Education Week - January 23, 2013 - 18

EDUCATION WEEK

JANUARY 23, 2013

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STATE OF THE STATES

Vt. Governor Launches Four-Point Education Initiative
By Nirvi Shah
Saying an investment in schooling is the best tool to grow the
state’s prosperity, Vermont Gov.
Peter Shumlin used his second inaugural address to outline a fourpoint plan for improving his state’s
education system.
He said that while 62 percent of
job openings in the state will require postsecondary education, only
45 percent of Vermont students
continue their schooling beyond
high school, despite a vast invest-

STATE of
the STATES
Here are summaries of recent
annual addresses by governors
around the country.

ALASKA
GOV. SEAN PARNELL (R) • JAN. 16

In his annual address to lawmakers,
Gov. Parnell set a new goal of raising
the high school graduation rate to
90 percent by 2020, up from the
current 70 percent. He said meeting
that goal will require improved reading
instruction in grades K-3 and an
“unwavering” focus on the lowestperforming schools. Innovation is also
needed, he said, including further work
on the state’s 1-to-1 digital learning
initiative which aims to provide a
laptop for every student and teacher.
Gov. Parnell also praised lawmakers
for fully funding the Alaska Performance
Scholarships, which have helped fund
higher education for more than 4,600
students in the state.
—KATIE ASH

ARKANSAS
GOV. MIKE BEEBE (D) • JAN. 15

Gov. Beebe listed improving
education and economic development
as his top priorities in his State of
the State address, but outlined no
major new K-12 initiatives in what
is likely to be a challenging budget
year. He noted that the budget he is
proposing will help address a current
structural shortfall in education, but
that otherwise he is proposing “few
increases” in spending.
Mr. Beebe also noted that Arkansas
ranked fifth for the second year in
a row among all states in Education
Week’s annual Quality Counts, which
he cited as a key achievement. But he
added that the state still ranks too low
in an important indicator—its students’
raw test scores as compared with their
peers across the country.

ment in education by the state.
“Keep in mind that we spend
more money per pupil than all
other states in the country except
for two. We spend more than 50
percent above the national average,
and K-12 spending in Vermont has
grown faster over the last decade
than in any other state in America,”
the Democratic governor said.
In his Jan. 10 speech, Gov. Shumlin called for an additional investment in early-childhood education,
saying he will redirect $17 million
from the state’s earned-income-tax
credit to make high-quality child
care affordable to lower-income
families across the state. The shift
would nearly double the state’s contribution to child care for poor fami-

lies. He would also like to provide
start-up costs for communities that
create preschool programs where
they don’t now exist.

School Meal Assistance
He also wants the state to pay
for school meals for students from
low-income families who are eligible only for reduced-price meals
now and will ask for the policy to be
covered by the state’s 2014 budget
Third, he said he would like
the state to double funding for
dual-enrollment courses for high
school students to allow them to
get a head start on earning college
credits. Only about 40 students a
year—which the governor called a

“paltry number”—have taken part
in the program at Vermont Tech,
where they concentrate on science
and technology with great success.
Finally, he wants to create the
Vermont Strong Scholars Program
for students who graduate with a
degree in a science, technology,
engineering, or mathematics field.
“We will give you a helping hand
to stay and work in Vermont by
paying you back, over the course
of five years, for your final year of
tuition. Or if you graduate with an
associate degree in a stem field, we
will pay you back over three years
for your final semester of tuition,”
he said.
He also proposed that Vermont
schools create “Personal Learning

Plans” that would travel with each
student from elementary school
through senior year. The plan is intended to guide students’ academic
choices and tie educational goals
to career opportunities, he said,
aiming “to increase our students’
individual options while fostering
a connection between school and
career.”
In response to 68 percent of students in 3rd through 8th grades
being proficient in math on the
New England Common Assessment Program—a percentage that
drops to 36 percent in 11th grade—
Gov. Shumlin reiterated a request
to require that all 9th graders take
algebra and all 10th graders take
geometry.

