As Kim Reynolds pitches special education changes, Department of Education posts 29 new jobs

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.”

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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.