Republican gubernatorial candidate Paul Pate told an Iowa State journalism class one of his goals as governor would be to offer more opportunities for high school graduates to stay in Iowa.

“I believe this state is very special,” Pate said. “I think that everyone ought to have a sense that they have that opportunity and option [to stay in Iowa].”

Currently serving as secretary of state, Pate also has served two terms as a state senator. He is competing against Jim Ross Lightfoot for the Republican spot on the 1998 gubernatorial ballot.

Pate visited Journalism and Mass Communication 201, a reporting class, on March 12 for a short interview.

Pate said he wants to make a college education more affordable for students, as well as offer opportunities for high school graduates who choose not to attend four-year schools.

He has proposed a pre-kindergarten through grade 14 program that adds state financial support to early childhood education and technical training beyond high school.

The pre-kindergarten program would influence children early in their development.

“Children, until they’re about six [to] eight years old, are in very impressionable years, both educationally speaking and in their personal lives,” he said.

Only 24 percent of Iowa’s high school graduates attend a four-year educational institution, Pate said. He said the state should take financial responsibility for training students in technical areas after high school, including computer technology and construction estimation.

“I want young people to have a built-in access to those kinds of skills,” Pate said.

Pate said he has supported a bill that allows high schools to partner up with local businesses and community colleges to develop an internship program while students are still in high school.

He said he also wants to aid students choosing to attend four-year schools by creating a college savings bond program, which would allow families to lock in college prices when a student is at an early age. Pate said this would benefit colleges by giving them money to develop programs in advance.

Pate added that high school students with high grade point averages should be assisted financially with their college education.

“I’d like to take a serious look at rewarding those students who have academically applied themselves,” he said.

He cited a Georgia program in which lottery money is used to give students with an A average in high school a free college education but said he is unsure of funding for such a program.

Juvenile crime could be reduced if parents have more time to spend with their families, Pate said.

“We have to make sure that we can help create an environment where the economy is strong enough in the state where people are getting paid the kind of money they need and still have some time available for their family,” he said.

He said he supports after-school programs, such as the Boys and Girls Club and YMCA, for good role models and alternatives to unsupervised time.

“Between 3 and 6 p.m. every day, we have more instances of teen violence and teen pregnancy occurring than at any other time,” Pate said.

Pate said he also believes curfews could reduce juvenile crime.

“If parents won’t take the responsibility, then society has to,” he said. “We’re not going to let you out.”

If elected governor, Pate said he wants to make Iowa a better place to live.

“I want people to be able to say that the state is more competitive and better than when I took office,” he said.