The true challenge that I hear day in and day out is this.
At the same time that so many Vermonters need to make more money to make life work, and at the same time that so many families seek to bring their kids and loved ones back to Vermont, our employers, from border to border, are eager to find workers with the right educational skills, and they have good money to pay.
We have hundreds of creative, entrepreneurial ventures, large and small, in value-added agriculture, food systems, health care, technology, manufacturing, travel and tourism, energy, education, services, retail, and the trades that bless our little state right now.
I remain unfailingly optimistic about Vermont's economic future. But to ensure our success, we must embrace change in the way we both view and deliver education.
The rapid change that is required of us is not optional; it will define our success or deliver our failure.
Let's face facts: these opportunities for prosperity, from our southern border to Canada, result from the way technology has transformed Vermont's economy and our lives.
Think about how technology has changed our daily lives: paying our bills, shopping, communicating online, texting, and tweeting our way through the day, managing our finances, keeping tabs on our kids.
Technology allows computers to create products that a decade ago, even five years ago, didn't exist. It has created a connection to a larger world that allows many more people to do business from Vermont than would have been possible in the pre-tech world.
That same technology has dramatically changed the tools available for teaching and learning. It has changed the nature of work.
The high school degree - which brought success and a lifetime job in the old economy - ensures a low-wage future in the tech economy. Success in the new economy depends on an educated workforce with skills beyond high school in science, computer technology, engineering, and math.
Is Vermont prepared to meet this challenge? Are we ready to harness this opportunity so critical to our future prosperity?
The plain truth is, we are not.
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Look at the facts: current estimates show that 62 percent of job openings in the next decade will require post-secondary education. Yet only about 45 percent of Vermont students who begin ninth grade continue their education past high school, and that percentage drops as family incomes decline.
Now don't let these facts diminish our accomplishments. Together, we have done innovative and cutting edge bipartisan work with school funding in the past decade and a half that you deserve to be proud of.
Vermont took a regressive property tax that funds our most important obligation in a democratic society and made it equitable and progressive, giving every child in Vermont an equal shot at resources while preserving local control.
Now, some like it and some don't, and we could debate it until the cows come home, and I'm sure you will. But in doing so, we ignore the next opportunities that will define our future prosperity.
Keep in mind that we spend more money per pupil than all other states in the country except for two. We spend more than 50 percent above the national average, and K-12 spending in Vermont has grown faster over the last decade than in any other state in America.
But the following simple fact ought to alarm all of us: with the vast amount of money that we spend per pupil in Vermont, we have failed to move more low-income Vermont kids beyond high school.
Now is the time to take a good education system in Vermont and make it the best.
To get us there, let's take action on the following four areas.
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First, it is long past time for us to put our money where our mouths have been and strengthen our commitment to universal early childhood education.
While 90 percent of a child's brain is developed in the first 36 months of life, only four percent of our education dollars nationally are spent during this critical time.
The evidence is overwhelming: the earlier we invest in our children, the healthier, more productive lives they will have. Taxpayers win too, since every dollar we invest in early childhood education saves seven dollars in the future.
I propose to make the largest single investment in early childhood education in Vermont's history.
There is no bigger obstacle to Vermont parents who want to work or advance than the high cost of quality child care. We will redirect $17 million from the state's Earned Income Tax Credit to make high-quality child care affordable to hard-working lower-income Vermonters. This bold action will nearly double the state's contribution to childcare for low-income families.
My administration will also ensure financial support to communities that initiate publicly funded preschool programs where they do not now exist.
We can do more to ensure that all our children are healthy and prepared to learn. When Sue Maguire was principal at Bennington's Molly Stark Elementary School, she took the resources she had available, leveraged them where she could, and provided her students a full-service health center right at the school. The center provides pediatric, psychological, dental, nutrition and pre-school services on site.
I have asked Sue to work with my secretary of human services and my secretary of education to bring that same ingenuity to schools across the state.
It is well past time to move aggressively on early childhood education. Words are nice. Action is better. Let's take it - together.
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Second, students can't learn when they are hungry. Yet, too often, we ask hungry kids to learn.
While some low-income Vermont kids are eligible for free school lunch under federal guidelines, others have family incomes just high enough that they are forced to pony up cash they don't have if they expect to eat lunch.
We must fix this problem for the thousands of low-income Vermont students. I propose that the state cover the shortfall left by the federal government and make free lunch available for all low-income students, including those who are currently only eligible for reduced prices.
Whenever possible, these lunches should be made from local farm-grown food, since we know that Vermont farmers grow the healthiest food in the nation.
This is a common-sense, reasonable proposal that I will include in my fiscal 2014 budget, and I ask for your approval.
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Third, we must make education more accessible and affordable for all Vermonters. To help move more poor kids beyond high school, I ask the Legislature to pass two provisions that you have heard me speak about before.
The first is dual enrollment. Over the past five years, state funding has provided limited access to Vermont high school students to get a head start on gaining expensive college credit by enrolling in for-credit college courses while they are in high school.
