(mp3, 8:30)
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Opening Remarks
Governor's Schools
Career and Technical Education
The Students in the Middle
Dropout Prevention
Expanding Access to Pre-K
Conclusion

Opening Remarks  

Good morning.

The essence of Virginia’s public education philosophy was best captured by Thomas Jefferson.  Progress in government and all else, he wrote, is dependant upon the broadest possible diffusion of knowledge to the general population.  Little could Jefferson have known just how prescient his words would be for us in a truly global market, where knowledge is quickly becoming our currency.

But with the opportunities of this new century come challenges.  Externally, while our world is expanding so too is our level of competition with countries that are dedicating massive resources to education.  Internally, we are seeking solutions to a fragmented and out-dated education system, which fails to appropriately challenge individual students, losing some and under-serving others. 

We have a lot to be proud of in Virginia.  Last year, our students posted the largest increase in mathematics achievement in the nation on the SAT1 exam.  And Newsweek magazine ranked 10 Virginia high schools among the nation’s 100; and two of our Governor’s Schools were named among the 21 public elites.  We strive in Virginia to maintain our position as a national leader in educational quality and innovation by raising our focus from competence to excellence.

Governor’s Schools 

That focus on excellence begins with our work to challenge our best and brightest students through the Virginia Governor’s Schools Program.  It began thirty years ago as a summer residential program for 400 gifted students.  Today it consists of three types of programs: 17 academic-year Governor’s Schools; 16 Summer Residential Governor’s Schools; and Summer Regional Governor’s Schools across the state.

Combined, they serve total of 8,000 students.  Considering the percentage of our total student population served, our Governor’s Schools network is one of – if not the – leading program in the nation.

Our Governor’s Schools deliver results.  The College Board’s 2006 Advanced Placement Report to the Nation recognized two of our Governor’s Schools as global leaders for achievement on AP exams.  The Maggie Walker School for Government and International Studies in Richmond – that I helped get started while serving in local office – was identified for having the highest percentage of students, of any medium-sized high school in the world, earning a score of three or better.  The Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Northern Virginia is recognized as the highest-performing large high school on six different exams.
           
Each Governor’s School is focused on a specific area of study ranging from mathematics to English to science and technology to the arts.  We are looking to build upon that strength by creating a Governor’s School for career and technical education.

Career and Technical Education  

Raising our focus from competence to excellence applies to every student.  We need to be as dedicated to those students who are bound for career and technical education as those who are aiming for college.  These are the folks who keep our society running on a variety of levels, from the traditional roles of plumbing and auto repair to the cutting-edge needs of our computer networks and health care facilities.

As we continue to reform our high schools to better serve students, we have taken important steps to expand the educational quality and options for students focused on career and technical education.  Six out of every ten CTE teachers in Virginia now hold one or more industry certifications or state licenses.  Students can now use industry certification credentials for credit toward their graduation requirements.  And we now recognize CTE achievement with a diploma seal when a student meets high academic requirements and earns either an industry certificate or professional license.

We are also requiring local school boards to report every year the number of students earning those certificates and licenses as well as passing the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute assessment.  In the 2003 and 2004 school years, nearly 8,800 students made the grade.

The Students in the Middle  

Our focus on excellence must also benefit those students whose abilities, ambitions and achievement don’t fit neatly into any particular category.  We want those students to have – and to be aware of – greater options.  Students who experience success early on are more likely to graduate and gain skills that prepare them for higher education or further technical training.

Virginia has used funds from the Honor States Grant to expand opportunities for these students.  The extra attention and remedial help our Project Graduation program provides has helped more than 5,000 students pass state exit exams to earn their diploma.

 Our Commonwealth Scholars program – part of the State Scholars Initiative – provides incentives for students to exceed the minimum requirements for a standard diploma, and along with our on-campus career coaches, offers presentations on how rigorous high school courses can enhance career opportunities.

Virginia’s Early College Scholars initiative challenges our advanced students to earn up to 15 transferable college credits before they graduate from high school. 

And our virtual Advanced Placement schools give every student access they might otherwise lack to a variety of AP courses.  Last year, Virginia had the second highest rate of participation in AP exams in the nation and was ranked number five in the county when it comes to students earning a score of three or better.

Drop-out Prevention  

As we raise our focus from competence to excellence, all of the effort in the world is meaningless to the student who isn’t there.

In Virginia, we were honored to receive an Honor States Grant on Redesigning the American High School.  We are using grant funds to develop school-level reforms that could be easily and effectively adopted by a high school anywhere.

We designated thirty high schools – nearly 10 percent of Virginia’s public high schools – to receive grant funds to increase graduation rates and college readiness. We are luring dropouts back into the system with “Career Prep Academies” where students can finish their diploma requirements in a community college with young men and women their own age, and at the same time earn an industry certification.  We’re also working with our Department of Criminal Justice Services to produce a comprehensive resource book for school districts on effective programs and strategies for reducing truancy, a precursor to dropping out.

Expanding Access to Pre-K  

While we are seeking solutions to the problems of our education system, our focus on excellence pushes us to find ways to prevent them.  That’s what drives a significant goal of my administration:  expanding access to high-quality Pre-K education.

We have found in Virginia that one effective predictor of a student’s future success is his or her performance on the 3rd grade reading exam.  Last year, 26,000 students failed that test.  My goal is to reduce that number to 10,000 by the end of my term.  Long-term, the way to reduce the number of dropouts is to ensure students are successful early on, particularly in reading.

I believe the most effective way to do that is by expanding access to high-quality Pre-K.  Public school teachers and administrators, higher education experts, business leaders and law enforcement officials support the notion.  And economist say the return for high-quality Pre-K investment may be as high as 17 to one. ¹

Combining our understanding of the life-long benefits of early education with the fact that 90-percent of the brain develops before age five, pursuing universal access to high-quality Pre-K is the best opportunity we have today to help our children succeed tomorrow.

Conclusion  

As I mentioned at the beginning of my remarks, Virginia has a lot to be proud of when it comes to public education.  But our obligation to our children and our desire to raise the focus from competence to excellence demands that we never stop seeking ways to improve upon what our system delivers.   

Thank you for taking the time to listen to me today.  I’ll be happy to try to answer a few of your questions.