During their State of the State addresses earlier this year, the majority of governors cited education and job creation as top priorities. A summary released by the National Governors Association, The Governors Speak: A Summary of the 2012 State of the State Addresses, found that nearly every governor that gave a State of the State speech this year said that job creation would be a major focus in 2012.
Among the strategies for job creation were changes to tax codes, government processes, and regulations, and improvements to workforce training and education. College and career readiness was also mentioned by many governors as an education goal that is also tied to job creation. Other education priorities included accountability, local control and flexibility, and STEM education. More specifically, seven governors stated that they wanted to increase the focus on STEM to ensure that schools are providing skills relevant to careers. Additionally, 17 governors are proposing to either increase or maintain funding for education despite tight budgets.
Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager