Governor Tom Vilsack says he wants to “stir the pot” and make significant changes to ensure better preschool, high school and college experiences for Iowa kids.Vilsack says the world competition is fierce, and Iowa’s education system will be surpassed if improvements aren’t made. Vilsack promises to change state spending priorities, as the state is currently spending ten times more on school-age kids than it does on children under the age of five. Vilsack says so much brain development occurs in a child’s first five years, and the state is “pennywise and pound foolish” not to spend more on the preschool years. Vilsack’s also calling for changing the courses kids take in high school to ensure they can succeed in college, and in the work world. Vilsack says the average high school graduation requirement in most Iowa schools is two years of math or science, and the governor says “that’s not going to cut it.” Vilsack laid out his ideas yesterday before the annual meeting of the School Administrators of Iowa, and he told the superintendents and principals they would have to spend their local property tax dollars more wisely, and shift money around to new priorities. Vilsack says his message is “a rude awakening” for every Iowan, and he plans to make this initiative a campaign issue for legislative candidates. Vilsack says he’s just trying “to stir the pot.”
