Tenn. Governor Wants Expanded Pre-K Opportunities.

The article focuses on the efforts of Governor Phil Bredesen to expand pre-K opportunities. Education initiatives that ranged from boosting teacher salaries to driving down high school dropout rates dominated much of Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen's State of the State Address to lawmakers in Nashville. The Democratic governor, who is in the final year of his first term and gearing up for a re-election bid, pledged increased education spending amid the state's still tight, but improving, fiscal condition. Among his new spending proposals for schools, the governor wants to add $90 million over last year's amount for the state's K-12 basic education program. An official with Tennessee's largest teachers' union said boosting high school graduation to the governor's stated goal in six years would be tough, but otherwise praised his education plans.