You get what you get, but it doesn't cause seizures.
During my 10 years of volunteering in programs for economically and socially disadvantaged youth, when the kids complained about what I served them for dinner at the end of a volunteer day, I said,
That philosophy worked for the little crooks who stole my homemade meals. Is it for school districts and students who need special education services? Not so much.
But this is how special education services work in Iowa today. This is because schools have to hand over special education funds to the AEA (which stands for Area Education Agency). AEA uses it for operating funds. Everything these operations provide is what schools, and their students, gain.
Some people may not understand this simple feature of Iowa's AEA system. Others might say it's spot on.
More than two months after AEA reforms were introduced in the Iowa Legislature, the House of Representatives on Thursday night passed House File 2612, an amendment that combines an overhaul of Iowa's AEA system with a base pay increase for teachers. The passage moves Gov. Kim Reynolds' plan to reform Iowa's 50-year-old special education delivery system closer to becoming law.
There is still work to be done if the plan is to cross the finish line. The provisions in the House bill differ from those in the Senate version passed last Tuesday, so both chambers would need to come to an agreement on a plan to reach the governor's desk.
As is often the case with monumental legislation, not everyone agrees with any version of the proposal.
Given how Iowa's nine AEAs are financially supported by existing funding structures, it's no surprise that they are adamantly opposed to this review. Currently, each school district is allocated a fixed amount of special education funding per student, which flows immediately through the district to each AEA. If the government is a bank, then the school district is the ATM, and if the school district suddenly has the option to spend some of that money on itself and decides to spend it elsewhere, it can use that money to fund its operations. AEA, which provides , will not be able to spend as much.
There has also been passionate resistance from many educators, students, and parents who have benefited from the direct services provided by the AEA and who fear that changes to AEA's structure or funding would reduce or eliminate those services. There are concerns that this may occur. That's more than understandable. Even if the AEA system is working well for some people, those who are working well will naturally fight to keep it in place.
However, the AEA system is not meant to work for some people. It is intended to be effective for everyone. It's not just all students, it's everyone in the system: students, parents, teachers, and all school districts. And if a system is meant to work for everyone, it won't work for some, and those for whom the system doesn't work need other options.
In the face of fierce opposition, some education leaders are beginning to speak out in favor of creating a different option than the one currently offered by the AEA.
“We must continue to evolve to support the needs of our school communities,” said Clear Creek Amana Regional School District Superintendent, during a Jan. 31 public hearing on one of the proposed AEA reforms. said one Corey Seymour. “It's different for each district.”
In fact, there are significant differences among the 26 school districts whose superintendents joined Seymour in signing a memorandum urging the passage of “meaningful reforms this Congress.” The Cedar Rapids College Community serves a large community of 5,800 students in close proximity to her college. Within the district boundaries is the headquarters of the Grant Wood AEA.
In northwest Iowa, the small districts of Sioux Central, Clay Central-Everly and Lawrence-Marathon share one superintendent.
At Storm Lake, where Superintendent Stacey Cole* was named the 2023-24 Iowa Superintendent of the Year, 87% of the student population is students of color. More than half of the students are ELL (English Language Learners).
In Bode, a small town in Humboldt County, the Twin Rivers District website lists a total of 11 teachers, including a physical education teacher who is also the principal. They share a superintendent with neighboring Humboldt schools.
Although their schools vary widely in size and demographics, the superintendents of each of these schools have joined the call for AEA reform. Their individual reasons are as unique as the needs of the district itself.
Some school districts may be wary of the financial implications of regional AEAs, of which Iowa has nine AEAs, all operating independently. While school leaders scrambled to serve students during the spring 2020 pandemic school closures, Mississippi Bend AEA has been operating under conditional accreditation following a 2018 inspection and state There were also years of budget deficits exacerbated by increased hiring that prompted the intervention. Full accreditation was restored in 2021.
MBAEA Director Bill Decker will retire early in January 2024, leaving MBAEA without a top administrator. Grant Wood AEA Director John Speer was appointed as interim Director. Mr. Speer currently holds the role in 12 counties with a combined 123,500 students, raising questions about the scope and demands of the chief administrator's job. Mr. Speer's compensation package will total approximately $340,850. Before his retirement, Mr. Decker was taking home $354,289 annually.
Some school districts may have concerns about how the AEA allocates funds to each school and whether its expenditures are equivalent to contributions. Grantwood AEA, which serves school districts such as Cedar Rapids, Linn-Mar, and Iowa City, produces a report for each member school district at least once every four years, and for that district in the year the report is produced. Detailed information on service usage is provided. The report lists the district's allocation to students as a percentage of the total amount allocated to AEA, but does not break down each expenditure by type.
“Because our AEA system works like a group purchasing environment, it can be difficult to calculate the exact spend for each resource,” said Renee Nelson, director of communications and creative services at Grant Wood AEA in Cedar Rapids. I am.
The report also does not compare totals between districts. His four-year cycle of reporting is staggered across districts, so districts rarely collaborate with each other to compare numbers for the same grade.
Nelson provided copies of the allocation reports for the Mount Vernon and Linn-Mar districts. The Mount Vernon Report for the 2020-2021 school year showed that Mount Vernon's student population of 1,108 represented 1.5% of the AEA region's 74,535 student population. Similarly, Mount Vernon's 92 special education students accounted for her 1.2% of the region's 7,708 special education students. The $494,106 allocated to Mount Vernon student support services represented 0.9% of the total amount allocated to AEA of $57,596,688.
Lin Ma's report was for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. The district was a much larger school with 7,685 students, or 10.4% of the region's total enrollment of 73,692 that year, but the district had 924 students, or 9,568 special education students. He claimed to have accepted 9.7% of people. However, the $3,756,855 allocated for services Linmar received is only 5.9% of the total amount allocated to the region of $63,768,855.
This seems to be lacking in parity, especially for a school of Linn-Mar's size. At a school of Linn-Mar's size, financial concerns led the board to cut 50 staff members, including 19 teachers, to cut $2.5 million from the budget.
Because there are no totals from other districts in the same grade, schools still have to recognize student progress and compare it to the allocations AEA has made for those students. If a school district doesn't see value for money, the next logical option would be to look elsewhere for such services. At least, that would be if the law allowed them to do it while using their own special education funds.
Yes, if the district finds these services elsewhere, AEA will not receive the money for them. However, if the survival and health of the AEA requires some districts to financially sustain a system that is not meeting their needs, the AEA warns of increased overall costs for these districts. Even after posting a ton of numbers, it's understandable why some school districts would want to back out. Commercially Purchased Products and Services.
A detailed document prepared by the state's AEA association shows that if AEA is unable to leverage its bulk purchasing power, small schools face an estimated out-of-pocket cost of more than $47,000 for the same digital library and media resource trove alone. It warns that it will happen. For large schools, the increased out-of-pocket costs charged could exceed $1 million.
However, given their interest in blocking AEA reform, the AEA is not a neutral source of information. This number does not take into account the possibility of collaboration among districts to leverage their purchasing power for services more tailored to their needs, which some districts have already begun to consider.
Regardless of whether, when, or how AEA reform comes about, supporters and opponents can agree on two things. No one who supports reform wants to destroy her AEA and harm those who are helped by the AEA. Also, anyone who opposes reform does not want the AEA to flourish in society. The burden is on those who don't.
The reality is both. Some people are getting what they need, some are not. There is no guarantee that reform will eliminate all that is good about the AEA. But if we do nothing, underserved learners will only get what they can get.
Comments: 319-398-8266; althea.cole@thegazette.com
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