address Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Funding -- Put a record amount of state funding into basic education, $5.5 billion dollars, starting with early childhood programs and going all the way through grade 12. -- Add nearly $100 million dollars to be distributed to K-12 school districts. P-3 Finance/Preschool -- Add another $6.4 million dollars toward our Pre-K Counts and the Head Start Supplemental Assistance programs. This money gives an additional 3,200 children, and their families, access to quality full and part-day programs as well as summer kindergarten readiness programs. Postsecondary Finance -- Maintain full funding levels for state and state-related universities. That is $1.58 billion that will go towards these institutions. The leaders of these universities have promised to work to keep tuition increases as low as possible for students. State Policymaking -- Allow schools to plan their budgets for the coming year and make the best use of their resources. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Reading/Literacy; Student Achievement; STEM; School Safety -- Unveiled the "Passport for Learning" Block Grant, an unprecedented $1 billion dollar program enriching our public schools over the next four years. It provides maximum flexibility for school districts in four general areas: 1. "Ready by 3." The funds can go toward supporting and enhancing a quality kindergarten program that meets academic standards and enhances elementary reading and mathematics through third grade. 2. Allows schools to establish customized learning plans that allow students to learn at the pace and manner that best suits them. 3. Provides funding to invest in programs and equipment that support science and math in grades six through twelve. 4. Ensures that local schools can invest in the necessary safety and security measures Full Text: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=18&objID=1320358&mode=2 South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Finance -- Start a conversation about the way we fund K through twelve schools in South Carolina.  State Policymaking -- Give voters the opportunity at the ballot box to make the constitutional change to allow governors to appoint the Superintendent of Education.  ACCOMPLISHMENTS Charter Schools -- Reaffirmed our commitment to charter schools. Alternative Teacher Certification -- Invested in innovation with a focus on both rural and urban areas through programs like Teach For America. Teacher Evaluation -- Gained more flexibility to manage and evaluate our schools and educators Full Text: http://governor.sc.gov/News/Pages/RecentNews.aspx State Policymaking--Task Forces/Commissions 5 STEM 5 Student Achievement 5 Teaching Quality 5 Teaching Quality--Certification and Licensure--Alternative 1 Teaching Quality--Certification and Licensure--Natl. Bd. for Prof. Teach. Stds. 1 Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay 5 Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay--Pay-for-Performance 7 Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay--Retirement/Benefits 3 Teaching Quality--Evaluation and Effectiveness 5 Teaching Quality--Preparation 3 Teaching Quality--Professional Development 1 Teaching Quality--Recruitment and Retention 7 Teaching Quality--Tenure or Continuing Contract 3 Technology 5 Technology--Devices/Software/Hardware 1 Youth Engagement 1 323