Iowa House votes on new AEA overhaul bill as Senate waits. What's in the new proposal:
House Republicans have passed a new version of their plan to restructure Iowa's Area Education Agencies, sending the bill back to the Senate as the two chambers struggle to reach an agreement.
The amended version of House File 2612 is the third version of the AEA legislation to pass out of either the House or the Senate this year. Republicans in both chambers have been making changes to the proposal as they try to find language they can agree on.
House lawmakers voted 51-43 Thursday to pass the bill. Nine Republicans broke from their colleagues and joined every Democrat in opposition.
What's in the newest House AEA bill?
The legislation would send the lion's share of money for special education services to the AEAs, retaining the agencies as the primary provider of those services to schools.
Districts would have jurisdiction over spending for media and general education services — currently provided by AEAs — and can stay with the agencies under a "fee for service" model or seek private contracts.
The new version of the legislation also raises minimum pay for beginning teachers to $50,000 per year, up from $33,500. And it includes money to increase experienced teachers' salaries and raise pay for non-salaried school staff, like paraeducators.
In addition to the teacher pay increase, the bill raises state per-pupil funding for K-12 schools by 2.5%.
The bill's floor manager, Rep. Skyler Wheeler, R-Hull, listed a series of "wins" he said House Republicans had secured in the bill.
"Yes, I believe you can make an argument this is going to improve outcomes for students with disabilities," he said. "Yes, I believe this is local control. Yes, I believe this provides certainty for the AEAs. And yes, I believe it provides certainty for families that have students with disabilities."
Democrats, who have staunchly opposed changes to the AEAs, accused Republicans of playing politics by passing a bill that the Senate hasn't agreed to.
"We have received thousands of emails from constituents. Thousands of phone calls. We are stopped at the grocery store. The one thing Iowans are asking us to do is protect AEAs," House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, told reporters Thursday. "Iowans don’t want this. Republicans are bringing this to the floor today because they are scared of the governor and they are trying to play political games with kids with special needs in this state."
Negotiations over the AEAs have dominated the 2024 legislative session since Gov. Kim Reynolds announced a sweeping plan to overhaul the agencies in her Condition of the State address in January.
Reynolds' initial plan was met with widespread opposition from education groups, Democrats and even many Republican lawmakers, prompting them to rewrite large portions of the bill.
In a statement after Thursday's vote, Reynolds thanked House members and said the bill would "further strengthen Iowa's education system in meaningful ways."
"By reforming the AEA system, empowering school districts, and improving oversight and transparency, we are committing to better outcomes and brighter futures for Iowa’s students with disabilities," she said. "They deserve nothing less."
Will Senate Republicans pass newest plan after previous divide with House?
House and Senate Republicans have in recent weeks passed their own versions of the bill, and remain at odds over how to proceed.
Earlier this week, the Senate passed its own plan to restructure the agencies, which would require districts to make annual contracting decisions and pursue private agreements on special education, media and general education services.
That vote put the ball back in the House's court, with leaders in both chambers forced to negotiate on a compromise. The Senate will return to the Capitol next week to decide how to act on the latest plan, having been out of session Thursday as the House debated.
Asked during debate whether an agreement had been forged between House and Senate Republicans, House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley, said he couldn't "dictate what happens across the way" but hoped Thursday's vote was the last on the issue.
Asked after the vote if House Republicans' message to the Senate was "take it or leave it," House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, told reporters "that's our expectation."
"Our expectation is it satisfies everyone at the table to be able to get a package that’s going to move forward and our hope would be make it to the governor’s desk," he said.
In a statement after Thursday's House vote, Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Grimes, did not commit to passing the bill but said he's hoping for a "resolution."
“I am happy to see progress on AEA reform, raising starting teacher pay, and education funding," he said. "Senate Republicans will discuss the new version of the bill next week, and I am looking forward to a resolution on these issues.”
How would AEA services change under the House bill?
One of the biggest debates among Republicans this year is how school districts should pay for services offered by the AEAs.
The AEAs are currently funded through a combination of state, federal and local property tax dollars. The agencies offer special education services to school districts as well as media services and general education services.
The House bill passed Thursday would not make any change to funding for special education in the 2024-25 school year. In the 2025-26 school year and beyond, districts would receive the state special education funding that currently goes to the AEAs, but they would be required to send 90% of that money to the AEAs, while keeping the remaining 10% of funds.
