Education Week - February 10, 2016 - 17

called for sustained support of the Bay
State's schools.
Making a pitch for school choice,
Hogan urged the legislature to provide
"alternatives" to parents who want better
options for their children as they prepare
for college and good jobs.
CATHERINE GEWERTZ
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MASSACHUSETTS
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER (R) * JAN. 29

Lawmakers should lift the state's cap
on charter schools, Baker told them in
his annual address, while also promising
a state budget that would increase
funding for schools without also
increasing taxes.
Massachusetts currently limits charter
schools to 120. The governor would like to
add up to 12 new schools annually beyond
that cap.
"More than 40,000 kids-most from
communities of color-are excelling in public
charter schools," Baker said. "However,
37,000 more-mostly the neighbors of
those kids-remain on a waiting list. Their
parents struggle to understand why they
don't deserve the same education their
neighbors' kids get."
EVIE BLAD
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MISSOURI
GOV. JAY NIXON (D) * JAN. 20

In his final annual address to
legislators, the governor said he has
budgeted $150 million more for public
schools this year than the $4.46 billion
allocated for 2015-16. His budget
proposal also represents an investment
of $400 million more in the K-12
foundation formula than when he took
office in 2009, he said.
This "record funding" includes dollars
earmarked for the foundation formula,
special education, transportation,
and struggling school districts. Earlyintervention and support will be made
available to "troubled schools," Nixon
said, and more students in low-income
communities will have the opportunity "to
learn 21st-century skills like computer
science."
"And for the first time, we'll be funding
early-childhood education through the
foundation formula, giving more than
2,500 kids access to high-quality preschool
this year," he said.
MICHELE MOLNAR

district. ... Your ZIP code or income level
should not determine your opportunity to
get a good education."
The governor's budget for fiscal year
2017 includes $500,000 in new money
for nationally board-certified teachers,
bringing that program to more than
$23 million. Bryant is also asking
for $1 million for a new early education
initiative. At the same time, he's seeking
to level-fund the state's primary vehicle
for education aid, the Mississippi
Adequate Education Program, or MAEP,
at nearly $2.25 billion.
A.K.
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OKLAHOMA
GOV. MARY FALLIN (R) * FEB. 1

Amid a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall
resulting from the collapse of the oil
industry and a simultaneous teachershortage, the governor outlined for
legislators her proposal to give teachers
a $3,000 pay raise next year. The move
would cost the state $178 million. In
exchange, she's asking lawmakers
to merge several districts and give
superintendents more flexibility in how
they spend their money.
The proposal was mostly in response to
an initiative gaining traction to place a
measure on this fall's ballot that would
raise the sales tax 1 percent to provide
teachers with a $5,000 pay raise. Fallin
pointed out that a penny sales tax would
bring the sales-tax rate to 5.5 cents on the
dollar.
In 2014, the state's superintendents
began complaining about a teacher

OKLAHOMA: Gov. Mary Fallin, who told
lawmakers in her State of the State speech
that she wants to boost teacher pay, stands
behind a chart showing falling revenues
as she outlines proposals to boost the
cigarette tax and close tax exemptions
to deal with a state budget hole.

shortage. A task force concluded that
Oklahoma offers teacher pay that is
among the lowest in the region, with
starting teachers making $31,600.
But the oil-producing state is facing a
severe fiscal crunch, driven by drops in
oil prices. Fallin in November declared
a "revenue failure" after tax revenue
fell $50.1 million or 12 percent short of
projections.
In her address, Fallin proposed "cutting
6 percent of state agencies' spending and
capturing $910 million in revenue by
raising its cigarette and online sales tax,
consolidating administrative services, and
repealing several of the state's $8 billion
worth of tax exemptions.
She also proposed allowing
superintendents to spend money
traditionally used on facilities on teacher
pay and other needs, freeing up about
$200 million in spending.
D.B.II

Core State Standards. "While much of the
rest of the country is still arguing about
what to do on common-core standards,
Tennessee went to work developing our
standards that continue to raise the bar
of expectations," he said.
Noting that the state had seen a 25
percent increase in new community college
freshmen enrollment and a 20 percent rise
for four-year college freshmen, Haslam
called for an additional $20 million for the
Tennessee Promise fund to pay for at least
two years of college tuition.
In addition, Haslam asked for $10 million
to offer a second round of Labor Education
Alignment Program grants to help school
districts and colleges set courses to match
local business needs for employees.

TENNESSEE

Over the next four years, Herbert wants
Utah to raise the state's high school
graduation rate to 90 percent, up from
its current rate of 84 percent. During his
annual speech to the state's legislators,
the governor did not issue any specific
policy reforms or new programs in
support of that goal, but touted the more
than $1 billion that his administration
has invested in education, including
$512 million last year, when the state's
operating and capital budgets totaled
$13.5 billion.
"With finite resources and hundreds
of competing demands in last year's
session, you made the tough decisions that
put Utah's children first," Herbert told
lawmakers. "As I go around the state,
I am often thanked by teachers,
principals, parents, and others for this
extraordinary investment in Utah's
future."
BENJAMIN HEROLD

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GOV. BILL HASLAM (R) * FEB. 1

Touting education investment as "the
smartest thing we can do for economic
development," Haslam dedicated the
bulk of his State of the State speech to
reflecting on the state's higher education
and K-12 progress and proposing "the
largest investment in K-12 education
in Tennessee's history without a tax
increase."
Haslam proposed $4.8 billion for K-12
and $1.7 billion for higher education
in state funding in fiscal 2016-17. That
would provide $153 million in additional
K-12 general education funding, including
$105 million for teachers' salaries, and
$30 million to provide year-round health
insurance for teachers, rather than
11 months'. He also wants to double
the K-12 school technology budget,
to $30 million, and unlike many
Republican governors, vowed to continue
implementation of the state's Common

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SARAH D. SPARKS

UTAH
GOV. GARY HERBERT (R) * JAN. 27

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Read online compilation & links to full speeches.
www.edweek.org/go/sos

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MISSISSIPPI
School superintendents in the state
should be appointed, rather than elected,
the governor urged lawmakers in his
annual address.
"There is a reason most of the nation
has elected school boards and appointed
superintendents ... because it works,"
Bryant said.
The governor also wants to see
interdistrict school choice and an
expansion of charter schools.
"Just imagine that parents could take
their hard-earned tax dollars and send
their child to a school of their choice," he
said. "Imagine the freedom of a parent in
a failing school to send an at-risk child to
a superior school nearby but outside the

J Pat Carter/AP

GOV. PHIL BRYANT (R) * JAN. 26

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Education Week - February 10, 2016

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