Meeting Public Comments

Wendy Parker []

Special Education Only AEAs are Bad for Iowahttps://rapaciouslearning.org/specialeducationonlyaeasisbadforiowa/

Meredith Hughes [Mississippi Bend AEA]

I OPPOSE HSB542 as it it currently written. I fear there is a substantial lack of understanding as to how our AEAs function and the amount of support we, as special education staff, receive from ALL of our departments. We are an interdisciplinary team of highly trained professionals. As a speech language pathologist, I utilize many of the services this bill proposes to eliminate from our agency. It is absurd to suggest that the removal of these services (e.g., media/tech) will not have a direct and highly negative impact on our ability to perform our duties as special education service providers. All students, including those with IEPs, are general education students first. We rely on our general education staff to help us identify student need, determine appropriate interventions (MTSS), and collaborate to compile the necessary data to support these students across settings. AEAs have evolved to expand beyond the scope of special education because that is what has been required of us to do to support the districts we serve. To suggest that we have grown beyond our intended operation is also insulting. Having been reduced from 15 original AEAs to just 9 suggests otherwise. I am very concerned that the information provided is inaccurate and does not provide you with the necessary data to make an informed decision, especially one that will be so impactful to the state of our education system. While we have been in operation for 50+ years, we undergo accreditation and as of our most recent review, we remain compliant. Can we do more? Absolutely. And we welcome suggestions and evidence based corrective action plans, similar to the ones we design with our districts, superintendents, and direct support staff. In my current role, I routinely collaborate with OTs, PTs, Early Childhood teachers, Gen Ed consultants, social workers, school psychologists, media, print, family advocacy, literacy coaches, audiology, administrative assistants, and more. These staff are essential in how I support my students and families throughout our community and within their respective schools. These are not positions that should be cut, nor should they be contracted as a fee for hire contract position. Educational practitioners like myself adhere to strict guideline regarding eligibility, compliance regarding FAPE, LRE, IFSP and IEP compliance, Child Find, Full and Individual Evaluations, etc. Private practice and medical based SLPs and similar practitioners, while holding the same credentials, degrees, and specializations, are not equipped nor trained, to deliver the same services required in our schools. While I wholeheartedly support an increase in teacher pay, it should not be tied to this bill. It seems very deliberate, intended to divide schools and AEAs at a time when we need each other most. Teachers need AEAs. Teachers deserve a raise. We can have both. Please take the time to listen to those of us doing the work, those of us with years of experience in the field, and those of us who continue to advocate with the same passion we advocate for our students. Please reconsider HSB542. Thank you for your time

Kevin Fischer []

AEA was an invaluable resource after my young son's heart surgery. They tested and then guided us on physical,mental, and developmental issues he faced and we can never repay them for their help. He is 19 now and the people who helped him at our AEA still check in on us on their own and have become lifelong friends. I hope others can experience AEA like we were lucky enough to. They got us through a very tough time and we will never forget!

Sandi Sickels []

I am writing to share my opposition to HSB542, the Governors bill on the AEAS. Special education and general education do not work in silos in Iowa. The vast majority of children with disabilities receiving special education services and supports receive core instruction in math, reading, science, social studies, and technology, etc. in the general education classroom. Classroom teachers need professional development and onsite support for implementation of instructional strategies from AEA staff with expertise and knowledge of current research on best practices in these curricular areas. They need materials from AEA media to support their instruction. They need expertise from mental health providers to learn and use trauma informed classroom practices. These services, and many more, are provided effectively and efficiently to all districts regardless of ability of districts to fund them on their own. If HSB542 is allowed to pass, none of these services will be available to teachers. Districts in rural areas, such as Creston, will only be able to receive these services if they can transfer funding from the state level to the local level through increased property taxes. This means that my family will either see a huge increase in our property taxes, as a farming household, or my granddaughters will go without needed services to receive the best education possible. Neither of these options is acceptable to me. Currently districts are allowed to engage in Operational Sharing with the AEA for services such as mental health therapy by highly qualified Masters level social workers. With the challenges teachers face with behaviors in the classroom due to children experiencing trauma, and the increase around our country of school and gun violence, we should all agree that access to mental health treatment must be a priority. This program in Green Hills AEA will be cut with this bill. Students who do not have insurance or caregivers who cannot get them to a clinical setting will go without. Currently, these students can walk down the hallway to receive these critical services. I am asking you to vote NO to HSB542 and yes to our children!

