ap photo Gov. Kim Reynolds gives the annual Condition of the State address at the state Capitol on Tuesday night in Des Moines.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Tuesday she plans to continue work this year on cutting taxes and consolidating and reorganizing Iowa’s state government systems with a focus on special education, boards and commissions and mental health care providers.

The governor gave her Condition of the State address in the Iowa House Tuesday evening as winter storms swept through the state.

Reynolds started began her speech with a moment of silence for the victims and families of last week’s Perry High School shooting, just as legislative leaders did Monday. She thanked Perry law enforcement and first responders for their service responding to the shooting that killed an 11-year-old student and injured seven others. Among the injured was Principal Dan Marburger, who sustained multiple gunshot wounds while trying to protect students.

“His unflinching bravery saved lives that morning,” Reynolds said. “Dan is a hero, and we pray that he’s soon back where he belongs, with the students who are so lucky to have him.”

The governor laid out her top policy objectives for this year’s session — as well as her budget plan. The proposal includes more than $8.9 billion in appropriations for the upcoming fiscal year, an increase from the more than $8.552 billion appropriated the current budget year. The state’s net general fund revenue would decrease from $9.746 billion in 2024 to $9.637 billion under her proposal — a decline of 1.1 percent.

In her speech, Reynolds said she aims to ensure taxpayer money is being used effectively and efficiently by state government — which means pursuing legislation to continue projects begun in previous years.

Major changes proposed to Iowa’s special education support system

Reynolds applauded the adoption of Iowa’s Education Savings Account program in the 2023-24 school year. She said the program, which allows students to use taxpayer funds for private school tuition, has increased academic standards at both private and public schools through “competition and choice.”

The governor recommended appropriating nearly $179.2 million from the state’s general fund toward the ESA program for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2o24. That’s an increase of more than $31 million from the current fiscal year budget estimate for the private-school accounts.

“This session, we must be guided by that same principle once again,” Reynolds said. “Because there’s still a group of students who are being left behind. And there’s yet another long-standing system in need of reform.”

The governor plans to introduce legislation making changes to Iowa’s system of Area Education Agencies (AEAs), nine regional entities that provide special education services for Iowans with disabilities from birth through age 21.

Schools are legally required to provide specialized support as outlined in students with disabilities’ Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). In Iowa, AEA-trained staff provide those services, including speech pathology or physical therapy, to multiple school districts in their region. Under the governor’s proposal, school districts could pursue contracts with private companies or partner with other school districts to hire specific specialists to meet these educational needs instead of AEAs, as currently required by state law.

Reynolds disputed the assertion that these changes constituted plans to close AEAs or cut special education services.

“That claim is categorically false,” she said. “In fact, we are not reducing special-education funding by one dime. We are simply giving control of the funding to those who work directly with your child on a daily basis, and we’re taking special education off autopilot, where it has been stuck for far too long.”

The legislation would not prevent AEAs from closing, but consolidation of the nine agencies could occur in future years.

The proposal also restricts AEAs to only providing special education services in Iowa schools — as well as continuing to provide special and general education services for Iowans in juvenile detention and foster care. Iowa AEAs also currently offer media services, professional training and programs in math and literacy to Iowa schools.

House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst questioned the governor’s proposal to eliminate functions by AEAs other than special education, such as assisting students with mental health issues. “And when we think about things like what just happened in Perry, we had AEA professionals on the ground to help with mental health. When there’s a suicide in a school, AEA professionals are the ones who are there,” Konfrst said during an Iowa PBS interview.

Senate Democratic Leader Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, told reporters the governor’s proposal is another step in Republicans’ move to privatize education in Iowa. Like the private-school funding program in 2023, the changes proposed to the AEAs would have the largest impact on rural school districts, she said, which would likely have difficulties finding the trained staff to fill their student’s individual needs outside of AEAs.

Jochum said her late daughter had a disability and received AEA services from age 2 through 21. Many Iowa families depend on the agencies’ services, she said — which could be more difficult to access under the governor’s proposal.

“This is going to have the biggest impact on rural Iowa — certainly it’ll affect the cities, but we do have professionals in our cities that we can count on,” Jochum said. “… It’s more important in the rural areas ,where they do not have those OT, PT, speech pathologist to actually hire in the local community.”

Reynolds proposes raising teacher salaries

Additionally, the governor proposed a measure to increase teacher salaries. Her plan would increase the minimum starting salary to $50,000 and set a $62,000 minimum salary for teachers with 12 or more years of experience. The pay increases would require an investment of $96 million, Reynolds said.

“We want younger Iowans to see the teaching profession as something to aspire to,” Reynolds said. “It’s one of the highest callings one can have, so let’s make sure that teacher pay sends that message.”

Konfrst said Democrats support of raising teacher salaries.

“We’re big fans of teachers. We’ve been proposing increasing teacher pay for a long time. So we’re thrilled to see that they’re joining us in that effort,” Konfrst said.

But, she noted, Democrats have questions about the details, including where the money is coming from and who benefits. “Of course, we want to know what about the paraprofessionals and other education professionals in the school, some of whom are earning less than $10 an hour.”

Reynolds calls for mental health care changes, extending postpartum Medicaid

On health care, Reynolds said she aims to improve Iowa’s mental health care and substance abuse services through consolidation. Iowa currently has 13 mental health and 19 substance use regions designated for providing care for Iowans in need and connecting people with long-term care providers.

https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/01/09/iowa-gov-kim-reynolds-proposes-special-education-changes-income-tax-cuts/