Hunter
02/15/24
After getting widespread pushback on a bill introduced by Governor Kim Reynolds that would have allowed school districts to choose whether or not to engage with the state’s Area Education Agencies, House Republicans have rewritten the legislation.
The Des Moines Register reports the House GOP proposal lays out a three-year timeline in which school districts will be permitted, starting in the 2025-26 school year, to look for outside contractors to provide media services and general education services. Special education services would remain solely the jurisdiction of the AEAs.
The updated legislation would continue sending all federal special education dollars directly to the AEAs. Reynolds’ bill would have sent the money to individual school districts.
State aid and property tax dollars that currently go to the AEAs would go to school districts under the House bill, but districts would be required to continue using AEAs for special education services.
House Majority Leader Pat Grassley said the legislation kicks in for the 2025-26 school year because opponents were concerned about the changes in the original bill being implemented too quickly.