Elizabeth Luttrell []

No to HSB 542 There are many aspects I don't support this bill (except for increasing teacher pay). Two reasons are: Working in special education: In the Condition of the State, Governor Reynolds made it sound like schools could opt out of AEA services and use that money for more teachers almost like the AEA was offering subpar autopilot instruction to students with IEPs. No AEA staff offers instruction (except at a special school like River Hills in Cedar Falls.) The test being used to promote this (NAEP) is a test only 270 students with IEPs took during the last testing. I've worked in many districts and never had students take the NAEP test. It is not given to all students and is a random selection. Not only that, students with disabilities rarely do well on standardized tests so I'd like to see some other measures used to prove our students with IEPs are not making acceptable progress. A good statistic I've seen is that Iowa ranked 3rd lowest in states who have parents who use their Procedural Safeguards Rights to take districts into mediation and/or due process (aka lawsuits) and I think that is the work a lot of AEA employees are doing that is out of the realm of actual instruction that should get some positive attention. My title is Team Representative meaning I go between the school, parents, and direct service providers during IEP meetings. It's a lot of legalities and usually why I explain my job as "paperwork." This is a huge part of what AEA staff do in special education and I think we're doing it pretty well based on that measure. (I will find that source if you'd like to see it.) Because we aren't employed by schools, we can be a "neutral" party that helps calm disputes and goes between the IEP team members. Being a part of the AEA is a unique unbiased relationship with school teams and parents. As a parent: AEAs have grown beyond their initial purpose of serving just special education.I couldn't find any record of this. What I found is that AEAs always helped with media (which is something my kids have benefitted from!) I truly believe what they do aids in a big way to keep a school like CGD (where my sons attend) being able to have similar opportunities to all of the suburbanschools. I do agree they've grown but in good ways. For example, the Lexia LETRS training Governor Reynolds talked about in the Condition of the State I am currently taking through my AEA and I know CGD is doing through Prairie Lakes. We get to learn collaboratively in a group with our school teams and have coaching available through the AEA. If this part of the AEAgoes away (as proposed in the bill), the same training I am taking offeredby the state will be all virtual on Saturdays and after school. Personal learning and coaching go away. A lot of statistics have been given about the cost of PD the AEAgives compared to what CGD would have to pay on their own to have similar training (a lot more!). Another extra service is that some districts in our AEA have less than ten ELL students, sothe AEA has been providing teachers to meet those students' needs. A lot of the extra things they do have been implemented because they are needed in their districts. This includes Crisis Response Teams (around 50 from Heartland AEA were at Perry after the shooting and in Mason City after they lost several students in a housefire). They are available to schools when there is a tragedy. All of these extras will be gone and while that's being touted as a positive I think it will hurt rural Iowa. I'll be honest, my kids do have a lot fewer opportunities than their cousins in outofstate suburbs/friends inIowa suburbs. I try to think of it as a positive, but knowing CGD will not get the teacher training and media they do now without AEA services is concerning!

Katie Vander Sanden []

We need our AEAs! Every day I use at least one support from the AEA. Being a very rural district we do not have access to the services the AEA provides. Iowa needs to support ALL students. This can not be done by dismantling the AEA. Thousands of Iowans will be left without jobs. We need to do better as a state.Please fact check everything the Governor said, as many of statements she said were untrue. We need the AEA.

Chris Englestad []

Continuing Governor Reynolds' assault on lowincome Iowa children, this bill raises concerns about the hasty nature of its implementation. The provision of educational and nutritional services to school children is a cause that all Iowans should safeguard. The bill, with its potential to divert funds to private companies, requires a thorough examination and thoughtful consideration. Let's prioritize the best interests of education before moving forward with this legislation.

Julie Honan []

Please oppose HSB 542. I am an Iowa constituent and parent of a an Iowa high school student. My daughter, Avery, has utilized AEA services over the course of her elementary, middle school, and high school career. GHAEA and LEA partners have provided technology, crisis prevention (i.e., HOPE squad), and digital resources, hearing and vision supports/services, and so much more. Facts: *Districts will NOT get "new money" for the services that are being taken away*This bill is detrimental to rural districts. They rely on all that AEA's provide and there is NO way that they can afford to "replace" it. *All 9 AEAs underwent accreditation reviews from the Iowa Department of Education in October 2022. All were reaccredited. *AEA's play a vital role in student mental health (please research Crisis Prevention Team in Perry, IA)If this bill is passed as it is currently written, it will have a devastating impact on our schools, educators, and students. OPPOSE this bill!

