Two Governors to Lead SREB Committees to Improve Student Achievement and High School Graduation Rates

Governor Kaine will be the Chair of the 27-member SREB Committee to Improve Reading and Writing in Middle and High Schools, which will hold its first meeting in Richmond, Virginia, on Wednesday, August 29. The committee will develop proposed policies for SREB states to help students develop higher-level reading and writing skills in the middle grades and high school.

"Reading and writing achievement needs to improve continuously for all students, but especially for high school students, who need to graduate well-prepared for the demands of college and the workplace," Governor Kaine said.

Governor Perdue, who serves as the Chair of SREB, will be the Chair of the 25-member SREB Committee to Improve High School Graduation Rates and Achievement. The committee will hold its first meeting in Atlanta on October 9-10. Delaware Secretary of Education Valerie Woodruff will serve as the Vice Chair.

The average high school graduation rate in SREB states in 2004 was 72 percent, below the 75 percent national average, according to federal data on students who had been ninth-graders four years earlier. The committee will develop proposed policies designed to help far greater numbers of students graduate from high school with higher levels of achievement and better preparation for college and careers.

"In Georgia, we have had a laser-like focus on decreasing our number of dropouts and increasing our number of graduates. I look forward to sharing our ideas and successes and hearing what other states are doing to improve student achievement," Governor Perdue said.

"The work of both of these new committees is critical to the region’s educational progress," said SREB President Dave Spence. "State leaders know that all middle and high school students need to develop reading and writing skills at higher levels than ever before, and the region cannot afford to allow about one of every four high school students to leave school without a diploma," he said.

"Through these two committees, state leaders will develop policies all states can use to accomplish the crucial goal of raising both high school graduation rates and student achievement," Spence said.

Serving with Governor Kaine on the SREB Committee to Improve Reading and Writing in Middle and High Schools are:

• Alabama State Senator Vivian Davis Figures
• Katherine Mitchell, Assistant State Superintendent, Alabama Reading Initiative, Alabama Department of Education
• Alabama State Superintendent of Education Joseph B. Morton
• Luke Gordy, Executive Director, Arkansans for Education Reform Foundation
• T. Kenneth James, Commissioner, Arkansas Department of Education
• Arkansas State Representative David Rainey
• Delaware State Representative Teresa L. Schooley
• Evan Lefsky, Executive Director, Just Read, Florida!
• Florida State Representative Anthony Trey Treviesa
• Georgia State Representative Jan S. Jones
• Jennifer Rippner, Executive Director, Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, Georgia
• Carolyn Witt Jones, Executive Director, Partnership for Successful Schools, Kentucky
• Kentucky State Senator Jack Westwood
• Sally Clausen, President, University of Louisiana System
• Maryland Secretary of Higher Education James E. Lyons Sr.
• Lynn House, Chief Academic Officer, Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning
• Oklahoma State Representative Jeannie McDaniel
• Oklahoma State Representative Jabar Shumate
• Stephen A. Cobb, attorney and former state representative, Tennessee
• Lois M. DeBerry, Speaker Pro Tempore of the House, Tennessee
• Lizzette C. Gonzalez Reynolds, Acting Deputy Commissioner, Senior Adviser – Education Initiatives, Texas Education Agency
• Texas State Senator Florence Shapiro
• Billy K. Cannaday Jr., Superintendent of Public Instruction, Virginia Department of Education
• Mark E. Emblidge, President of the Virginia Board of Education, Affiliate Professor and Director, The Literacy Institute, Virginia Commonwealth University
• Jay Cole, Director of Educational Policy, Office of the Governor, West Virginia
• Gayle Conelly Manchin, First Lady of West Virginia

Serving with Governor Perdue on the SREB Committee to Improve High School Graduation Rates and Achievement are:

• Arkansas Commissioner of Education T. Kenneth James
• Former Arkansas State Representative Jodie Mahony
• Delaware Secretary of Education Valerie A. Woodruff
• Sussex Technical School District Superintendent Patrick Savini, Delaware
• Florida State Representative Joe H. Pickens
• Georgia State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox
• Kentucky State Representative Jon E. Draud
• Louisiana Commissioner of Higher Education E. Joseph Savoie
• Mississippi State Superintendent of Education Hank M. Bounds
• Mississippi State Senator Jack Gordon
• North Carolina State Senator Walter H. Dalton
• Howard N. Lee, Chairman, North Carolina State Board of Education
• North Carolina State Representative Douglas Y. Yongue
• Oklahoma Secretary of State M. Susan Savage
• Ronald P. Townsend, former South Carolina state representative
• Gary L. Nixon, Executive Director, Tennessee State Board of Education
• Texas State Representative Rob Eissler
• Sandy Kress, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Texas
• Robert Scott, Acting Commissioner of Education, Texas Education Agency
• Billy K. Cannaday Jr., Superintendent of Public Instruction, Virginia Department of Education
• Mark E. Emblidge, President of the Virginia Board of Education, Affiliate Professor and Executive Director, The Literacy Institute, Virginia Commonwealth University
• Steve F. Kime, retired president, Servicemembers' Opportunity Colleges, Virginia
• Brian Noland, Chancellor, West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission
• West Virginia State Senator Robert H. Plymale

For more information about the committees and educational progress in SREB states, contact SREB Communications.

SREB, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, advises state education leaders on ways to improve education. SREB was created in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to help leaders in education and government work cooperatively to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region. SREB has 16 member states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Each is represented by its governor and four gubernatorial appointees.