Gov. Kim Reynolds could have been a collaborator. But, yet again, she chose to be a dictator.
Instead of calling together teachers, school administrators, parents, state lawmakers and others with a stake in the future of Area Education Agencies, Reynolds relied on the work of a consultant to guide her plan to dramatically alter AEAs.
All Reynolds would do is dramatically change how AEAs are funded and hand their management over to the Department of Education. When the dust settles, services they offer schools will be curtailed and some AEAs surely will close.
What’s the big deal?
Reynolds’ consultant, Guidehouse, bombed Iowa’s AEA system from 50,000 feet. It pointed to lagging standardized test scores for students with disabilities. Providing special education support for Iowa is the core mission of AEAs.
So Reynolds decided to allow schools to keep special education funds that now flow into AEAs and curtailed other services to schools.
It was critical of AEAs’ management structure and advocated for putting the Department of Education in charge. So Director McKenzie Snow, a school choice advocate with no experience as a teacher or school administrator, will call the shots.
But there were no boots on the ground. The Guidehouse report contains no interviews with teachers, parents or school administrators. Also missing is an explanation of how these changes will make education better or how test scores will rise.
Maybe you’ve noticed the governor is the only one advocating for its passage. Meanwhile, thousands of Iowans have weighed in to oppose her plan. Concessions she proposed did little to help. On Wednesday, a House subcommittee tabled her plan, but a Senate panel did vote to move it forward.
Who, exactly is in favor of this?
Not smaller school districts who will lose support and services if larger school districts take their AEA money and run. The objective when AEAs were formed in 1974 was that all districts in a region benefit by pooling resources.
Not school district leaders who are now realizing if they take the money and go it alone, they’ll be responsible for following a tangled web of federal rules. Currently, AEAs do the untangling.
Not private schools that currently access services through AEAs. Without AEA resources, private schools would have to ask local public districts for help. That could be awkward after the governor diverted hundreds of millions in public dollars for private school scholarships.
And not parents with kids who have Individual Education Plans, or IEPs developed with the assistance of AEAs. They’ve built a support system for their child at school that now could be unraveled. Even privatized. Will parents, for instance, be able to take time off work to bring their kid to private service providers?
It's those parents who can’t be bought off with campaign contributions, aren’t interested in the usual legislative horse trading and can’t be intimidated by political retribution from the governor. They’re simply advocating for their kids. And no amount of deck chair shuffling will convince them to dive into the frightening uncertainty spawned by the governor’s plan.
Those families and educators should be driving any AEA reform effort. This is no time for a dictator. It’s time to slow down and collaborate.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
www.thegazette.com
Instead of calling together teachers, school administrators, parents, state lawmakers and others with a stake in the future of Area Education Agencies, Reynolds relied on the work of a consultant to guide her plan to dramatically alter AEAs.
All Reynolds would do is dramatically change how AEAs are funded and hand their management over to the Department of Education. When the dust settles, services they offer schools will be curtailed and some AEAs surely will close.
What’s the big deal?
Reynolds’ consultant, Guidehouse, bombed Iowa’s AEA system from 50,000 feet. It pointed to lagging standardized test scores for students with disabilities. Providing special education support for Iowa is the core mission of AEAs.
So Reynolds decided to allow schools to keep special education funds that now flow into AEAs and curtailed other services to schools.
It was critical of AEAs’ management structure and advocated for putting the Department of Education in charge. So Director McKenzie Snow, a school choice advocate with no experience as a teacher or school administrator, will call the shots.
But there were no boots on the ground. The Guidehouse report contains no interviews with teachers, parents or school administrators. Also missing is an explanation of how these changes will make education better or how test scores will rise.
Maybe you’ve noticed the governor is the only one advocating for its passage. Meanwhile, thousands of Iowans have weighed in to oppose her plan. Concessions she proposed did little to help. On Wednesday, a House subcommittee tabled her plan, but a Senate panel did vote to move it forward.
Who, exactly is in favor of this?
Not smaller school districts who will lose support and services if larger school districts take their AEA money and run. The objective when AEAs were formed in 1974 was that all districts in a region benefit by pooling resources.
Not school district leaders who are now realizing if they take the money and go it alone, they’ll be responsible for following a tangled web of federal rules. Currently, AEAs do the untangling.
Not private schools that currently access services through AEAs. Without AEA resources, private schools would have to ask local public districts for help. That could be awkward after the governor diverted hundreds of millions in public dollars for private school scholarships.
And not parents with kids who have Individual Education Plans, or IEPs developed with the assistance of AEAs. They’ve built a support system for their child at school that now could be unraveled. Even privatized. Will parents, for instance, be able to take time off work to bring their kid to private service providers?
It's those parents who can’t be bought off with campaign contributions, aren’t interested in the usual legislative horse trading and can’t be intimidated by political retribution from the governor. They’re simply advocating for their kids. And no amount of deck chair shuffling will convince them to dive into the frightening uncertainty spawned by the governor’s plan.
Those families and educators should be driving any AEA reform effort. This is no time for a dictator. It’s time to slow down and collaborate.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
Opinion: Reynolds dictated instead of collaborating on AEAs
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds speaks during a news conference, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa. …
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