Governors’ 2011 State of the State Addresses: Mentions of Early Education

Seventeen governors mentioned early education in their 2011 State of the State Addresses. Their remarks are listed below, and you can also view your state’s full speech.

In addition, while Congress continues to debate funding cuts to early care and education for FY 2011, several governors and state legislatures have proposed or already voted to slash spending for these core supports to children and their families. To learn more, see our recent blog post.

Alabama: Robert Bentley (R), March 1, 2011
No reference

Alaska: Sean Parnell (R), Jan 19, 2011
No reference

Arkansas: Mike Beebe (D), Jan 11, 2011
No reference

Arizona: Janice K. Brewer (R), Jan 10, 2011
No reference

California: Jerry Brown (D), Jan 31, 2011
No reference

Colorado: John Hickenlooper (D), Jan 13, 2011
No reference

Connecticut: Dannel Malloy (D), Jan 5, 2011
No reference

Delaware: Jack Markell (D), Jan 20, 2011
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/speech?contentId=540477
“We also know that as critically important as our K-12 initiatives are, it is essential to ensure that children arrive at kindergarten ready to learn. Building on recommendations from a task force co-chaired by Lt. Governor Matt Denn and Connie Bond Stuart, President of PNC Bank, Delaware, and from our Early Childhood Council, led by Dan Rich, we are increasing the focus on this issue within state government, improving assessment and the use of data, and better coordinating and integrating funding. In the last two years, Delaware established itself as the First State when it comes to education reforms. Now, we’re working to make Delaware the First State when it comes to 10 education results.”

District of Columbia: Vincent Gray (D), March 28, 2011
http://mayor.dc.gov/DC/Mayor/About+the+Mayor/News+Room/Vincent+C.+Gray+D...
“My plan has been clear from the outset: a holistic educational continuum from birth-to-age 24; quality Pre-K through 12 Education…We are instituting an “Early Success” initiative with Infants and Toddlers at the center of the next chapter in developing the most robust early childhood learning system in the nation. High quality early child development programs foster optimal development and experiences that have lasting impacts on future success… I was very excited just a week ago to join the Buffett Foundation and many other community and educational partners in breaking ground on the Educare Learning Center in the Parkside community in Northeast that will provide early childhood education to 175 toddlers, three and four year olds, and their families from Wards 7 and 8.”

 Florida: Rick Scott (R), March 8, 2011
No reference

Georgia: Nathan Deal (R), Jan 12, 2011
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/speech?contentId=540479
“My budgets reflect my commitment to preserving the HOPE Program. Since its creation, it has served over 1.2 million students and provided benefits totaling more than 5 billion dollars. It has also established the first state universal program for Pre-Kindergarten that has served over 1 million children.”

Hawaii: Neil Abercrombie (D), Jan 24, 2011
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/speech?contentId=540480
“For our youngest children, my office has been working with private and public agencies and will be utilizing federal, state and private resources to develop a leadership position in the Governor’s office for early education. This person will coordinate efforts across departments and in the private sector as we lay the groundwork for the future establishment of a Department of Early Childhood.”

Idaho: C. L. “Butch” Otter (R), Jan 10, 2011
No reference

Illinois: Pat Quinn (D), Feb 16, 2011
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/speech?contentId=540483
"We need to keep investing in essential, necessary services while cutting programs that don’t work. This means continued support for cost-effective programs that do work, such as: homecare for those with disabilities, child care for working families, and community care for our seniors. This new approach is called ‘budgeting for results’. The spending reductions and program reforms I am talking about today are the result of our budgeting for results process."

Indiana: Mitch Daniels (R), Jan 11, 2011:
No reference

Iowa: Terry Branstad (R), Jan 27, 2011
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/speech?contentId=540484
“In addition, I cannot leave the education discussion without renewing my commitment to ensure that every Iowa child has access to quality preschool. This budget proposes a $43 million annual investment in providing preschool assistance to those families in greatest need. Research shows preschool investments have the most long-lasting impact on children who come from homes with financial need. As such, our program will be targeted to those families and will give parents flexibility to choose the preschool environment that best meets their needs. But we cannot do this alone, all across this state parents, private donors and caring organizations have for years partnered with preschool providers to ensure access. I am happy to have the state of Iowa join them — as a partner, not as the sole provider.”

Kansas: Samuel Brownback (R), Jan 12, 2011
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/speech?contentId=540485
“This is why I am proposing we dedicate $6 million this year from the Children's Initiative Fund to the development of early childhood education centers in our most needy school districts. I look forward to meeting with the Children’s Cabinet to focus more funding on early childhood reading. No child should pass the 4th grade without being able to read. If a child cannot read, her world closes in. If she can read, her world expands.”

Kentucky: Steven L. Beshear (D), Feb 1, 2011
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/speech?contentId=540486
“To further help in reducing our dropout rate, we're aligning our early childhood education and development programs to ensure our children enter kindergarten prepared and able to do the work. Because good health is such an integral part of that readiness, we have tracked down and enrolled almost 52,000 Kentucky children who were eligible for health care but had slipped through the cracks. A healthier start in life will pay off exponentially in better school performance, fewer chronic medical conditions and lower long-term costs.”

Louisiana:  Bobby Jindal (R), March 20, 2011
No reference

Maine: Paul LePage (R), Feb 10, 2011
No reference

Maryland: Martin O’Malley (D), Feb 3, 2011
No reference

Massachusetts: Deval Patrick (D), Jan 6, 2011
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/speech?contentId=540491
“We can’t be satisfied until a great school is within reach of every young person in the Commonwealth. That means we must find the ways to invest in public schools, from early education to public universities, because young people get their chance now and don’t have the option to sit out their education until the recession is over.”