Judy Stanfley []

I strongly urge you to vote NO to Senate Study Bill HSB 542. As you can see from the MANY, MANY comments/posts, there is OVERWHELMING SUPPORT for AEAs. I am in total agreement in increasing teacher pay, however I do not believe that teacher pay should be included in this bill. Teacher pay should be in a separate bill. AEAs supports and services benefit ALL children in the state, whether they are receiving general education, special education, home school education or private school education, whether they are in large school districts or rural school districts..ALL children benefit from AEA supports and services. The AEAs ensure equitable services to students and educators across the state. All parts of the AEA are needed, dismantling the AEA would be devastating to children, families, teachers, and administrators in Iowa. This bill places undue burden on our schools, in a time when schools need the AEAs assistance to help take they burden off of them. Please hear our voices of opposition to HSB 542 and listen to the value and importance of AEAs to our state.

Meg Kofmehl []

Good morning, I am writing in regard to the proposal about the Iowa Area Education Agencies at the state level. I am a resident of Sioux City and I teach in a private school. This is my seventh year of teaching and I have seen the AEA be of great value to all students in our school. The services they provide as well as the opportunities they make possible for all students is so very beneficial to every child in school in Iowa. This proposal is bad for both public and private schools. All my years teaching have been in a private school and I know that we need their resources and assistance as much as, if not more than, the area public schools.I am asking you to vote against the cuts to the AEA. Thank you for your time, Meg Kofmehl

Dan Kaspari [Retired]

I applaud Governor Reynolds efforts to cut the administrative fat from our education system. I like the proposal to remove the current AEA administrators. The best way to make improvements is to get rid of those most likely to oppose meaningful change. I also like the proposal to reduce the AEA Boards role to advisory only, and return power to the Department of Education. I support the proposal to increase teacher pay, however I believe this should be done in a separate bill. The part of the bill I do not support is the removal of media, technology and other educational services without a proposal for continuing those services through other means.

Jessica Anderson []

I am writing to express my absolute opposition to HSB 542. I was born and raised in Iowa, attended both private and public schools in Harlan. My husband and I chose to raise our children in Iowa due to the stellar education we were able to receive growing up here and wanted the same for our children. I have experienced different perspectives both as a former student, a mother and a school board member concerning the value that ALL PARTS of our AEAs bring to the table. The special education part of AEA is incredibly important. I also believe the other services, staff, equipment and resources the AEA provides are also incredibly important! Particularly for Iowas rural districts who wouldnt otherwise be able to provide certain learning opportunities for their kids due to financial constraints.The Iowa special education system has the third lowest number of state complaints in the NATION! While it's not exactly clear how the governor is claiming we are failing special education children here, (as mentioned in her State of the State address) the consensus seems to be that she is using a statistic taken from NAEP scores. My understanding is that not every child receiving special ed services takes the NAEP test and, in fact, only 270 Iowa students with IEPs took the NAEP test at the last setting. However, there are over 270,000 students with IEPs in Iowa. That's hardly a representative sample.Any large entity has inefficiencies and those can be addressed via a comprehensive study that involves ALL stakeholdersas the governor spoke of in December (but that is contained nowhere in this bill). I guarantee you there isnt a single AEA staff member who wouldnt love to sit down in a room full of smart people who want to look at ways to improve the ways we can improve the ways we serve our children. Give them that chance. This bill will hurt kids.Jessica Anderson Harlan, IA

Tanya Street []

If the bill passes as is, it will be devastating impacts on our communities. AEAs provide critical research and help with special education and mental health which is something that, especially our rural communities need the most. After seeing what happened in Perry, Iowa, passing this bill would be a slap in the face to those affected in that tragedy. Living in Iowa, I was once proud of how well our schools operated and how our kids performed on a national level. I was proud to have my kids in public schools. Now seeing the devastating blows our children, teachers and schools are undergoing (school choice) and facing (this bill), I am no longer proud of the decisions our government officials are making since they seem to no longer have the best interests in mind for our children, families, teachers and Iowa.

