Iowa
As Kim Reynolds pitches special education changes, Department of Education posts 29 new jobs
Kim Reynolds unveils plan to overhaul Iowa’s Area Education Agencies
Gov. Kim Reynolds says Iowa’s Area Education Agencies need to be overhauled to give school districts more control over special education services.
Special to the Register
One day after Gov. Kim Reynolds called for widespread changes to Iowa’s special education system, the Iowa Department of Education had already posted 29 job openings for a new Division of Special Education.
Reynolds used her annual Condition of the State address Tuesday night to call for an overhaul of Iowa’s nine Area Education Agencies, which assist students with disabilities.
Under current law, Iowa school districts send their state and federal funding for special education to one of the state’s nine AEAs and then rely on the AEAs to provide special education services to their students.
Reynolds’ proposal would give school districts a choice in how they use that money, allowing them to continue working with their local AEA on special education services or retaining their funding and using it how they see fit, including working with neighboring districts, hiring additional special education teachers themselves or contracting with a private company for services.
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As part of the change, Reynolds is creating the new Division of Special Education, which will be housed within the Iowa Department of Education under Director McKenzie Snow.
If Reynolds’ proposal becomes law, the state would take about $20 million in funding that currently goes to the AEAs and use it to hire a total of 139 employees to staff the new Division of Special Education.
The job postings that went online Wednesday include the positions of division director, deputy director, several bureau chiefs and a number of consultants who would focus on areas like individualized education programs for students with disabilities, professional development, accreditation, finance, grants and more.
The two job openings with the highest salary ranges are the deputy director, at a range of $126,800 to $180,100, and the division director, at a range of $107,500 to $167,900.
Reynolds said in her Condition of the State address that the AEAs “operate without meaningful oversight.” She intends for the new division within the Department of Education to provide oversight of special education services in districts around the state, which she hopes will improve educational outcomes for students with disabilities.
Reynolds said the changes will benefit school districts by giving them more flexibility to decide how to spend their special education funding.
“In short, each school will decide how best to meet the needs of their students,” she said.
Senate Minority Leader Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, said the changes sound like the state is moving towards privatizing the services offered by AEAs.
“I know a lot of families with special needs children are so dependent on those services,” Jochum said. “My concern is this … it sounds like we’re beginning to privatize even the Area Education Agencies. This is going to have the biggest impact on rural Iowa.”
More: Perry shooting looms large as Iowa lawmakers gavel in. Here are some of their priorities:
Reynolds also used her speech to try to preempt critics who have accused her of cutting funding to the AEAs.
“Now, I know there are parents of students with disabilities who have been told that we’re planning to end the AEAs or even cut services their families depend on,” she said. “Let me speak directly to you: That claim is categorically false. In fact, we are notreducing special education funding by one dime.”
AEA leaders warned last spring that they faced what they called “unsustainable” budget cuts after the Iowa Legislature reduced their state appropriation by $30 million last year as part of the state budget, which Reynolds signed into law. Republican leaders said at the time that all but one of the nine AEAs still received more money than the prior year because of the state’s increase in overall education spending.
Reynolds’ proposal would also prohibit the AEAs from offering services other than those related to education.
At a rally in the Iowa Capitol on Monday, Iowa State Education Association President Mike Beranek noted that AEA staff responded to Perry to offer support to the community after the shooting — something that would be outside their authority if Reynolds’ bill becomes law.
“Our AEAs provide valuable resources far beyond just that of working with special education teachers,” he said.
Des Moines Register reporter Katie Akin contributed to this story.
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.
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A central Iowa high school teacher is in the running to become America’s next favorite teacher.
Matt Heston, a math teacher at Knoxville High School, has advanced to the group finals for the “America’s Favorite Teacher” contest, a national competition where teachers across the country compete for the title, a grand prize and a feature in Reader’s Digest.
