Former school board leader shares plan to change state government

CEDAR RAPIDS - Jonathan Narcisse has a “radical” idea for changing Iowa government - take a new vision to the people and bypass legislators and politicians.

Narcisse, a former Des Moines school board member and lifelong Iowan, said Tuesday that Iowa is a great place to live and has kind and caring people, but the state leaders have failed the people. Along with others involved in state government, criminal justice, education and agriculture, he has created a vision that lays out 10 main points to change the system.

Narcisse said for the next several weeks he will be making the rounds visiting newspapers and other media across the state to make people aware of the plan. He then hopes to start town meetings in October or November to get feedback from residents in each county.

He said he's not running for office and the vision isn't Republican or Democrat. He just thinks there's a better way to run state government and make the state and its residents prosperous.

The plan includes ideas to scale down the bureaucracy, create accountable government, tackle tax, education and immigration reform, provide rural and urban economic empowerment, promote healthy lifestyles, protect personal freedoms and develop a drug interdiction strategy.

Narcisse said every department or office in the state is heavy on administration and each should have to justify its mission and funding. The centerpiece of the vision is education reform that calls for less bureaucracy and for the current director of the Iowa Department of Education to be fired by the next governor.

Narcisse said the department is a prime example of waste and abuse. The reporting system needs to be changed because enrollment numbers are inflated for funding purposes, he said.

The plans asks for a reduction in education bureaucrats by 5,000 to 10,000, which would result in a $500 to $750 million or more annual savings. That savings could then be redirected to improve teacher salaries, reduce classroom sizes and enhance vocational and technical education for students who aren't going to college.

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