• Economic Development and Commerce (EDC) - Biotechnology: Developing Regional Economies
• Human Resources (HR) - strategies to ensure no child is left behind
• Natural Resources (NR) - The Natural Gas Shortage: What's Ahead for States?; and FutureGen: Is Hydrogen the Long-Term Solution?
• Other Governors' Sessions - special session on homeland security and reauthorization of the Surface Transportation Act; and special session on the economy you just woke up to
• 2002-03 Chair Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton's Initiative - Reaching New Heights: Turning Around Low-Performing Schools
• Plenary Session Discussion Subjects - Education; and changing world alliances and the global economy

From the plenary session:
Governors heard from an Indianapolis public school teacher and her students regarding steps that had been taken to improve student performance based on an Indiana program that permitted schools to develop their own plans to meet state standards. Among the steps that had proven effective in improving student performance at the Francis Scott Key elementary school were: emphasis on teamwork among parents, staff, and the community; assessment tests at regular intervals during the year to determine each student's progress and needs; one-on-one efforts to help students improve specific skills; use of computers; and an after-school program to help with tutoring and homework and provide a safe place for students to spend their afternoons.

Dr. Richard Elmore, who had authored an NGA publication titled "Knowing the Right Thing to Do: School Improvement and Performance-Based Accountability," told Governors that an era of accountability had arrived in which schools would be identified as needing improvement not because they had deteriorated but because accountability systems were becoming more stringent. He also emphasized that school performance problems were largely attributable to the quality of instruction and leadership, and that it was important to raise the skills and knowledge of all teachers in order to avoid exacerbating the achievement gap by allowing the best teachers to move to better performing schools. Elmore recommended: (1) understanding that improvement was not necessarily linear, and should be expected to occur in fits and starts; (2) helping to develop an infrastructure outside of the school system to support professional development; (3) taking care to design accountability systems that distinguished between schools that were improving, even if they hadn't reached a specific level, and schools that had reached that level but were showing no improvement; and (4) ensuring that investments in low-performing schools stayed in those schools.

Governor Tom Vilsack of Iowa spoke about "Jobs for America's Graduates," a program under which nonprofit affiliates in each state hired jobs specialists to help keep at-risk juniors and seniors from dropping out of high school. The nonprofits could be funded by direct state appropriation or through Governors' discretionary funds for workforce development, with private sector matching funds if available. At an average annual cost of $1,500 per student, 70,000 students had already been helped by the program in 26 states, with a 90 percent success rate in achieving graduation.

Journalist David Ignatius told Governors of his experiences in Iraq, and argued that the U.S. should have been better prepared for post-war challenges. He expressed the view that although the war in Iraq was morally justified because of the oppression of the regime of Saddam Hussein, historians would conclude that the strategic rationale for our actions was weak. Even if weapons of mass destruction were to be found, he suspected that they would not have posed the imminent threat that proponents of war had argued existed, nor was there evidence of an immediate link between Iraq and al-Qaeda. Ignatius said that he hoped President Bush would seek to broaden the international base of support for establishing order in Iraq and helping in the nation's reconstruction.

Former Defense Secretary William Cohen agreed with Ignatius that China presented the largest economic challenge to the United States. He remarked that before the U.S. became a superpower, we were more inclined to seek diplomatic solutions while European nations were more inclined to use military power. Now, circumstances were reversed, and Cohen said there would be pressure among European nations to conform to a single standard and serve as a counterweight to the United States.

Secretary Cohen commented on several other international issues, including the importance of working with Mexico; the problem of nuclear, chemical, and biological stocks in the former Soviet Union; and his view that Israel should stop establishing new settlements in order to help ensure sovereignty, economic opportunity, and security for Palestinians.

Responding to a question about how to prevent the National Guard from being used in war as a first resort rather than a last, Cohen said that more international involvement could be sought, regular military strength could be increased, and personnel could be redistributed to put more troops in the field while leaving civilians to take over non-combat related jobs.

Dr. Richard Elmore of Harvard University said this about education: "...we're now in an era of accountability in which there are going to be many, many more schools that are going to be identified as needing improvement. This is not because schools have necessarily gotten worse, it's because the accountability systems are becoming tighter. States have played the major role in constructing performance-based accountability in this country. And Governors have played the major role in leading the political change that's been necessary to bring this about.  We're raising the ante now, and the challenge is going to be to raise the capacity of states and localities to handle this issue of many, many more schools being identified as in need of improvement. So I think the role that Governors play in this is going to have to be a powerful and visible one to get us through this period."

Journalist David Ignatius, who had witnessed battle in Iraq, said: "...despite [the] amazing army in the desert and our magnificent victory, we have not yet won the war to create a new Iraq. That war is continuing and it's a difficult one in ways that we couldn't have imagined. To me it shows the gap between our hard military power which...is at a level that the world has never seen before, and the kinds of softer power that will be essential ingredients in winning a final victory and creating a new Iraq...The gap between what we did in the weeks of the war and what we're able to do now is so striking that it leads us all, I think, to ask why were we not better prepared for a post-war Iraq and the challenges that we're now facing."

Former Defense Secretary William Cohen said: "...up until about two years ago Governors were generally involved in foreign policy only to the extent that you were concerned about promoting state goods in overseas markets...But today, after September 11^th, there is a foreign policy component I think that is quite extensive because...your interests in foreign policy...pertain...to not only our economic security but our physical security...[Foreign policy] will have a direct impact upon whether we can market our goods...and whether or not we have...homeland security, which you are now directly responsible for."

Cohen also remarked: "In Measure for Measure Shakespeare said, "Oh, how excellent it would be to have the power of a giant. How tyrannous it would be to exercise it like a giant."...One giant cannot dominate the world in today's world affairs, so we need other countries to work with us and not treat us as a Gulliver that has to be hamstrung by every other country, our allies and enemies alike."

Selected Policy Positions Adopted:
(1) With respect to homeland security, amplifying the importance of ongoing federal funding for first responders via a state allocation formula, emphasizing the integral role of the National Guard, and supporting the need for federal guidance on defining satisfactory levels of protection and preparedness; (2) reaffirming the Governors' commitment to strengthening a national service network of volunteers and community involvement, as reflecting the growing need and changing demand for volunteers since the events of September 11, 2001; and (3) expressing the Governors' concern about the declining health of forested and range lands and the ever growing number of wildfires.