Heston, a teacher at Knoxville for more than two decades, received the second most votes in his initial group of nearly 100 teachers. Now, he’s advancing to the group finals alongside the other top five vote-getters. The public will vote to select one preliminary winner who will move on to a quarterfinal among all groups.
Voting in the group finals began on March 27 and ends on April 3. The grand prize winner will be announced on May 31.
“I didn’t get in teaching for the honors, but it’s sure nice for people to notice you’ve been doing a good job,” Heston told GoKnoxvilleTV.
What does the winner of America’s Favorite Teacher get?
Besides the feature in Reader’s Digest, one teacher chosen as America’s Favorite Teacher will receive a $25,000 cash prize, a trip to Hawaii and an opportunity to speak at a school assembly with popular science educator Bill Nye.
How would Matt Heston spend America’s Favorite Teacher prize money?
If he wins the contest, Heston said he would allocate $10,000 of his winnings to his daughter’s college fund, $10,000 to start a scholarship for Knoxville High School students pursuing education careers and use the remaining $2,500 to treat his wife to a vacation.
To vote for Heston, visit his page at the America’s Favorite Teacher website.
Cooper Worth is a service/trending reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at cworth@gannett.com or follow him on X @CooperAWorth.
The NFL Draft is one of the next big items on the agenda for the sports world. While no former Iowa State player is expected to hear his name called in the first round, a handful are predicted to be selected over the course of the event.
ESPN’s Matt Miller compiled not only a first round NFL Mock Draft recently, but an entire seven round one. Miller has the Tennessee Titans grabbing Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall pick, someone Cyclone faithful are familiar with.
Ward played the first half of the Pop-Tarts Bowl last year vs. Iowa State. He opted to sit out after halftime as the Cyclones mounted a thrilling comeback victory.
Three former Big 12 standouts are tabbed for selection among the first 32 picks led by Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan is the other from the league, as all three are off the board by pick No. 6.
The NFL Draft takes place April 24-26 from Green Bay, Wisconsin. It will air on NFL Network, NFL+, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+.
Here is where ESPN has former Iowa State players selected in the mock draft:
No. 47: Jaylin Noel, WR
Noel is picked here with an early second round selection by the Arizona Cardinals. Miller writes “Noel is a slippery route runner with excellent start-stop quickness and sure hands.” He notes that his performance at the Senior Bowl helped position him to be selected here, adding, “he ran a 4.39 in the 40 at the combine and moved even higher up my board.”
No. 59: Darien Porter, CB
Big, strong cornerbacks are always going to be of interest in the NFL Draft, especially with teams from the AFC North. The Baltimore Ravens grab one here, as Porter is 6-foot-3 and over 210 pounds. Add in his 4.3 speed and Miller writes, “he’s an immediate special teams asset who could develop into a promising man or zone defender.”
No. 62: Jayden Higgins, WR
Noel’s running mate gets to catch passes from Josh Allen, as the Buffalo Bills grab the 6-3, 215-pounder just before the second round concludes. Miller notes that Higgins is “a true X receiver and has the ability to consistently win on breaking routes underneath.” He would form a solid trio with Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman.
No. 154: Jalen Travis, OT
The New York Giants, who have some newcomers stepping in at quarterback, will be happy to see the team draft Travis, a hulking offensive tackle. Travis checks all the boxes, coming in at 6-7 and almost 350 pounds.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Dust off those dancing shoes. It’s time to clog.
Clog dancing dates back centuries, originating from different forms of Irish, English, Scottish, German, Cherokee and African dances.
But it wasn’t until the 1970s that clogging took Iowa by storm, and cloggers will tell you it’s not the same as square dancing.
“It is different that we do have taps on our shoes,” one clogger told TV9’s Kevin Kendall in 1979. “We do have a lot of movements out there that are used in square dancing.”
Clogging does adopt some movements from square dancing, but it can incorporate many different types of music. At the time, disco music was a popular choice among some cloggers.
“That’s for the young ones. We can’t hardly keep up with them. That’s for the kids, that’s what they use is the disco tunes”
Copyright 2025 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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