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And the demand for these high-paying jobs is real. Just a week ago, more than twenty-five hundred applicants lined up to interview for just 100 jobs at ReelzChannel.
But it's not enough. This year, as the national financial picture dims, competition for scarce new jobs will be fierce.
The first point in my economic security plan is to continue to compete, attract and create high-paying, green collar jobs.
I propose that we establish a research applications center to move new technologies, developed with federal funds at our national labs and universities, into the commercial sector.
We should also increase our popular Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit to help wind, and biomass projects boost their operations.
We should make larger solar and geothermal energy providers eligible for the Advanced Energy Tax Credit.
And we should give a hand to our state's primary job-creator, by extending our tax credit for small businesses.
Second, we must build a clean energy workforce.
Having clean energy policies and incentives in place is critical. But states are now competing to receive federal funds and host clean energy companies, and good policy will not be enough. Investors want to see that our state is educating and preparing its workforce for the clean energy jobs of the future.
That's why this week I will issue an executive order directing key state agencies—from education to workforce development, and from economic development to energy—to form a "Green Jobs Cabinet." This cabinet will build an aggressive clean energy strategy, so our state educates, trains, and prepares a clean energy workforce.
The key to this workforce is education.
We continue to make steady progress—aligning grades, improving accountability in our schools, and fighting to close the achievement gap.
As proof, the Quality Counts 2009 report moved us from 30th in the nation to 22nd and ranked us second in the nation for alignment among education, the economy and the workforce. That progress is a direct result of our steady commitment to better pay for high-quality teachers, increased investment in our schools and more accountability in our system.
I'm proud that this year the National Education Association named our state as the 3rd most aggressive in the nation for advancing average teacher salaries over the last ten years.
It's also time to change the school funding formula. A 2007 study found our current formula no longer focuses on the needs of schools and students. It also estimated our schools are underfunded by $350 million dollars.
Each year, many schools-especially small and rural ones— must ask for emergency supplemental funding just to keep their doors open. If we expect our schools to achieve, we must give them adequate tools to do so, and then demand accountability for their results.
