Parents ask to slow down AEA changes while superintendents ask for more budget flexibility

DES MOINES — Parents of students with disabilities, superintendents and educators had another chance to weigh in on a bill to change the funding and oversight structure of Iowa’s area education agencies during an Iowa House public hearing Wednesday.

Several parents said they were worried the changes to Iowa’s network that provides support for special education and other services would weaken the options for their children. Some school superintendents, though, said the bill would give them more flexibility over their special education dollars and provide accountability for the AEAs.

Esther Huston of West Des Moines, who said she has a child who uses AEA services, said increasing funding to schools and AEAs would be a better way to address Iowa’s education issues.

“Why are we here?” she said. “Why are we trying to fix something that’s not broken? It’s not broken. If anything, you need to fix the funding issues that my kid can’t get services readily because you don’t fund them.”

What does the bill do?

Iowa's nine AEAs, which are governmental agencies separate from the Department of Education, provide special education to school districts within their boundaries and assist with classroom equipment and media services, professional development and talented and gifted instruction, among other services.

The services are largely funded by property taxes and federal special education dollars.

House File 2612 would allow school district to retain the state funding that now goes to the AEAs for special education, media and other services, beginning in the 2025-26 school year. It also would bring much of the oversight of the AEAs under the Department of Education.

House Republicans proposed the legislation after blocking a bill proposed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds early in the session, which would have made more dramatic changes. Reynolds said the bill was necessary to address lagging test scores for students with disabilities in Iowa.

Under the House bill, districts would have to use the special education funds with the AEAs, but they could spend the other dollars with the AEAs or with another party, like a private company.

The House bill differs significantly from Reynolds’ original proposal, which would have allowed districts to spend special education dollars outside the AEAs. The Senate version of the bill, which has passed out of a committee, contains a similar provision.

Beyond funding changes, the House bill would bring the AEAs under the Department of Education and create a new state Division of Special Education to oversee them. The division would be staffed with 58 new state employees who would handle oversight and federal and state compliance for educating students with disabilities.

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The bill would move the AEAs’ governing boards to an advisory capacity and require state approval of AEA budgets. The salary for AEA administrators would be capped at the average salary of all superintendents in the district served by the AEA.

The bill would also establish a 10-member task force to study the AEAs, led by the legislative leaders of both parties. The group would assess and make recommendations related to the property owned by the AEAs, the services they provide, the accountability and oversight measures in place, the organizational structure of special education in Iowa and a timeline for staffing modifications at the AEAs.

Parents say AEAs provide a vital service

Though the bill would still require schools to use the AEAs for special education support, parents of students who spoke during the hearing told members of the House Education Committee they worried the changes would lead to inequities and worse outcomes across the state.

David Tilly, who was deputy director of the Iowa Department of Education from 2012 to 2020, said lawmakers should pause the advancement of the bill, which he said could place students’ futures in jeopardy.

Tilly, who has a daughter with a disability, said a parent learning their child has a disability is “one of the most profound experiences of their lifetime.” He said lawmakers should not make any changes before commissioning a study of the AEAs.

“The only defensible course here is a study before making any changes to the AEAs,” he said. “Iowa kids are not a partisan issue. To be clear, a sufficient, credible study has not been done at this point to support any of the AEA bills.”

Other parents who supported the bill said they were dissatisfied with the services their school district and AEAs were providing to their students with disabilities, and said they believed the bill could allow for more personalized attention to students with disabilities.

Superintendents seek control special ed dollars

Several school superintendents spoke in favor of the bill, saying they would like to control the special education dollars dedicated to their students.

The superintendents said the bill would allow them to keep track of their special education funding and have a better accounting of where the money is going.

Ottumwa Superintendent Mike McGroy said AEAs are necessary and provide valuable services, and he does not want to see them dismantled. But he said the bill would give schools a seat at the table in determining what services their students need.

“Our school districts should be equal parts in determining what the schools and students need, whether or not things are working or need to adapt,” he said. “It’s time for reform.”

Some superintendents asked House lawmakers to return the bill to Reynolds’ original proposal, allowing schools to spend their special education dollars outside the AEA to educate students with disabilities.

David Smith, the superintendent of the Spirit Lake School District, told lawmakers that the current system has not been working for the district.

“The system has been in place for a long time, and where we live, it doesn’t work,” he said. “It hasn’t worked, and we don't think it’s going to work in the future.”

Mark Lane, the superintendent of Woodward-Granger Community School District, opposed the bill and said he does not support the change. While he acknowledged some things can change in the AEA systems, he said the pace of the changes, without proper evaluation by stakeholders and experts, is “doomed to failure.”

House leader promises more conversations

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Rep. Skyler Wheeler, a Republican from Hull who chairs the House Education Committee, said the input was consistent with what he had heard in past meetings, and said the House would “continue to have conversations” on the bill.

Though the Senate has a different bill, Wheeler said he was focused on working on the House bill and building Republican support for the measure.

“My focus right now is on my caucus, making sure that whatever it is, if we come to an agreement on something, that we have the ability to get the votes for,” he said. “I don’t know what the Senate is doing. We have conversations here and there, but they're going to focus on what they're going to focus on. We're going to focus on what we want to focus on over here.”

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Rep. Sue Cahill, D-Marshalltown, said she does not want to make big changes to the AEAs based on complaints from certain school districts or individuals. She reiterated the call from Democrats to hold a study on the AEAs before making changes.

“The thing we need to keep in mind is the students,” she said. “We are now kind of talking about a lot of organizational issues. We can take care of that without disrupting the structure and the services that we provide to the students.”

Senate’s alternative proposal

Senate Republicans advanced a bill last week that more closely aligns with Reynolds’ bill, allowing school districts to contract with outside entities to provide special education support.

Under the bill, schools would receive 90 percent of their state special education funding, while the AEAs would receive the other 10 percent. The school districts could spend that money on the AEAs’ services or contract with an outside party for the services. They would still have the legal obligation to educate students with disabilities.

The bill would direct 60 percent of the funding for media services and education services, which are paid with property taxes, to the school districts, who could then contract with the AEAs or another party for those services. The AEAs would retain the other 40 percent of the funding.

It also would create a Division of Special Education, directing the Department of Education to work with the AEAs on a plan to transfer employees focused on oversight to the department.

Comments: cmccullough@qctimes.com