Senate Journal: Page 47: Tuesday, January 12, 1999

  options in the marketplace so they, too, can help Iowa grow.  We must
  encourage and
  help our cities to grow, too, so that they reach a critical mass of economic
  and cultural
  opportunities.

  We will have to think outside the box to do this.  It won't be easy.  We
  won't be able
  to do things the way they have always been done.  But like it or not, the
  only thing
  certain about the future is the certainty of change.  We must either embrace
  it and
  make this good state a growth state, or face a future that is but a mere
  reflection of the
  past.  Let the great conversation on growth begin.

  Our second challenge for change is in education.  No state has a deeper
  education
  heritage; no state has shown a more sustained commitment to its young.  But
  there is
  too much complacency.  We are among the best, but not as good as we could
  be, and our
  educational establishment is too resistant to change.

  The problems our schools face have never been greater.  New stresses on
  families,
  the drug culture, new immigrants, and rapidly changing technologies and
  workplace
  skills all weigh heavily on our schools.  But no challenge is greater than
  the imminent
  loss of a whole generation of our best teachers.

  We all know you can have a class size of one, have a bad teacher, and get a
  horrible
  education.  We all know that one outstanding teacher can make a difference
  in our life
  for the rest of our lives.

  Then why don't we pay the good teachers what they are worth -- every bit as
  much
  as a good doctor or lawyer or successful business person?  Iowa should lead
  the nation
  in rejecting the seniority mentality in education and pay good teachers
  more, and pay
  great teachers more yet.

  We also must recreate our schools.  Why do we have only 180 days of school,
  when
  our international competitors have as many as 240?  Why do we halt the
  education of
  our youngsters for three months every year, when they need it the most?

  Iowa will never have mountains or oceans; our weather will always be fickle.
  But
  our schools are our creatures, subject to our control.  Our constitution
  recognizes our
  unique commitment to the common school as the ticket to opportunity for our
  citizens.

  Finally, our challenge to change must address our tax structure.  Our
  current
  system is as archaic as it is complicated.  Our property and income taxes
  are too high
  and almost indecipherable.  Our income tax structure tells prospective
  business
  executives that their taxes will be about double what they really are.

  Yet, even after two income tax cuts, our rates still place us among the top
  10 in the
  country.  Our property tax system looks like something devised by Rube
  Goldberg,
  layered with bygone eras of property tax fixes and hidden opportunities for
  tax
  increases.

  Taxes can and should be cut.  You can and should do that, and invest in
  education,
  too.  But taxes must also be reformed.  Reformed by making it harder to
  raise taxes
  and easier to understand for our citizens.  Your challenge for the future is
  to reform the
  system, reduce the burden, and make it a tool of growth.

© 1999 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

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