Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson told U.S. Literature and International Studies classes Tuesday that Iowa’s future is bright – or at least brighter – thanks to state initiatives for education, health care and the environment.

Jos‚ Amaya, assistant professor of English, gave his words of praise when he introduced her.

“Speaking from personal experience, this woman has done wonderful things in this state by gearing towards making Iowa a great place to live, work and raise a family,” he said.

Pederson spoke about her debut in politics as Gov. Tom Vilsack’s running mate and some of the important initiatives they have taken to improve the lives of Iowans.

“The reason I got involved with Gov. Vilsack’s campaign was because I thought his vision was compelling and I wanted to be a part of that,” she said.

The two have centered their focus around several aspects of Iowa that have needed improvement – education, health care and environment.

Pederson said she and Vilsack are working to improve every aspect of elementary schooling, from shrinking classroom sizes to modernizing the buildings in order to ensure more safety within the schools.

Before, she said, there was no state money allocated for school facility renovations and improvements. “For the first time ever, we are now able to get a $50 million pool of funds to grant in order for Iowa’s school districts to modernize [the buildings],” Pederson said.

There have been several declines in the past 10 years within Iowa’s education system, including a constant falling of elementary schools’ test scores and a decrease in ranking from 25th to 37th in the nation for compensating teachers, she said. This year, math and verbal test scores among fourth-graders are on the rise again, Pederson said.

In addition to education, Pederson also spoke about initiatives to improve health care, especially for children’s health insurance and care of the elderly.

On the environmental front, she spoke of a recent program created to monitor the water system throughout Iowa, which includes more than 1,000 volunteers across the state.