In The News
Vander Plaats: Culver’s Mismanagement, Across-the-Board Cuts “Come Back to Bite Him” on Educat
Mar 15, 2010
SIOUX CITY – Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats today criticized Gov. Chet Culver for “trying to play the hero on school funding when it’s his mismanagement that has largely caused the problem.”
Culver today threatened to veto a budget bill that “doesn’t include the funding Iowa’s schools deserve.” However, it was Culver’s across-the-board budget cut last year that has forced school districts to announce the layoffs of hundreds of teachers statewide while also increasing property taxes.
“I’ve said countless times since Chet Culver ordered the across-the-board cuts that a 12-year-old could’ve ordered an across-the-board cut,” Vander Plaats said. “We need real reform and leadership that is focused on consistently increasing results from our schools. That means we need to get rid of this governor who puts our schools on a yo-yo-diet of spending increases, across-the-board cuts and then throws an election-year tantrum for more spending.”
Vander Plaats added, “As governor, I’ll see to it that every job in education that doesn’t come in contact with students will be re-evaluated so that our children’s teachers can teach, not lose their jobs.”
He said his administration would aggressively reform education through the setting of international standards, simplified funding, accountability and transparency.
“I want Iowa to lead the United States and the world and the only way to do that is to have high standards in math, science, communication, technology and authentic American and world history. To reestablish Iowa as an educational leader, we need less federal interference and we must get rid of Chet Culver’s one-size-fits-all approach,” he said. “I will create an environment where resources are directed to student achievement, where districts learn from the successes of others, where all districts are held accountable for results and where they report those results in the most transparent and accessible manner.”
Vander Plaats noted that Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said today that lawmakers have already provided schools with the level of funding Culver proposed.
“Chet Culver is posturing and pandering once again,” Vander Plaats said. “Instead of having a governor who has proven again he’s only worried about his short-term political future, Iowans should elect someone who is focused on long-term education reform. I’ve served on the front lines of education as a teacher and a principal. Right now, Iowa is one of two states that don’t test prospective middle and high school teachers. I think it’s time we started doing that.”
Vander Plaats also noted that federal law requires elementary teachers to pass tests but Iowa accepts the lowest possible score on the tests and, unlike other states, does not publish test scores.
“Chet Culver and Democratic lawmakers won’t do anything about that problem so it’s clearly time we have a Republican governor and a Republican legislature to get the job done,” Vander Plaats said. “I know the argument against teacher testing is that they receive excellent preparation at our state universities but that doesn’t cover every teacher in every instance. Iowa’s math scores for eighth graders have fallen from first to 28th since 1992. Clearly, the current approach isn’t working. I’ll be a governor who fixes the system instead of being one who thinks the only answer is to throw more money at it.”
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