(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds is urging legislators to advance her plan to overhaul the state’s Area Education Agencies. “To stick our head in the sand and say: ‘Everything is perfect. I don’t want to change anything! We need more time.’ That’s ridiculous. Businesses have to do this every day to survive. We need to start operating government in that manner because ultimately that is how the kids are going to get a quality education.”

Reynolds says test scores show students with disabilities aren’t being served well by the A-E-As. The governor spoke with reporters just before hour-long hearings yesterday (Wednesday) in the Iowa House and Senate on her bill. Key House Republicans say there’s still a need for more discussions before the bill is ready for a committee vote. The bill did clear a SENATE subcommittee, but Republican Senator Ken Rozenboom of Oskaloosa says legislators need to find answers to questions that have been raised. “I’m not going to dissect the bill today. We’ve had discussions about it. We’ve heard pros and cons,” Rozenboom says. “There are conceptual fundamental pieces of this that we need to address…and then we have to wrestle with the rollout and a timeline that, again, serves our children well.”

Okoboji Superintendent Todd Abrahamson says he supports giving school districts the federal, state and property tax money that’s currently being forwarded to the A-E-As, so his district can hire its own staff. “Change is good,” Abrahamson says. “We’ve already started to look at what we would do with the dollars — a special ed director, a speech therapist, a behavior psychologist so we could meet the needs every day in our district because those needs are not being met currently.”

Senate subcommittee hearing on governor’s AEA overhaul on Jan. 31, 2024.

Council Bluffs Superintendent Vicki Murrilo says the governor’s plan will transform an outdated system.”For the past seven years I have watched millions of flow through dollars from our district go directly to the AEA’s without having a voice for how those dollars will be used to support the needs of our district,” Murillo said. Waukee Superintendent Brad Buck, the former director of the Iowa Department of Education, says the bill will create winners and losers. “It’s far more likely that larger districts will come out in better shape in this bill than smaller and especially rural districts,” Buck said.

Dan Daughton, a former principal and superintendent, is a lobbyist for the School Administrators of Iowa and Rural School Advocates of Iowa — groups that oppose the bill. “Right now districts are sharing school social workers with AEA’s in order to provide mental health services for their children,” Daughton says. “That will go away with this bill as it is prohibited…Rural schools will be impacted, I think, more so than others….We couldn’t find mental health workers before we had this sharing agreement.”

Others who testified urged lawmakers to hit the pause button. Deb Davis, a member of the Johnston School Board, says if the bill is rushed through, there could be unintended consequences. “I recommend taking the time needed to do an audit and study on the AEA’s and invite superintendents and school districts to be a part of this process as this bill is formulated and tweaked,” Davis said.

Suzanne Costello of Kellogg is the parent of a child with learning disabilities including dyslexia who she says has been helped by the local A-E-A. She doubts small schools will be able to hire professional staff.  “You’re going to take the person with the most special needs and you’re going to put them with somebody with a high school diploma who has very little education and skill sets and that’s what my kid’s going to get?” Costello said. “No way!”

Representatives of Iowans for Tax Relief, Americans for Prosperity and the Iowa Manufactured Housing Association urged legislators to ratify the governor’s changes, which would reduce property taxes by 33 million dollars.