(Des Moines, Iowa) – Iowa Representative Tom Moore (R-Griswold) has issued his weekly Legislative Update. In his report covering the past week, Moore said the “Hot Topic” among his constituents and Iowans in general, is HSB542, the Area Education Agency (AEA) reform bill that has garnered a lot of attention since it was announced in the Governor’s Condition of the State address.

Moore said the Governor’s talking points do not necessarily reflect his beliefs and opinions. He stressed “The bill is NOT being fast tracked and will take a lot of work before it is finalized.”

Despite Iowa spending over $5,300 more per pupil on special education funding than the national average, Moore says “we’ve ranked 30th or worse in 9 of the 12 national assessments on special education performance. Spring 2023 state assessment results show a 41% proficiency gap for students with disabilities as compared to overall student results.” The United States Department of Education, Moore said, has recognized this problem and designated Iowa as “needs assistance” for implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act since 2018. If Iowa doesn’t act, the Biden Administration could determine our course of action. This Fall, in-person monitoring from the U.S. Department of Education begins.

“It is worth noting that Iowa is the only state that requires school districts to send money straight to the AEAs whether they are utilizing their services or not. It has been 50 years since AEAs were created to support students with disabilities, and they are now out of touch. They employ six times more staff than the Department of Education while owning/leasing 54 properties. Their annual budget is $529M, there are nine AEA regions with their Chiefs receiving an average salary of $309,667. Furthermore, only 62.8% of AEA funds are focused on special education.”

Moore says “Again, I hear each and every one of you that have reached out to share the importance of the AEA’s. I have no intention of voting for a proposal that would leave school districts high and dry without the essential services currently being provided by AEA’s. We will continue to work on this bill to determine how to best improve special education outcomes.”

District 18 AEA Statistics

District Funds Controlled Solely By Their AEA

Atlantic $859,439

CAM $283,900

Essex $112,482

Griswold $281,395

Red Oak $649,324

Shenandoah $629,927

Villisca $194,674