But the address contained some of most sweeping education reforms the Republican governor has ever offered. (Photo by T.W. Budig, ECM Capitol Reporter)
by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter
Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s delivered his fifth State of the State Address on Wednesday (Jan. 17), a 35-minute speech that often left Democrats silent, hands in lap.
But the address contained some of most sweeping education reforms the Republican governor has ever offered.
“Our students need to be world-leading (in education), not just nation-leading,” said Pawlenty.
Pawlenty proposed a two percent per year funding formula increase for K-12 education — it will be included in his proposed state budget expected out next week.
But Pawlenty also dangled out an additional two percent per year formula increase as a “performance bonus” for schools that achieve or maintain a three-star rating in reading and math on their Minnesota school report card.
Pawlenty also uses $75 million as a carrot to encourage high schools — the governor has long argued that secondary education is antiquated — to become “3R” schools.
3R schools
The governor proposed a series of benchmarks for “3R” schools — the “Rs” standing for rigor, relevance, results — one of them being every student must complete a full year of college while in high school.
Additionally, Pawlenty will ask the Legislature to adopt more rigorous math standards, require graduation plans for eighth graders, and mandate all students must complete four years of a foreign language to graduate from high school.
He spoke of improving school technology and fostering online learning.
In the area of higher education, Pawlenty proposed a modified version of his recent ACHIEVE proposal — the governor proposed free college tuition for high achieving high school students.
“I have heard the concerns about this proposal from those who feel ACHIEVE is focused too heavily on just top performing students,” said Pawlenty in his speech.
As a compromise, Pawlenty, in his ACHIEVE II proposal, stipulates that a student who finishes a year of rigorous college courses in high school can receive money to pay for tuition at a Minnesota public university.
This is regardless of class rank or ACT scores.
Good signs of bipartisanship
“I thought those were good signals of bipartisanship,” said Rep. Ann Lenczewski, DFL-Bloomington, of Pawlenty’s reworked ACHIEVE proposal and other features in the address.
While early childhood education, particularly all-day kindergarten, ranks high on DFL caucus priority lists, Pawlenty seemed to back off the idea of all-day kindergarten.
Pawlenty proposed an early childhood scholarship program to provide as much as $4,000 per child for at-risk children to attend certified kindergarten readiness programs.
Some Democrats see early childhood education as coming off short in the governor’s education proposal.
“There’s kind of a lack of initiatives in the early childhood years,” said Sen. LeRoy Stumpf, DFL-Plummer, Senate E-12 Education Budget Committee.
In the past, early childhood has gotten the left-over education dollars — the few dollars left after other areas have been funded, he explained.
“I think this year we should not do that — more a front burner priority,” Stumpf said.
All day kindergarten important component
“So all day kindergarten, which the governor kind of pushed aside, is a very important component,” he said.
While property tax relief is a top issue with lawmakers, Pawlenty did not stress it in his address.
“I find it interesting property tax reform wasn’t one of them,” said Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, Senate Tax Committee chairman, of the four key areas of Pawlenty’s speech: better government, energy, education and health care.
Another major issue that the governor treated lightly was transportation.
“He didn’t say much about transportation, which is a gaffe,” said Rep. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka.
“The state has no plan. We need to find one. There’ll be a lot of push on that,” Abeler said.
While Republicans heartily applauded the governor, Democrats were often unresponsive as Pawlenty advanced through his speech.
They had different explanations.
Want to work with governor
“I think we were thinking,” said Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul. “I think we were trying to process through what it (the address) was,” he said. “We want to work with the governor and we want to see what those proposals are,” said Hansen.
Lenczewski, who doesn’t believe Democrats were trying to be disrespectful, noted the uneven applause.
“I think when you don’t know how it (the initiatives) would be implemented, or how you’re going to pay for it, it’s a little more complicated,” she said.
A number of Democrats said they were waiting for the details of the governor’s initiatives to come forth.
Ask if he had been impressed by the State of State Address, Sen. Don Betzold, DFL-Fridley, gave a curt, cool response.
“Not a lot,” said Betzold.
“Until he (Pawlenty) puts the specifics on paper with his budget, that really says what he’s supporting or not,” said Betzold. “We’ll look for the budget. That’s where the real details come out,” he said.
But Abeler was puzzled by the Democratic coolness.
“Well I was surprised — I thought there’s be more general support for the themes” said Abeler.
He noted that Pawlenty is proposing to fund K-12 a higher amount, in his various proposals, than House DFLers are currently considering.
“So that’s worth applauding right there,” he said.
(Photos by T.W. Budig, ECM Capitol Reporter)
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