While visiting the Webster City Fire Station on Sunday, Deidre DeJear, Democratic candidate for governor, shared her platform with about 30 area residents.

She identified her policy priorities; pre-K education and adult learning, workforce crisis and living-wage jobs, access to quality affordable healthcare, and the mental health crisis.

When talking about her desire to return to No. 1 in our state rankings for K-12 education, DeJear stated that we only “offer Band-Aids to schools when we only allow an annual 2.5 persent increase in school funding,” causing Iowa’s rankings to decline.

She said she feels the GOP school voucher solution makes the problem worse. She noted that private schools already receive public dollars to teach the core curriculum and that vouchers will only serve a small percentage of Iowa’s children.

DeJear said she feels if Iowa is going to have excellent schools again it needs to prioritize helping the million children who attend public schools.

“Vouchers will not get people to move back to the state, not bring robotics training to students. Not keep teachers in their jobs or in the state,” she said.

Attendees also inquired about her solutions for climate change in Iowa, school violence and support for people with mental health issues.

DeJear lingered to pose for photos and talk with individuals.