The reforms to Iowa’s Area Education Agencies (AEA) proposed by Gov. Kim Reynolds at the beginning of the 2024 session are getting significant overhauls after pushback from teachers, parents, and school administrators opposed to the bill. At the beginning of January, Reynolds announced her plan to return the AEAs to their original mission of providing special education services. Reynolds says there is an unacceptable achievement gap among students who most often utilize AEA services.
Iowa spends about $5,300 per student above the national average, and Reynolds says that makes the low scores worse by comparison. Her initial bill would have removed many AEA services not associated with special education, such as staff professional development and media services. Reynolds says her proposal seeks accountability for those tasked with educating Iowa’s children.
Reynolds says she has heard Iowans’ concerns about her initial reform proposal and is putting forward significant amendments to the legislation. She says nearly all of the AEAs’ offered services will continue, but school districts will be in the driver’s seat when it comes to where that funding goes. Current Iowa law has the school function as a passthrough for state and federal funding to the AEAs. Reynolds says elected school boards will now have more say on how that funding is used.
According to Reynolds, the Carroll Community School District (CCSD) receives about $1.1 million in federal and state special education funding. Reynolds says under her new proposal, the district could spend $900,000 of that money with the local AEA but hold on to the remaining $200,000 to pay special education teachers a higher salary, hire additional paraeducators, or utilize services in the community. She says the decision-making power is returned to local school officials, which is a critical part of her reform. Legislators in the House and Senate are scheduled to review the proposed changes this week. Gov. Reynolds made her comments during an interview with Carroll Broadcasting this morning (Wednesday). The House and Senate bills are included below.
______
House Version:
Senate Version:
