Iowa must have a strong education system to remain competitive in the 21st Century. I will continue the work underway to ensure the best teachers are in the classrooms and the best principals are running the schools.
I support the use of annual evaluations, and I support making those evaluations available to parents and taxpayers. Administrative costs at public schools are way higher than at private schools, and they don’t improve education. I pledge to work to lower administrative costs and put more money in the classroom.
I will encourage efforts to innovate, bringing creativity along with accountability, to promote 21st Century learning for all Iowa students.
Your property taxes have increased over 20% in the past five years due to arcane rules of the residential rollback. I will work to simplify the property tax system, so homeowners have certainty and stability in their tax bills. I will also work with, not against, our local governments, giving them the tools to control costs.
Iowa’s workforce is the best in the world, but they are severely handicapped by uncompetitive regulations and some of the highest corporate and commercial property taxes in the nation. 
According to State Auditor David Vaudt, the gap between the promises Iowa has made for public employees’ retirement benefits and the money set aside to pay for them has grown to $5.7 billion – a 1,643-percent increase over 11 years. 