2009 State of the States
For the version of our State of the State address roundups, click here.
Gov. Riley used his State of the State address to tout the success of three education programs he said have helped raise reading and math scores: a statewide K-3 reading program, and a mathematics and science initiative that has been part of selected schools. Mr. Riley also said the state’s distance-learning program has given students in low-income and rural areas the opportunity to take Advanced Placement and other high-level courses. All of those programs, the governor said, would be “protected from cuts” in his forthcoming budget proposal. Although Alabama’s financial situation isn’t as bad as that of other states, Mr. Riley said, he warned that “education funding this year is not going to be at the level we want it to be.”
Despite nearly $1.2 billion in projected shortfalls in the fiscal 2009 and 2010 budgets, Gov. Sebelius struck a positive note in her State of the State Address, saying education must remain one of the state’s top priorities even as legislators make painful cuts. The state faces a deficit of nearly $200 million in the current year’s budget, and the governor had asked state departments to look for cuts of about 3 percent last fall, a number that now is not enough to make up the gap. A deficit of $1 billion is expected in the fiscal 2010 budget, and she pledged to present balanced budgets that exclude tax hikes. “In an economic downturn, decisions can have dire consequences and a lifetime impact on future generations,” Gov. Sebelius said, without making any specific program or budget recommendations about K-12 education. “No student can afford to ‘miss’ a few years of quality education.”
Gov. Beshear is calling for a “thorough review” of Kentucky’s 18-year-old school reform law and will form a task force charged with improving the quality of children’s services. The 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act drew national praise and attention, but the state needs to revisit it to “not only check our course and see if any corrective steering is necessary, but just as importantly, to renew and re-energize our commitment to education,” Mr. Beshear said. He plans to convene educators, legislators, and business leaders to review the KERA law and recommend changes. In discussing the state’s budget crisis, the first-term governor said he wants to protect K-12 and higher education programs from cuts.
Gov. Baldacci unveiled a planned expansion of the state’s pioneering laptop program to ensure that all students in grades 7-12 have laptop computers in school, and that those computers are equipped with software that families can use for career information. State officials are negotiating a lease with Apple Inc. for 100,000 laptops—enough for all public school students and staff members in that grade span—at a price tag of $25 million a year. Currently, all 7th and 8th graders and students in about 30 of 100 public high schools have laptops. Gov. Baldacci also told lawmakers in his annual address that the state should continue its push to streamline the administration of K-12 schools. “The way forward—the way to protect local schools and resources for the classroom—is to stop wasting money on unnecessary bureaucracies and administrations,” he said.
Gov. O’Malley made it clear during his address to lawmakers that spending on education will not suffer even during these harsh economic times, reiterating his proposal to spend an additional $68.3 million on K-12 education. His budget plan, unveiled Jan. 20, would bring total annual K-12 spending to $5.4 billion. In his speech, he cited Maryland’s high ranking for its public schools in the most recent edition of Education Week’s annual Quality Counts report, and linked the quality of the state’s schools to the economy. “At the center of our job-creation strategy is our greatest asset: the skills, creativity, talents, and ingenuity of our people,” he said. Instead of calling for new education programs, Gov. O’Malley used his speech to focus on key pieces of his budget plan. He emphasized the importance of college affordability, which translates in his budget plan into a fourth straight year of no increases in college tuition for students attending schools in the state university system. He also pledged to eradicate child hunger by 2015, which in his budget translates into an additional $22 million for school lunch and other nutrition programs.
The governor told lawmakers that education remains one of the top three priorities for the state, which has fared among the worst in the nation in the economic crisis. Ten “promise zones” would be set up in poor communities that will guarantee free college access to students. She also announced the creation of a Michigan College Access Network, to be launched at an April education summit. The network would be charged with ensuring all students and their parents get access to information on postsecondary educational options. Education, Gov. Granholm said, will help spur job growth in the economically battered state. She said that “the two critical questions our families must answer are: Where are the kids going to college after high school—not if they are going, but where? What training do mom and dad need to move up at work or get a new job in a new field?”
Gov. Barbour warned lawmakers in his annual address that he will have to cut spending on the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, which finances K-12 schools, by 3.8 percent. Under state law, a governor may not cut any individual agency’s budget by more than 5 percent until every agency’s budget has been cut by that percentage, Gov. Barbour said. The state cut $42 million from the budget in November, but K-12 funding was spared, according to the Associated Press. “The law gives me very little latitude about how I can distribute these cuts,””Gov. Barbour said. “The effect of this law is that I can no longer exempt the Mississippi Adequate Education Program from cuts.” But he said school districts in the state have done a good job squirreling away cash in anticipation of tough times. The State Department of Education reported that local school districts have $517 million in reserve, or 50 percent more money than is in the state’s own rainy day fund, Gov. Barbour said.