“We’ve made progress, but not
nearly enough,” Mr. Beebe said. “If we
can bring that up, we can go from fifth
ultimately to first, and we can tell the
governor of Maryland he can get out
of the way,” he added, referring to the
top-ranked state.
–ALYSON KLEIN

COLORADO
GOV. JOHN HICKENLOOPER (D) • JAN. 10

Invoking the shooting rampage last
summer in a Colorado movie theater, as
well as the slayings at Columbine High
School in the state’s Jefferson County
district in 1999, Gov. Hickenlooper
called on lawmakers to enact universal
background checks for gun sales.
“After Columbine, Colorado voters
insisted that gun-show sales be
regulated, and launched an aggressive
effort to prevent school bullying,” he
said in his third State of the State
address. “We have shown that in
Colorado that we can learn from
tragedy and make changes.”
The governor also pointed to recent
measures in his state to gauge teacher
effectiveness and to intervene with
struggling readers by the end of 3rd
grade. And he highlighted the $30
million federal Race to the Top grant
Colorado was awarded in December to
support early-childhood education and
enhance early literacy.
“Early-childhood education is one of
the best investments we can make,” he
said, and urged the legislature to support
further steps. “With your support, we will
serve up to 6,500 new kindergartners
and preschoolers.”
—ERIK W. ROBELEN

DELAWARE
GOV. JACK A. MARKELL (D) • JAN. 17

Gov. Markell called for higher pay
for new teachers and teachers in highneeds schools in his address, saying,
“Teaching is a demanding profession,
and our admissions requirements for
teacher-preparation programs should
reflect this.”
Mr. Markell also called for a
common application to the state’s
public schools of choice, describing

Charlie Neibergall/AP

Proposals run gamut
from pre-K to college

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad delivers his annual Condition of the State address to a joint session of the state
legislature in Des Moines. The governor is seeking to create a $160 million teacher-quality initiatiive,
aimed at recruiting top educators and keeping them in the state, as well as rewarding effective teachers.

the current system as “burdensome
and complicated.”
He highlighted the state’s adoption
of the Common Core State Standards
and a world-language immersion
program that he said will serve 10,000
Delaware students by the end of the
decade.
–JACLYN ZUBRZYCKI

IDAHO
GOV. C.L. “BUTCH” OTTER (R) • JAN. 7

After a year in which voters rejected
the technology-centered Students
Come First initiative, Gov. Otter opened
his State of the State speech by saying
that his “highest priority remains public
schools,” but that he will be taking a
more cautious approach to improving
them in 2013.
“I’m convinced that acting too quickly
or without due deliberation will generate
needless distraction from our goals
of improving efficiency, effectiveness,
transparency, and accountability in our
education system,” he said.
Mr. Otter said he has asked the state
board of education to pull together “a
broad cross-section of stakeholders”
to identify the school reforms that
are the most popular—or at least the
most palatable—among the public.

—SARAH D. SPARKS

IOWA
GOV. TERRY E. BRANDSTAD (R) • JAN. 15

Gov. Brandstad wants the Hawkeye
State to create a $160 million teacherquality initiative that would help
recruit top educators, keep them
in the state, and reward effective
teachers.
The plan, announced on Jan. 14,
and reiterated in Mr. Brandstad’s
State of State address the following
day, would raise the starting salary
for teachers from $28,000 to $35,000.
It would also give novice teachers
a reduced courseload so that they
have more time for professional
development. The existing Teach
Iowa program would be expanded
to provide a total of up to $20,000 in
tuition reimbursement to top students
who agree to work in the state for
five years. Veteran teachers would
be given more opportunity for career
advancement, including the chance to
serve as mentors, as co-teachers, and
in other leadership roles.
Under a separate proposal, Iowa
students could choose to take a test
before high school graduation to
determine their readiness for college or
the workforce. Those who met the bar
would get a seal affixed to their
diplomas.
—A.K.

KANSAS
GOV. SAM BROWNBACK (R) • JAN. 15

In what he said would be a strategy to
combat childhood poverty in his state,
Gov. Brownback proposed a new reading
initiative. The Kansas Reads to Succeed
Initiative would require 3rd graders to
demonstrate their reading abilities before
being promoted to 4th grade, provide
incentives to elementary schools that
are the best at increasing 4th grade
reading scores, and allocate $12 million
to support innovative programs to help
struggling readers. Mr. Brownback noted
that 29 percent of Kansas 4th graders
cannot read at a basic level.
“Passing children up the grade
ladder when we know they can’t read is
irresponsible—and cruel,” the governor
said. “We will do better.”
—NIRVI SHAH

MICHIGAN
GOV. RICK SNYDER (R) • JAN. 16

About 29,000 low-income 4-year-olds
are eligible for preschool in Michigan
but can’t get into a program because of
limited funding. Gov. Snyder urged the
state legislature during his address to
find money to increase the number of
state-funded preschool spots.
Michigan’s Great Start School

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