As Reynolds pushes big changes to Iowa special education, most like AEAs, Iowa Poll finds

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Gov. Kim Reynolds has made restructuring Iowa’s Area Education Agencies a top priority this legislative session.

But a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll finds that most Iowans have a favorable opinion of AEAs, which provide special education services and a range of other programming and resources to districts across Iowa.

Asked about their feelings toward Iowa’s Area Education Agencies, known as AEAs, 56% of Iowans have a favorable view, compared with just 20% who hold an unfavorable opinion of the agencies.

Twenty-four percent say they aren’t sure.

The 56% favorable rating for AEAs is higher than for any elected official tested in the poll.  And at least 50% of all partisan groups give AEAs a positive rating: 63% of Democrats, 59% of independents and 50% of Republicans.

AEAs also earn 50% favorability or higher across Iowa’s four congressional districts, as well as every income bracket and all age groups.

Among Iowans with children younger than 18, the agencies receive a 59% favorable rating, and 68% of adults with a college degree view the AEAs favorably.

It’s the first Iowa Poll to ask Iowans their opinions on the AEAs. The findings suggest that Reynolds’ call for a massive overhaul may be out of step with how most Iowans feel about the agencies.

The poll of 804 Iowa adults was conducted from Feb. 25-28 by Selzer & Co. and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Reynolds initially proposed a total overhaul of the agencies in her annual Condition of the State address in January, introducing a plan that would have allowed districts to seek private providers for all of the services AEAs provide.

She has said the current AEA system is "failing" students, aiming for stricter oversight and a narrower scope for the agencies.

But her plan proved unpopular among many lawmakers, education groups and advocates, who have defended AEAs as a critical part of Iowa's education system.

Republicans in the House and Senate have crafted separate bills of their own. Democrats maintain that any changes to the system would be rushed and unnecessary, and say Reynolds' criticism of the AEA system as "failing" is built on faulty premises, specifically a report from the consulting firm Guidehouse.

"There's absolutely no reason for this bill, in my opinion," said Rep. Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City, during House debate on the issue last week. "It is built on false information by an outside company."

What Iowans who were polled say about AEAs and education

Penny DeVos, a 46-year-old poll respondent from Hospers, said in a follow-up interview with the Register that she’s worked closely with AEAs to develop an individual education plan for her son, who requires special education services.

He’s now a sophomore in high school on the honor roll, she said, and AEA resources have “helped tremendously.”

DeVos has been following news out of the Capitol about changes to the AEAs, which she said made her “nervous.”

“It’s something that’s been in place for a long time. It works,” DeVos said. “I’m a living example of the fact that it works. If we’re going to bring in privatized people, you’re not going to get as good people. They’re going to go with the lowest bidder.”

Several poll respondents who hold unfavorable opinions of the AEAs cited wider concerns they had with the public education system at large, including curriculum.

Susan Parrish, a 77-year-old from Keosauqua, said she appreciated AEAs’ work but has concerns with how reading is taught, stemming from her great-grandson’s struggles.

"They just keep passing him on, passing him on,” she said. “An AEA is involved. That’s the only thing, really, I have against them. I do know they help a lot of kids having troubles, but they ain’t helping him.”

What are Iowa’s area education agencies?

Iowa’s nine area education agencies are tasked with providing special education and other services to public and accredited private schools across the state.

They were established in 1974 to fill a “need for equal access to services,” following federal legislation in the preceding decades that focused on programming for students with disabilities.

They provide a range of services, including behavioral support, occupational therapy, professional development, crisis management and more.

What is the status of bills to change Iowa’s area education agencies?

Republicans in the House and Senate have developed separate plans that would restructure how services currently provided exclusively by the AEAs are handled and contracted.

The House bill, passed out of the chamber Thursday, would retain the AEAs as the sole provider of special education services but would allow districts in the coming years to seek private providers for media and general education services that AEAs also provide. It now heads to the Senate for consideration.

"Everybody agreed that there were areas to improve and that we could make changes," said Rep. Skyler Wheeler, R-Hull, the bill’s sponsor.

Senate Republicans’ bill allows districts to seek all services, including special education, through a private provider if they choose to do so.

Money currently sent directly to the AEAs would be redirected toward the districts, which could spend it on those services through another avenue. The bill has been approved by a committee but has not been debated on the chamber floor.

"Improving student outcomes has always been at the forefront," Reynolds said in a statement last week. "The system must provide transparency and accountability to school districts, those closest to our students, and drive consistency across the AEA regions to improve services for students with disabilities.”

Democrats remain staunchly opposed to changes to AEAs, repeatedly urging Republicans to drop the issue.

"The people who seem to be forgotten sometimes in this political battle are the kids who need services,” said House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights.

Galen Bacharier covers politics for the Register. Reach him at [email protected] or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacharier.

About the Iowa Poll

The Iowa Poll, conducted Feb. 25-28, 2024, for The Des Moines Register and Mediacom by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, is based on telephone interviews with 804 Iowans ages 18 or older. Interviewers with Quantel Research contacted households with randomly selected landline and cell phone numbers supplied by Dynata. Interviews were administered in English. Responses were adjusted by age, sex and congressional district to reflect the general population based on recent American Community Survey estimates.

Questions based on the sample of 804 Iowa adults have a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. This means that if this survey were repeated using the same questions and the same methodology, 19 times out of 20, the findings would not vary from the true population value by more than plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Results based on smaller samples of respondents — such as by gender or age — have a larger margin of error.

Republishing the copyright Iowa Poll without credit and, on digital platforms, links to originating content on The Des Moines Register and Mediacom is prohibited.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Poll: Most favor AEAs as lawmakers weigh special education changes