Cedar Rapids mayor sets announcement on governor’s race

DAVENPORT - The mayor of Cedar Rapids will announce his run for governor of Iowa at the end of June, he said Friday after a meeting of the North Scott Rotary Club.

Republican Ron Corbett is on a tour for his new book, 'Beyond Promises,” which he passed out to Rotary members. His speech at the meeting focused on improving public education in Iowa.

After the session, Corbett said he's fundraising in his hometown of Cedar Rapids and also Iowa City, and he plans to announce a run for the state's top office late in the month. If he runs, it likely would set up a primary challenge to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who has not yet announced her candidacy for the 2018 campaign.

The era of former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad is ending, Corbett said, and it's time to look to the future. He finds fault with some of the decisions made in the past couple of years, including the massive change in the state's Medicaid system and in how collective bargaining changes were rolled out in the Legislature this year.

Friday marked Corbett's second visit in two years to the North Scott Rotary. He likes Rotary clubs and estimates he has visited 75 to 80 meetings in the past year or so.

'I've spoken at many, and people ask me, am I running for governor? I assure them, I am not running to be governor of the Rotary,” he said.

Corbett said the last session of the Legislature makes him concerned how the state's teachers are perceived. The changes in collective bargaining were intended to disrupt the educational funding system, he said, and that would be OK if there were a plan afterward.

A former speaker of the Iowa House in the 1990s, Corbett compared the Legislature's actions to a game of Chutes and Ladders.

'The object is to climb up a ladder, not slide down a chute,” he said.

The focus was on the set formula for teachers' salaries, which Corbett said takes the human aspect out of the equation.

He offers a three-point plan for education: Pay teachers a base and add an item, such as performance-based pay; establish an academy for school principals; and provide incentives for innovation in education.

Corbett also focuses on public education, arguing that most Iowa children are educated in public schools.

'You have to be a champion for public education,” he said.

Cody Allen of Eldridge said Corbett's plan likely would take years to pass the Legislature and wondered how could that be avoided.

'It just takes time to get to agreement,” Corbett said.

Jeff Ashcraft of Eldridge suggested the plan would become a political football during a legislative session. Corbett agreed and said the key is to get more community involvement in the legislation and leadership that makes decisions from the ground up, not from the top down.

The state is on track to fall from 23rd among the states in teacher pay to 39th, Corbett said.

'Our challenge is, what do we have to do to be competitive and have the best and brightest teachers in our classrooms?” he said.