"The mandate remains for special ed students that they will still get their services provided by the AEAs," Grassley said. "That was the No. 1 priority in that conversation, and we held the line on that and we were obviously successful."
In the 2024-25 school year, school districts would receive 60% of the state funding for media services and general education services and AEAs would receive 40%. Schools could choose whether to continue contracting with the AEAs for those services under a "fee for service" model, or use a private provider.
Beginning the following year, school districts would receive all the state funding for media and general education services and could choose whether to use the AEAs.
A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll conducted in late February found a majority of Iowans (56%) have a favorable view of the AEAs, while 24% view them unfavorably and 20% are not sure.
Previous Republican plans in the House and Senate have diverged on how to fund and distribute services currently provided by the AEAs.
Under the plan passed by the Senate earlier this week, districts would have until Feb. 1 to make an annual decision whether to contract with the AEAs for special education, media and general education services. If they decline to do so, they could seek a private vendor.
More: As Reynolds pushes big changes to Iowa special education, most like AEAs, Iowa Poll finds
The newest plan approved by the House on Thursday also creates a task force to study and make recommendations on the AEA system, the sole aspect of the bill supported by Democrats.
Rep. Molly Buck, D-Ankeny, said Republicans should have pursued a task force without the bill's other changes that she believes will leave the system "in chaos."
"We are rushing through legislation that affects the most vulnerable kids we have in Iowa," she said. "Our most vulnerable population. The ones that can’t speak for themselves, the ones that can’t defend themselves."
Bill creates special education division in Department of Education
Under the House bill, the Iowa Department of Education would gain more oversight over special education services in the state with the creation of a new Division of Special Education.
The bill would authorize the Department of Education to hire 13 new staff members in Des Moines and another 40 who would be based within AEAs around the state.
Starting teacher pay would rise to $50,000 per year
The legislation would raise minimum pay for beginning teachers to $47,500 in the upcoming school year and to $50,000 the next year, up from $33,500 under current law.
It sets a minimum salary of $60,000 for teachers with at least 12 years of experience in the upcoming school year, before raising that minimum to $62,000 the next year.
And the bill has $22 million for schools to use to raise experienced teacher pay and another $14 million to increase pay for non-salaried school staff, like paraeducators.
Rep. Chad Ingels, R-Randalia, who has two children with Down syndrome, said he and other House Republicans are particularly passionate about increasing paraeducator pay.
"While AEA personnel are extremely valuable, paraeducators are there every day beside my kids. And they’re underpaid," he said. "They can go down to Casey’s and make more. They can go to Walmart and make more."
The bill would also increase state per-pupil aid to schools by 2.5%, or about $82.4 million in new money.
The version of the bill passed by the Senate would have increased beginning teacher pay to $46,250 per year, with no minimum for experienced teachers and no additional funds to give pay increases to other school staff.
The Iowa Poll found 76% of Iowans favor raising minimum teacher pay to $50,000 per year, while 22% oppose an increase and 2% are not sure.
More: Most Iowans support raising starting teacher pay to $50,000, Iowa Poll finds
Democrats criticize last-minute amendment from Republicans
Alongside criticisms of the plan to restructure AEAs, Democrats on Thursday also decried Republicans' timeline for debate and voting.
The language of the revised bill was not published online until shortly before 4 p.m. Thursday, with debate starting roughly an hour later. Republicans quickly voted to set a "time certain" to end debate at 6:30 p.m.
Konfrst accused Republicans of "shoving this bill down our throats" without giving Democrats or the public time to weigh in.
"They are dropping a 49-page amendment with the three most important issues to educators and kids in this state and expecting us to vote on it in a couple hours," Konfrst said. "You can’t tell me this is for Iowans. You can’t tell me this is for Iowa kids. This is for the governor. This is for politics, and it shows you who they work for."
Melissa Saitz, a spokesperson for House Republicans, said GOP lawmakers have worked hard for weeks to hear feedback on their proposal.
"As the Democrats know, nothing in the amendment to the AEA bill is new policy," she said in a statement. "These are concepts that have been debated on the House and Senate floor and in the committee process. Iowans have been able to weigh in on these pieces of policy for weeks."
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.
Galen Bacharier covers politics for the Register. Reach him at [email protected]m or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacharier.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa House passes new bill restructuring AEAs, raising teacher pay