In my budget, I will propose doubling the funding to expand access to this important program.
Let's also authorize an early college initiative aimed at expanding the number of students who simultaneously complete their senior year of high school with their first year of college.
For more than a decade, 40 students a year - a paltry number - have done so at Vermont Tech, where they concentrate on science and technology with great success.
Let's open this program to all interested Vermont seniors, with the money following the student.
Next, we know that the level of college debt being amassed by Vermont's students and their families is oppressive. This crisis requires us to address affordability with new vigor, particularly for those students who pursue degrees in the disciplines of the new economy.
We also know that one of the challenges we face is keeping young Vermonters in Vermont. So today, I say to the graduating class of 2013: If you make a commitment to our state, then our state will make a commitment to you. We want you in Vermont, we need you in Vermont, and we are ready to be bold in keeping you in Vermont.
I propose the Vermont Strong Scholars Program. If you enroll in any public institution of higher education in the state and graduate with a bachelor's degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, or STEM, we will give you a helping hand to stay and work in Vermont by paying your final year of tuition over five years. Or if you graduate with an associate's degree in a STEM field, we will pay you back over three years for your final semester of tuition.
I urge the Legislature to approve this proposal and give young Vermonters a break on their higher education bills while helping us build prosperity together right here at home.
Next, I commend the Vermont State Colleges and the University of Vermont for working hard to hold down tuition increases for next year, and I propose to increase the state's appropriation for the Vermont State Colleges, Vermont State Assistance Corporation, and the University of Vermont by three percent, to be used entirely for financial aid and scholarships for Vermonters.
If Vermont students want to take advantage of the world-class education they can get right here in the Green Mountain State, I want to do everything in my power to help them do just that.
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Finally, we must do a better job of focusing the education of our children - from grade school through college - on career readiness. We can do a better job of personalizing educational opportunities and integrating technology, career training, and internships with traditional classroom education.
I propose that Vermont's schools develop personal learning plans that travel with each student, from elementary school through their senior year. These plans would help guide each student's education and also tie educational goals to career opportunities, making school more relevant.
The key to this proposal is to increase our students' individual options while fostering a connection between school and career.
We must also address our poor performance in math. While we have impressive successes to celebrate in other disciplines, Vermont falls off the rail in high-school math: 68 percent of students in grades 3 through 8 are proficient in math. When they take the test in 11th grade, only 36 percent are proficient.
This statistic is as alarming as it is unacceptable, but unfortunately, no one should be surprised.
Currently, algebra is required in only 47 percent of Vermont high schools, and geometry in only 31 percent. We can fix this problem without spending one additional dime.
Today, I reiterate my call to require that all ninth-graders take algebra and all 10th-graders take geometry. Math skills in the new economy are more important than ever before.
We must also do more to utilize our 17 career and technical education centers around the state that provide opportunities for students and adults who need to update skills to advance their earning power.
I propose using the centers as the foundation for Vermont Innovation Zones throughout the state. Our current funding system does not encourage centers to match the needs of regional employers. These Innovation Zones will focus on areas of education and professional opportunity that fit the needs of their region.
We have the tools available now to connect students and adult learners with new opportunities, but we can do a better job of ensuring these opportunities suit the needs of the region.
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I recognize that I have asked a lot of our schools, teachers, administrators, parents, and children. I pledge to work with you to ensure what I know is our shared goal: that everyone has access to education, throughout their life, regardless of who they are or how much money their parents make, and that they can keep learning and keep developing their skills for the economy of Vermont's future.
To Vermont's business community: we can do great things together to grow jobs, but employers can't afford to stand by idly and pretend that government can meet this challenge without your full partnership.
I call on employers to engage with the educational system at all levels. Open your businesses to our schools. Let our students interact with your employees, so they can see how they use their education every day.
Invite teachers and guidance counselors in to experience a deeper understanding of what their students need to succeed. Engage high school and college interns. And provide opportunities for your employees to go back and further their education.
At this moment in our history, we must focus particular energy on workforce development, but it should not be lost that the broader mission of our schools is to produce educated citizens prepared to engage in their civic responsibilities, each to their individual potential. This includes making a living but also making a life for themselves.
Let's offer the knowledge, creativity, civic lessons, and career opportunities every Vermont child deserves. Fulfilling this vision will require all hands on deck. This is what we do best in Vermont. In challenging times, we find common purpose.
The Vermont that I envision is one where the companies I mentioned earlier, from border to border, are thriving with Vermont-trained and Vermont-educated workers.
It is a future in which our kids can expect their top-quality education to open a world of opportunity, right here at home.
It is a future in which these students - as well as adults - are fluent in math and science and are using the latest technology to learn and then to work.
It is a future in which the greatest dilemma facing Vermont businesses is not how to find a good Vermonter to hire but how to choose among an abundance of qualified Vermonters.
And it is a future in which Vermont is once again showing the nation what it takes to innovate, create new opportunities to grow, and lead.
This future is within our reach if we have the courage and creativity to seize it.