Gov. Tim Pawlenty urged lawmakers in his State of the State Address to support his plans to revamp how Minnesota pays teachers, expand opportunities for high school students to earn college credits, and open a new university.
Having released the details of his K-12 initiative earlier in the month, the Republican governor referred to the plan in general terms during his Jan. 18 speech.
On his proposal to offer $60 million to local districts in incentive aid to convert teacher-pay systems to performance-based models, he said: “You get what you pay for. If we pay for results, that’s what we’ll get.”
Read the text of Gov. Pawlenty’s address. ()
His K-12 budget for the 2006 and 2007 fiscal years seeks $12.4 billion, an increase of 1.5 percent over the current biennium.
His high school plan, called “Get Ready, Get Credit,” would encourage students who complete college-level courses in high school to take a college-level exam to receive immediate college credit. The plan also calls for assessing the college preparedness of students in grades 8 and 10.
Delivering his speech from Rochester, Minn., in a building owned by the Mayo Clinic, Gov. Pawlenty also called on the legislature to appropriate $3 million to begin exploring the addition of a new university in the rapidly growing city.
