The 50 States of Education Policy: A breakdown of governors' State of the State addresses

By the end of March, 48 of 50 governors will have delivered their 2019 State of the State addresses. For 19 of them — plus former educator and current Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — this year's State of the State is their first since taking office. And while there's variation among state officials and what they hope to conquer, as well as what their states already have, education is a common thread across the nation.  An analysis by the Education Commission of the States (ECS) found that all 48 governors who have delivered a State of the State address so far this year mentioned education in some capacity, whether it was to tout a victory or put forward a policy proposal.Below are the biggest trends from this year's speeches and what they mean for state education policy: Based on the ECS analysis, four overarching K-12 topics throughout governors' addresses were school finance, teaching quality, early learning and school safety. At least 36 governors discussed school finance, ECS notes. California, Maryland, Iowa and Utah governors pushed for significant increases in education spending for the next fiscal year. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom promised to inject more than $80 billion into the state's public education system, while Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan and Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa boasted record-high education funding. Hogan said his proposed budget, for the fifth year in a row, "provides historic, record-high funding for our schools," investing $32 billion in K-12. Reynolds mentioned her state's record investment in K-12 in 2018.