Sue Slavens []

As a retired school district employee from Pleasant Valley, a parent of three grown children and a grandparent of five, I am very concerned about the proposed changes to AEAs in Iowa. I share your goal of making sure students with disabilities get the services they need, but I oppose the reforms currently proposed in HF 542.Some people dont understand exactly what AEA professionals do to help ALL students achieve. As a retired secretary in an Iowa school guidance office for 25 years, I saw first hand the positive impact AEA personnel had with, not only our special education students and students with disabilities, but the services also provided for general education students and teachers. School staff, teachers and parents alike relied on AEA personnels expertise to help with the ultimate goal of supporting students achievement, and, therefore, be successful in school.Teachers receive immense educational support from the AEA including instruction and assessment services in math, language arts and reading, digital and audio books to supplement our school library and improving teaching instruction by providing professional development.Ive read that there is some concern that disability student test scores have dropped. I found information from a global study, the Program for International Student Assessment, that student test scores around the world suggest historic setbacks as a result of the COVID pandemic. The US actually fell behind less sharply and climbed in global rankings.The belief that individual school districts across the state of Iowa, especially the many rural districts, can successfully hire or even get access to specialized professionals, including OTs, PTs, SLPs, consultants, audiologists, school psychologists, and social workers is unreasonable.I ask you to take time to understand what all the complex services that AEAs provide. Consider carefully what the consequences of this proposed legislation will do to our students and education system in Iowa. Dont take away AEA jobs, decrease their funding only to make student achievement harder for schools. Now with mental health issues on the rise, we need AEAs more than ever.The AEAs of Iowa have always been a shining beacon for the state and the envy of other states. This proposed bill will only decrease Iowas excellence.Thank you for listening.Sue SlavensBettendorf, Iowa

Pamela Schroder []

I am a resident of Scott County. I am a parent of two children that went through our public school system, as did I, and a grandparent of two children currently attending public schools. I am also retired from the Mississippi Bend AEA. I am writing to express my deepest concern and opposition to the proposed legislation that could significantly impact the AEAs and ultimately the students it serves.There are federal laws and regulations governing special education implementation. The collaborative efforts between AEAs and schools are vital, especially for rural/small districts to ensure compliance with these regulations. Attempting to do this without the help of the AEA could compromise the quality of education for students with special needs as well as those without.The Department of Education, situated in Des Moines, will not be able to replace AEA functions/services with the proposed addition of 139 employees. When my district needs help how quickly will they get a response, let alone a meeting to collaborate on a solution. Our AEA, MBAEA, is a matter of a few miles away and things happen quickly. I just do not understand how making a new department at the DE with only 139 staff is going to be effective.Please support AEAs and push back these policy changes.This whole thing is happening way too fast and it's the children of our state that will suffer, especiallyour special needs children and their families. AEAs go through an accreditation every 5 years. If there were problems should they have not been addressed in an accreditation report?My hope is that this bill doesnt slide through. AEAs serve a very diverse community Special Ed, General Ed, huge school districts, small school districts, rural school districts, accredited parochial/private schools. Who will provide all the service needed?

Carolyn Stephenson []

I oppose the proposed cuts to Iowas Area Education Agencies. As a former Iowa educator, I needed the technology services and professional development provided by my local AEA. Teachers benefit from the curriculum support and expertise of the AEA specialists. As a grandparent, I question cutting students emotional and social development support. Regardless of causation, children have very obvious challenges in these areas. It makes no sense to me to cut these services when they are so critical to childrens mental health. It also makes no sense to cut early childhood special education support. All the evidence shows that early intervention with children and their families improve future outcomes.I oppose HF 542. Such drastic changes to an integral part of public education in Iowa removes an important pillar of support for pubic education. And, public tax dollars should only fund public schools; not private education contractors or private schools.

Joann Apling []

Hello, I have been an employee of the Janesville Consolidated School District for 25 years (currently as the elementary school secretary). I oppose HF542. I feel that changes made to our AEAs will negatively impact our teachers ability to provide support and resources for our students. If you take away their tools how can builders build? Districts are on very tight budgets . Our teachers and staff have utilized everything the AEA has to offer from book sets (for student projects), printing,laptop repair, and continuing education resources for our teachers, to equipment for students who have special needs. The AEA has been an invaluable source of support and the tools needed to aid our teachers in providing the highest quality education possible. Thanks to technology provided by the AEA in 2012 one of our students who was homebound was able to attend classes, graduate, and walk the hallways in real time. It made a huge impact on his quality of life. To make any reduction to the services provided by the AEAs would do a great disservice to our students. Please, please, do not pass HF542