The Iowa House approved an amended bill Thursday that would make changes to Iowa's local education agencies, but negotiations with Republicans in both chambers and the governor's office could lead to further amendments to the proposal.
House File 2612 is significantly different from the AEA bill introduced by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds at the beginning of the 2024 legislative session. The governor's proposal would have allowed school districts to seek contracts with private companies or hire professionals directly to meet the needs of students with disabilities, but the House bill would have required the AEA to provide special education services. It is necessary to continue providing these services.
The House bill makes changes to the special education funding model. Federal special education dollars would continue to go directly to the AEA, but state and property tax funds for these services would be allocated to school districts first. The district must then send them to his AEA for services.
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Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, school districts will be able to seek other providers of the media and general education services currently provided by AEA and continue to work with AEA through a “fee-for-service” agreement.
The bill also makes some changes to oversight responsibilities for each agency, proposing to create a special education division within the state Department of Education with staff responsible for AEA accountability and oversight duties. .
The House adopted an amendment that would give the department a total of 40 employees who would be allocated to regions based on student population. The original House bill provided that each regional AEA would have five Department of Education employees.
Reynolds' original bill would have given the department 139 employees, funded by $20 million in funding transferred through the state from the AEA.
The House amendment also made changes to the task force that would be convened to study the AEA and make recommendations on changes to the system before the next Congress. Rep. Schuyler Wheeler (R-Hull) said concerns were raised during public hearings and subcommittee meetings about who would serve on the task force. This amendment ensured that certain stakeholders were included in the conversation, including parents of students in individualized education programs, superintendents and special education teachers in both large and small school districts.
The amendment would also reintroduce division of labor, a concern that schools and AEA officials raised about the House proposal. Wheeler said the House-passed bill is the culmination of nearly two months of consultation on the AEA and is the best way to address change.
“We've listened to all of our state's citizens. We've done our due diligence,” Wheeler said. That's why I think the bill before us today is phenomenal for our republic. ”
Many educators, the public and Democratic lawmakers praised House Republicans for introducing a bill that is significantly smaller than Reynolds' proposal. House Democrats said that while the bill is better than what was originally discussed, the AEA changes included in the bill would still negatively impact Iowa students and schools.
Democrats call for studying AEA before making changes
Democrats introduced an amendment to remove the changes to the AEA, but continued the creation of a task force to study Iowa's agencies and special education services and outcomes. Rep. Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City, called on lawmakers to “slow down this process” on changes to the AEA as the task force learns more about what problems currently exist in special education in the state. I said earlier that there was no need to take immediate action. What are the systems and the best solutions to these problems?
“Then next year we'll be able to make smart decisions instead of rushing them,” Steckman said.
But Republican lawmakers, including Wheeler and Bluffs Republican Rep. Brent Siegrist, said the changes to the bill were made after intensive consultation with the AEA, school districts and families. Siegrist, the former executive director of the Iowa Association of Local Education Agencies, said that while the bill still “feels heartburn in some areas,” he sees it as an important step toward improving special education services in Iowa. He said he was there.
“I'm not saying I love this, and I'm not saying I don't have a little bit of heartburn, but I think what the timeline out there — one to three years from now — is that it's a very viable product. “If that all goes away and we can do this in-house, that would be great,” Siegrist said. But that's not the hand we were dealt. Therefore, this bill, as amended, would give AEA an opportunity to improve itself, better serve Iowa's children, educators, and parents, and ultimately become a more effective organization. I think it will be of great help. ”
In a press conference earlier Thursday, House Minority Leader Jennifer Confirst said there was no reason to “rush” the AEA bill.
“To be honest with you what this is, House Republicans want to vote on the AEA bill because the Senate is going to pass the bill that the governor wants and that’s the bill they have to vote on. “They're not talking to each other. They're wasting their time playing games,'' Confirst said.
Senate bill changes funding formula
The House's 53-41 vote sends the bill to the Senate for consideration. The Senate also has another AEA bill for consideration: Senate File 2386. The Senate bill is an amended version of Reynolds' original bill and includes changes to special education funding. Starting in fiscal year 2026, school districts will directly receive 90% of their special education funds calculated annually for expenditure to AEA or other providers, with 10% going directly to AEA. The bill would also split funds given to public education and media services. Funding will be 60% earmarked to the district and 40% to the AEA.
In a statement Thursday, Reynolds praised House leadership for passing the AEA legislation and said change is needed.
“The AEA system is failing our students, national and state test scores show it, and the U.S. Department of Education tells us that,” Reynolds said in a news release. “Improving performance is always at the forefront.” This system should provide transparency and accountability to school districts closest to students and promote consistency across the AEA region to improve services for students with disabilities. This is what I've heard from over 100 school districts as I travel across the state, and I look forward to many more conversations as the bill moves forward. ”
Reynolds' proposal was initially proposed to show that Iowa students with special needs are spending more than $5,331 per student on special education than the national average, despite certain National Assessments of Educational Progress. This was in accordance with a report by the consulting firm Guidehouse, which found that the figure was below the national average.
Democrats argued that the AEA's shortcomings identified in the consulting firm's report do not accurately reflect the quality of special education in the state. Steckman said the report shows that students with disabilities have special needs, including graduation rates that increased from 69% in 2016 to 80% in 2020, and dropout rates that fell from 20% to 17% over the same period. He said he did not cite statistics showing student improvement in education. time frame.
Steckman criticized continued debate by lawmakers about changes to the AEA. “Your comments alone this session have seriously damaged the morale of the public and the child support system. In my opinion, all of this rhetoric since January has been based on false allegations.”
Rep. Timi Brown-Powers (D-Waterloo) asked Wheeler if he was committed to signing the House bill into law as written or if he expected any changes. Wheeler said he is “open to any dialogue” and cannot comment on the governor's or Senate's opinions on the future of the AEA proposal, but he intends to move forward with the bill.
“I believe we are in the best place in this building and we have put this work together, and my intention is to pass this bill,” Wheeler said.
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