Iowa’s Area Education Agencies are beginning the new school year with 429 fewer staffers than they had last year because of a new state law, Democrats said at a news conference Thursday.

Democrats shared data provided by the nine AEAs that show their staffing levels at the start of the last school year in August 2023 and again at the start of the current school year as of Aug. 15.

Every AEA is beginning this school year with fewer staffers than last year, and all but one AEA has seen at least a 10% reduction.

“Four hundred and twenty-nine fewer staffers in the AEAs means that there are 429 fewer professionals on the ground providing vital services for kids in our public schools,” state Rep. Lindsay James, D-Dubuque, said. “These are kids across the board who will be losing services, as well as our kids with special education needs.”

The law, which Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed last spring, overhauls the funding structure and responsibilities of the AEAs, which traditionally have offered services such as special education, general education and media to school districts and students.

More: About 500 Iowa AEA workers are leaving. How Area Education Agencies are adjusting to new law

The law this year diverts 60% of the money that the AEAs previously received for general education and media services to school districts, while keeping the remaining 40% with the AEAs. Next year, schools will receive all of that money, worth about $68 million.

No special education funding is diverted from the AEAs this year, but next year school districts will receive 10% of the state special education funding that currently goes to the agencies. The Iowa Department of Education also assumes oversight responsibilities over special education services.

In the wake of the changes, the AEAs have reported large numbers of staff departures this year.

As of May, about 500 employees had left the AEAs. Many AEA administrators say they have had difficulty hiring employees to fill their open positions, including jobs focused on special education.

Reynolds previously has said the AEAs would be “right-sized” as a result of the law.

At a news conference last week, the governor said her goal in signing the law was to bring more transparency, accountability and consistency to the AEAs’ budget. She said she isn’t hearing concerns about how the law is working but she’ll continue to evaluate it and look for ways it can be improved.

“We’re going to take care of these kids, and we’re going to get them the services that they need,” she said. “And we’re going to take care of our teachers that are in the classroom delivering these services every single day.”

In a statement Thursday, Reynolds said Democrats were “stoking fear” about the law and said the money hasn’t been cut, simply given to local schools to control.

“Some schools have hired former AEA employees, while others have chosen to continue to work with AEAs,” Reynolds said in the statement. “As schools decide how to best use their resources to serve their students with special needs, resources will naturally shift. That is the intent — to strengthen the education experience for all students, including students receiving special education services.”

Senate Minority Leader Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, said when the AEAs were originally set up in the 1970s they were intended to provide equitable service across all parts of Iowa. That isn’t happening under the new law, she said.

“What the governor and Republicans have done is created a system that is now very unstable, uncertain,” she said. “It has created winners and losers, and we now have a real rural-urban divide in educating our children.”

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart, a former public school teacher, said Reynolds and Republicans have “inserted politics” into decisions around public schools.

“I taught for over two decades in small schools here in Iowa as an English teacher. I worked in these two rural districts, and so I understand just how much these districts rely on AEAs to provide necessary services,” she said. “And so to see this kind of drop in staffing is obviously a concern, particularly for our smaller school districts. For their families, for the students and for the ability of the state of Iowa to provide a strong future of public education in this state.”

The data provided by Democrats shows Prairie Lakes AEA lost the highest percentage of its staff from last year to this year, about 18%, or 44 employees. Keystone AEA saw the lowest percentage loss, totaling 22 employees, or about 9%.

Grant Wood AEA saw the most employees leave, at 84, for about 16% fewer employees this year. Heartland AEA in central Iowa is operating with 81 fewer employees, or about 11% fewer staffers than last year.

Cindy Yelick, Heartland’s chief administrator, said she and her staff have talked to school districts about the services they’re most interested in so they can shift staff to work in those areas.

“Everybody’s lost staff,” Yelick said. “And everybody, all the AEAs, we’ve had to prioritize special education staffing because that is what we’re required to do.”

That might mean moving staff who previously worked to provide general education or media services, she said.

“So if you had somebody who was maybe working in the ed service area but they had special education credentials we’ve shifted them to support special education work,” she said.

The law also created a new Division of Special Education within the Iowa Department of Education, which will oversee compliance with federal education laws governing students with disabilities.

As of Aug. 23, the state has hired two division administrators and seven regional directors for the division, according to Department of Education spokesperson Heather Doe.

The law also authorizes the hiring of 40 education program consultants who would be based in AEAs around the state. Doe did not say how many of those positions have been filled.

“The individuals in these newly filled leadership roles are now in the process of building their teams,” she said in her Aug. 23 email. “Many of these special education positions that were legislatively established less than two months ago recently closed for applications and are now in the application review and interview processes.”

The new law also requires the appointment of a task force to study various aspects of how the AEAs work and how money is divided for services. That task force must be appointed by the Legislative Council, a group of high-ranking Iowa lawmakers. But the council has yet to meet to appoint the task force’s members.

The task force is required to submit a report to lawmakers by Dec. 31.

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.