(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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Reynolds drops plan to limit Area Education Agencies to only special education services [1]
['Robin Opsahl', 'More From Author', '- January']
Date: 2024-01-18
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Thursday she will make changes to her planned overhaul of Iowa’s Area Education Agencies, allowing the agencies to continue providing services in addition to special education to Iowa K-12 schools.
In her Condition of the State address, Reynolds said one of her top priorities for the 2024 legislative session was to institute major changes to Iowa’s system of providing special education services to students with disabilities. Currently, assistance required by federal law is provided solely through the nine AEAs — the regional entities created by the Legislature in 1974 to provide services for Iowans with disabilities from birth through age 21.
The governor’s proposal would allow school districts to contract with private companies, or hire their own employees to meet the special education and other needs now fulfilled by AEAs. The legislation, Senate Study Bill 3073, was officially introduced Tuesday night.
On Thursday, the governor announced that one major component of the bill would be changed in an amendment. In the original proposal, AEAs would be restricted to only providing special education services, stopping them from continuing their current practice of offering media services, professional training and other programs to Iowa schools.
Reynolds said in a news release that she plans to release an amended version of the bill that will allow for AEAs to continue providing general education and media services if requested by schools and approved by the state Department of Education.
The amended legislation also would have state and federal special education funding go directly Iowa public school districts, instead of to the area agencies, to allow school districts to choose how to allocate the funding. School districts will also retain their share of funding for general education services currently provided by AEAs, according to the news release.
These planned changes come following discussions with parents, lawmakers and school staff, Reynolds said.
“Student success is my central focus, and the goal of my bill is to ensure Iowa’s students with disabilities receive the world class education they deserve,” Reynolds said. “… Schools and parents know their students best, and this bill ensures they are in the driver’s seat in deciding how best to support their students. This model will give schools control over their money and create more transparency in the system, while also ensuring AEAs can provide the education support some schools rely on.”
House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst said Democratic lawmakers were not consulted when discussing changes to the bill. While the exact amendment language has yet to be released, Konfrst said that she has “no confidence” that the measure will do anything but hurt the AEA system, and by proxy, negatively impact the Iowa kids they provide services for.
“Iowans are telling us overwhelmingly that this bill is a non-starter,” Konfrst said. “And so now, I see the governor is trying to snip around the edges and change it, and I’m not going to believe anything about this being good for Iowa kids until I see a final bill. But I am not hopeful based on the governor’s lack of willingness to engage the AEAs, to engage parents and to engage stakeholders in the process.”
Democrats urged Iowans to continue to speak out in opposition to the legislation. Konfrst said while there is room for more oversight and a look at how to change Iowa’s approach to special education services, the governor’s proposal is not the correct way forward.
“A scalpel approach would have been nice, and this is a sledgehammer,” Konfrst said. “This completely dismantles the system. It takes a very broad swipe at the AEAs without a lot of consideration for the services that are provided. Again, how can you propose changes like this to a system when you’ve not even engaged the people who work there or use the services?”
House Speaker Pat Grassley said discussions are ongoing with Reynolds, lawmakers and Iowa school staff and families about how to best change the legislation to address the concerns Iowans have brought up. He emphasized that the bill was never intended to eliminate special education services in Iowa, as some constituents voiced concerns about, but that GOP leadership is looking at ways to change the bill that provide school districts more control over their special education services and funding.
Grassley also said Iowans should know the bill is not finalized, and will still go through the legislative process where further changes may be made.
“I think the one thing that I want to come from today that just because there is progress being made that was laid out in that press release, that doesn’t mean that the bill is set in stone and that it’s a done deal and it’s going to pass next week,” Grassley said. “That’s not what the expectation is of that conversation or the release earlier today. The expectation of that is so Iowans know that we are listening to the input or listening to their concerns and taking that input and drafting it. But at the committee level, the process itself is going to continue to operate the way it was.”
The House and Senate Education Committees assigned subcommittees on the bill, but meetings where members of the public and advocates can provide feedback on the bill have not yet been scheduled in either chamber.
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[1] Url:
https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/01/18/changes-planned-for-reynolds-aea-bill-to-allow-non-special-ed-services-to-continue/
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