The Iowa Association of Christian Schools (IACS) has been engaged in conversations about Governor Reynolds’ AEA reform plan since her initial bill was introduced in the House and Senate the first week of the legislative session.
IACS took the position of “undecided” on our lobbyist declaration because we knew the bill would change dramatically, we applaud the Governor for pursuing efficiency and improved outcomes for Iowa students receiving special education services, but we had grave concerns about losing many services the AEAs provide outside of special education and because the impact of the changes in the initial version of the bill did not appear to take into account the impact on nonpublic school students and the burden it would place on nonpublic schools to work without AEAs support in coordinating multiple local district’s resources.
Nonpublic school students, under federal law, are entitled to the same special educations services as public school students. Additionally, Iowa has a long tradition of AEAs providing other services to public and nonpublic school students alike as it increases efficiency in AEA purchasing of media and educational support products, maximizes savings in group purchasing for public and nonpublic schools, and because Iowa has a long tradition of valuing students over systems.
We’ve been hesitant to publish updates as the multiple versions of the bill have been a moving target. The initial version of the bill had very little support outside of national interest groups and has seen many changes over the last eight weeks. With the House passing their version of the bill recently, we thought it was a good time to update you on the current content of the bill.
Perhaps the best summary is from House Republicans themselves:
The initial version of the bill prohibited the AEAs from providing a number of services to public or nonpublic students including educational supports and media services outside of special education itself. It also dramatically grew the Department of Education staff numbers and role in oversight when the Department itself is in a critical phase of regrouping amidst staff shortages, turnover, and new leadership.
Education Committee Chair Skyler Wheeler and Speaker Grassley along with Republicans and Democrats in the House deserve a lot of credit for listening to Iowans and education stakeholders. They crafted a bill that accomplishes much of what Governor Reynolds was looking to do without cutting additional services that have evolved out of necessity and efficiency. It passed the House and is now being considered in the Senate, where they have their own bill separate from the Governor’s initial version. We appreciate pieces of that bill too and believe that, if both chambers come together, nonpublic school students can be served well.
We still have three main concerns with the bill as it is being considered by the Senate today:
- The funding mechanism for services for nonpublic school students is unclear. It looks like the bill allows nonpublic schools to participate in every program we current participate in (barring AEAs choosing to not provide them anymore) but it does not clearly state how the dollars will flow through public districts to the AEA to provide those services.
- We need a technical correction in Division V to clarify that public school districts shall provide services to students in the building in which they are enrolled unless there are extenuating circumstances. This fully aligns with Federal law and state law currently on the books, common practice across the country, and the needs of students over the preferences of systems.
- Finally, we appreciate the House taking the Governor’s substantial teacher pay increase and spreading it out over two years in a separate bill. Although the state does not determine private school salary structures directly, the state’s minimum wage for beginning teachers in public schools will mean private school teacher pay increases (which we support!) at rates that will drive up tuition quicker than most of our schools were planning for. Everyone is in agreement that teacher pay should increase. The question is how much and how fast. An artificial floor for salaries rolled out so quickly isn’t good for the state budget, local school budgets, or parents whose dollar won’t go as far as it does today. We would prefer to get to the same goal by spreading the increase out over a few more years.
Please contact your legislators and the Governor today and ask them to support nonpublic school students in the AEA bill by clarifying the funding mechanism along with supporting students being served (in most cases) in their school.