Students with special needs (physical, developmental, neurodivergent, etc.) lose out when Iowa lawmakers divert state funds away from Area Education Agencies (AEAs).
Part of Iowa’s AEAs funding issues comes from an imbalance in the state’s funding formula. Gazette reporter Tom Barton wrote, “If students who require special education services move to a private school, their AEA is required to provide the services — but are not compensated by the state for doing so. The state’s funding formula compensates AEAs only for services offered to public school students.”
The taxpayer-funded Education Savings Account (“school voucher”) program gives Iowa families $7,598 per student to attend a private school. AEAs MUST serve special needs students who attend private schools without state reimbursement. This means less money is available to cover the costs of all students’ needs.
During the same legislative session, Iowa lawmakers passed the “standings” bill, which reduced AEA funding by more than $22 million. This is in addition to a required annual $7.5 million reduction.
Iowa law required AEAs to set this year’s budgets before Gov. Reynolds signed the standings bill. The Grant Wood AEA, for one, plans to leave unfilled staff positions open to make up the funding shortfall. Now, the same number of staff may need to travel to more schools on less money.
By underfunding the AEAs, the State of Iowa is failing students with special needs. If you care about how Iowa lawmakers use your tax dollars, let your Statehouse members and Gov. Reynolds (515-281-5211) know.