Gov. Schweitzer proposed a new tax on gas and oil production in the state that could yield more than $40 million in additonal money to pay for higher teacher salaries. “I have heard legislators, both Republicans and Democrats, who called for higher teacher salaries during your campaigns. Now is the time to put your promises to the test,” the governor said in his prepared text. Under a bill introduced hours before Gov. Schweitzer’s speech, the teacher pay increases would be funded by imposing a state tax of $1 for a barrel of oil and 8 cents for every thousand cubic feet of natural gas. During his re-election campaign last year, the governor boasted of increasing K-12 education funding by 27 percent—to more than $650 million—and offering full-day kindergarten statewide since taking office in 2005.
Stressing the need to build a stronger employee base in New Mexico, Gov. Richardson told lawmakers that “the key to this workforce is education” and proposed a change in the school finance formula to more reliably fund small and rural schools. The governor also proposed increasing the math requirement for new elementary and middle school teachers, and tightening the school calendar so that days for students to learn would not be replaced with teacher-training days. “We continue to make steady progress—aligning grades, improving accountability in our schools, and fighting to close the achievement gap,” Mr. Richardson said, according to a statement of his prepared remarks. He said that proof of the state’s progress in education could be seen in the Quality Counts 2009 report, published by Education Week, which ranked New Mexico 22nd in the nation for its quality of education, up from 30th the previous year.
Gov. Strickland proposed an overhaul of the state’s school funding, expansion of the school year by 20 days, elimination of the high school graduation test in favor of requiring all students take the ACT college-entrance test, and steps to improve teacher quality. He told lawmakers his plan would take the state’s share of education funding to 55 percent, an amount that would grow to 59 percent once the plan was completely implemented. The governor, who received strong support from teachers’ unions during his 2006 campaign, also proposed a four-year residency training program for teachers, similar to what doctors undergo, at the end of which a teacher would receive a professional license. He proposed making it easier for school administrators to fire bad teachers. His education plan also would require districts to be audited by the state Department of Education to determine how well they’re meeting state academic standards and would let the state take control of districts that don’t comply with new state academic and operating standards and replace district leaders. The governor also would require the state to begin offering universal, all-day kindergarten.
Gov. Henry congratulated legislators in his annual speech on increasing teacher pay, improving early-childhood education, strengthening accountability in schools, and providing funding for underprivileged students to go to college. He also praised the state’s actions in improving students’ health through initiatives such as the Strong and Healthy Oklahoma program, which doubles physical education requirements and restricts the selling of unhealthy drinks and snack foods at schools. Looking forward, the governor encouraged lawmakers to finance a “graduation coaches” program that would match up community volunteers with students at risk of dropping out, an undertaking he emphasized in his 2008 State of the State speech as well.
In his annual address to lawmakers, Gov. Kulongoski named education as his top priority for the upcoming 2009-2011 biennium, tying a well-educated workforce to a thriving economy and promising to align what students learn in school with the skills they need to succeed in the marketplace. He promised to “build a protective wall around funding for education,” although he did not mention any specific dollar amounts for K-12 schools this year. The governor emphasized the need for a “larger science infrastructure” to train and recruit scientists and engineers to help research green technologies and alternative energy sources. He also warned of tough budget decisions that will have to be made by the legislature and said he would make new budget proposals in March.
Gov. Rendell proposed a fiscal 2010 budget that increases the state’s basic-education subsidy by 5.7 percent, saying even though the state is facing a $2.3 billion shortfall in the current budget year, it is imperative to invest in education. In his annual budget address, the governor outlined a $61.7 billion spending plan that includes almost $1 billion in cuts in nearly every government agency. And while reductions in education programs were sprinkled liberally throughout his proposed budget, the overall proposed precollegiate spending plan of $9.9 billion represents a 2.8 percent increase over last year. Gov. Rendell said Pennsylvania can use federal stimulus dollars to help protect its education programs. Citing figures based on versions of the package still being considered, he said the state expected to get $1.26 billion per year in fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2011, and would have to devote 61 percent—or $771 million per year—to K-12 and collegiate spending. Among the proposed increases is $300 million to help equalize spending, especially in needy districts, through the state’s new funding formula. The governor also called for spending $95 million—a 10 percent increase—to provide prekindergarten programs for an additional 12,850 children. To boost affordability at public colleges and universities, the governor proposed that families earning less than $100,000 per year be allowed to pay what they can afford, but no less than $1,000. To pay for that program, he proposed legalizing video poker and taxing its proceeds.
More money is not the only way to improve education in the state, Gov. Sanford said in an address telling legislators they should face economic challenges by offering more choices that reflect the individual diversity among the state’s 700,000 students. The governor, whose proposals did not include an increased in aid to schooling, said he would like to enact education funding that “follows the child,” so that opportunities are not limited based on geography. He would also like to see an expansion of charter schools. “If we limit choice to simply a monopoly of public schools, we will never have real choice,” he said. The governor’s $21 billion fiscal 2010 proposed budget also includes $1.2 million to reward students who graduate earlier than the traditional four year of high school, and would provide chronically low-performing schools the flexibility to pursue innovative restructuring programs. Some $3.6 billion of the Gov. Sanford’s proposed budget is for K-12 education, about the same as the current year.
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