Michigan: Rick Snyder (R), Jan 19, 2011
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/speech?contentId=540493
“It is time that we view our educational system which runs from pre-natal to lifelong learning. It’s time to start talking about B-20 instead of just K-12. We need to establish a system that focuses on real achievement for all of our children.”

Minnesota: Mark Dayton (D), Feb 9, 2011
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/speech?contentId=540494
“Any parent who has to find child care for their children because of four-day school weeks, while they’re working five, wants a better Minnesota…Starting with the experiences we provide our state’s children in the very first months and years of their lives. I have been greatly impressed with the careful thought being devoted by many dedicated adults to the best use of our resources for early childhood education. That is why I will re-establish the Governor’s Council on Early Childhood Education and the Children’s Cabinet, both to be led by Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius. This is a terrific opportunity for continued public-private partnerships, involving business leaders, foundation executives, parents, educators, and everyone else who cares about our children and their success. Then we need to commit more state money to providing all parents with the option of affordable all-day kindergarten for their children. How can states like Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi fund all-day kindergarten, while we in Minnesota do not?”

Mississippi: Haley Barbour (R), Jan 11, 2011
No reference

Missouri: Jay Nixon (D), Jan 19, 2011
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/speech?contentId=540496 
“Education is a lifelong journey that begins at birth. That's why my budget for 2012 provides funding for programs to get our youngsters off to a good start, like First Steps, Head Start, and Early Childhood Special Education.”

Montana: Brian Schweitzer (D), Jan 26, 2011
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/speech?contentId=540497
“When John and I were running for Governor, we talked to a lot of people… And then I started noticing and I found that if we started early enough, if we start when a child if five years old, it won’t matter whether their parents both are doctors or lawyers and live at the country club or whether their parents didn’t even graduate from high school, like mine. If we start early enough, every child can soar to their God given capabilities and their destiny won’t be decided by how much money and how much capability and how much early education their parents can give them at home before they start school. And so, when this Legislative body decided to fund full-day kindergarten for five days for every child in Montana you started to change the world.”

Nebraska: David Heineman (R), Jan 13, 2011
No reference

Nevada:  Brian Sandoval (R), Jan 24, 2011
No reference

New Hampshire: John Lynch (D), Jan 6, 2011 (Inaugural Address since the state does not have a State of the State Address in the years when an Inaugural Address is given)
No reference

New Jersey: Chris Christie (R), Jan 11, 2011
No reference

New Mexico: Susana Martinez (R), Jan 18, 2011
No reference

New York: Andrew Cuomo (D), Jan 5, 2011
No reference

North Carolina: Beverly Perdue (D), Feb 14, 2011
No reference

North Dakota: Jack Dalrymple (R), Jan 4, 2011
No reference

Ohio: John Kasich (R), March 8, 2011
No reference

Oklahoma: Mary Fallin (R), Feb 7, 2011
No reference

Oregon: John Kitzhaber (D), Jan 10, 2011
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/speech?contentId=540504
“By 2020, the end of this decade - by the time the children entering kindergarten this year graduate from high school -- we should live in a state where our children are ready to learn before they get to school; where they have the resources and attention to learn and our teachers have the time and support to teach; where drop out rates are steadily falling and graduation rates are steadily rising; where all Oregon high school graduates are prepared to pursue a post-secondary education without remediation; and where 80 percent of them achieve at least two years of post-secondary education or training. We should live in a state that creates family wage jobs and career pathways that lead to those jobs; and where the average per capita income exceeds the national average in every region.”

Pennsylvania: Tom Corbett (R), March 8, 2011
No reference

Rhode Island: Lincoln Chafee (I) March 8, 2011
No reference

South Carolina: Nikki Haley (R), Jan 19, 2011
No reference

South Dakota: Dennis Daugaard (R), Jan 11, 2011
No reference

Tennessee:  Bill Haslam (R), March 14, 2011
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/speech?contentId=540515
“Our goal in education, from pre-kindergarten through post-secondary, is to grow the number of college graduates, provide a better educated workforce for employers looking to relocate or expand in Tennessee, and let free market forces do the rest.”

Texas: Rick Perry (R), Feb 8, 2011
No reference

Utah: Gary Herbert (R), Jan 26, 2011
No reference

Vermont: Peter Shumlin (D), Jan 25, 2011
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/speech?contentId=540508
“The evidence is irrefutable: the years up to age five are a critical time for brain development. It should come as no surprise that one dollar spent on early education saves seven to sixteen dollars later in life. To give all of our children a bright future and bring long-term fiscal discipline to corrections, special education and human services spending, we must take bold preventative action. Today I am calling for expansion of the state’s pre-kindergarten program for ages three, four, and five, by lifting the cap on the number of students counted in Pre-K funding. Vermonters will be able to exercise local control and vote to spend money without the heavy hand of Montpelier preventing them from doing so. When this cap is lifted, over time, if half of Vermont’s eligible children are enrolled in a Pre-K program – an optimistic goal – the cost to the state’s Education Fund would be about $14 million. Let us make Vermont the national leader in early childhood education.”

Virginia: Bob McDonnell (R), Jan 12, 2011
No reference

Washington: Christine Gregoire (D), Jan 11, 2011
No reference

West Virginia: Earl Ray Tomblin (D), Jan 12, 2011
No reference

Wisconsin: Scott Walker (R), Feb 1, 2011
No reference

Wyoming: Matt Mead (R), Jan 12, 2011
No reference