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Bredesen pledges teacher raises

K-12, higher education likely to see spending increases in 2004 - 2005


Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, in his second State of the State Address, outlined new long-term education priorities and delivered a $23.85 billion budget that sets aside significant new dollars for K-12 education.

In a 15-minute speech to state senators and representatives meeting in a joint convention Monday evening, Bredesen unveiled highlights of his 2004-05 budget — a plan that includes no new taxes. In laying out budget highlights, he identified a four-part education strategy that includes improving teacher pay.

Under the governor’s education plan, Tennessee’s average K-12 instructional salary would climb to about $43,000, pushing it above the Southeastern average.

Underscoring the challenges and opportunities in education, Bredesen evoked former President James K. Polk, a Tennessean who was the driving force behind expanding U.S. borders westward — a policy known as “manifest destiny.”

Bredesen said one of the most complex challenges facing Tennessee and other states in modern times is to pioneer sound policies for improving schools.

“The frontier is no longer mountains and canyons,” Bredesen said. “It’s pioneering the highest-quality education for every child.”

All told, the Governor’s latest budget sets aside $174 million — roughly one in four available new dollars — for K-12 education. He noted the funding hurdles are high, given the realities of ongoing fiscal pressures and a still-recovering economy. But he urged lawmakers to make education this year’s “fundamental priority.”

Key education improvements in the governor’s budget include: • $90 million to increase teacher pay for more than 66,000 teachers

• $50 million to fully fund Tennessee’s Basic Education Program

• $8 million for pre-kindergarten and early childhood learning

• $2 million for new classroom technology In addition to committing new funding for teacher pay and the BEP, the Governor’s budget includes strategic investments in new education initiatives.

For example, Bredesen is proposing $2 million in challenge grants to spur private fundraising to turn Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library into a statewide reading initiative. He also is budgeting $500,000 in seed money for “Teach Tennessee” — a new program designed to challenge mid-career professionals to become teachers in high-need school districts.

While the Governor’s top priority is K-12 education, the 2004-05 budget also commits:

• $94 million to major capital projects at state colleges and universities

• $55 million to the state’s “Rainy Day” fund

• $41 million to increase state employee pay (including a 2 percent pay raise and 1 percent one-time bonus for more than 43,000 state workers)

• $10 million to “reinvest” in conservation and land acquisition.

Bredesen assured lawmakers he is working hard to finalize a comprehensive plan to contain rapid growth in TennCare, the state’s financially troubled healthcare program that serves 1.3 million poor, sick and disabled Tennesseans. He is scheduled to present the reform plan at another joint convention later this month.

“TennCare is a worthwhile initiative that needs to be fixed,” Bredesen said. “But left alone, it will consume virtually all of the new funds we expect, and will starve and kill our commitment to education. That cannot happen.”

The Governor urged lawmakers to focus on key improvements, despite continued fiscal strain. “When finances are tight, it’s all too human to fall into the trap of lamenting all the things we can’t do rather than focusing on those things that are within our power to change,” Bredesen said. “As we forge ahead we need to keep our balance.”

He reiterated that education must be the budget’s top priority: “We have always charted our own course and never been satisfied with the ordinary. I believe with all my heart that the wisest course of all is to educate our children. This budget reflects that belief.”

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Stephen Yeargin

UT President Joe Johnson talks to reporters following Gov. Bredesen's State of the State address.