Gov. Joe Manchin on Wednesday announced a legislative agenda highlighted by several education and work force training initiatives aimed at diversifying the state's economy.

The governor also released his long-awaited teacher pay raise proposal and a comprehensive drug eradication program to lawmakers during his State of the State address at the state Capitol.

"Next to tackling our drug problems, the best thing we can do to improve our work force is to target our higher education and work force development investments toward meeting the needs of the state's growing and emerging industries," Manchin said.

One of the largest cornerstones of Manchin's agenda is "Bucks for Jobs," a three-pronged approach that includes creating a $50 million endowment fund for the state's two research universities, Marshall and West Virginia. The money will come from an estimated $290 million surplus in the 2007-2008 budget.

The program is being patterned after a similar initiative in Kentucky called "Bucks for Brains."

The state's investment will be matched by private donations, Manchin said, "resulting in sizable funds that will strengthen our most promising research departments, ultimately leading to business spin-offs, new patents and job creation."

Manchin's proposal falls in line with Marshall President Stephen Kopp's planned Marshall Institute for Interdisciplinary Research. The institute now is within reach, Kopp said after the governor's address.

As envisioned by Kopp, the institute, also known as MIIR, would start out by hiring nine endowed professors focused on different categories of science research. They would be expected to generate half of their compensation from grants or contracts within five years and each year thereafter.

Kopp has said he needs $26 million from the state and $10 million from private donors to endow MIIR.

The beauty of MIIR and "Bucks for Jobs" is that none of the principal going into the endowment will be spent, Kopp said. The interest collected will be used to hire researchers and create jobs.

"It establishes a sustainable model," Kopp said. "This is huge for us, and we're very excited with the governor's vision of what can happen with a one-time investment in research."

Manchin also said he will coordinate several federal and state work force training programs into a single entity and invest $30 million in the development of two technical job-training centers.

"These centers will offer training that is specialized to meet the needs of existing businesses as well as those new businesses that we are now attracting to the state, and they will collaborate directly with industry to design and deliver high-quality instruction," Manchin said.

On the education front, Manchin's budget includes a 3 percent raise for all professional educators and an additional $400 across-the-board raise for classroom teachers.

Also, his 2008-2009 budget sets aside $20 million in signing bonuses for teachers in critical shortage areas such as math and science. The criteria for receiving these bonuses will be established by the Legislature, noted Joe Martin, Manchin's deputy chief of staff.

Manchin did not mention any of the pay raise proposals in his speech, baffling teacher union leaders and about 1,000 educators who rallied at the capitol beforehand.

"Quite frankly, the governor's proposals are not enough to help us move to a level of competitiveness," said Judy Hale, president of the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia. "We are 48th in the country in teacher pay and are below every contiguous state. It's not fair to our students."

Manchin addressed bullying in schools by saying he wants to create a commission to review anti-bullying practices and come up with new measures.

He also pledged to fight for legislation revoking the driver's licenses of students who assault a teacher or bring a weapon to school and adding a requirement that students between 16 and 18 must get passing grades to keep their driver's license.

To stop the exodus of young people leaving the state, Manchin proposed that the board governing the PROMISE scholarship program develop a rule requiring recipients to work in West Virginia following graduation as a condition of not having to pay back the scholarship.