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The Gruenhagen Gazette: Feds say Iowa special ed ‘needs improvement’ now
by Kerry Gruenhagen, Iowa Senate District 4 · Op-Ed · March 27, 2024
Last week we concluded the second legislative deadline of the year, so this week was busy with floor debate.
This week, the Senate passed over 30 bills, talking about a range of issues including insurance companies, the duties and compositions of state departments, emergency medical services, deer hunting, and public safety.
I also had the opportunity to meet with constituents, including those from REM Iowa.
On Tuesday, National Agriculture Day was celebrated across the country, making it a great time to recognize the impact farmers, and all aspects of the agricultural economy, have on improving the world.
Iowa farmers don’t just feed our state, or our country, but the whole world.
The legislature has been protecting agriculture and the many things farmers do for our economy, including passing a labeling bill to support farmers raising quality livestock, strengthening Iowa’s land ownership laws to stop China from controlling our land, and legislation to help rural Iowa’s access to emergency medical care.
Changes to Iowa’s Area Education Agencies (AEAs) has been a central focus of many Iowans this year.
There are many misconceptions of this bill and misinformation spread by protectors of the status quo. The reality is this: the status quo of Iowa’s special education system is not good enough, and something has to change.
It is not just the legislature that thinks so. The federal government has designated our state as “needs improvement” and is starting in-state monitoring this fall.
Education leaders and specialists have reached out supporting reform. Parents of children whose needs are not being met have visited with the legislature asking for assistance. This shows us something needs to be done.
There are a lot of important parts of this bill to support both the students requiring special education instruction, and the teachers and staff that provide services to them.
This bill, House File 2612, gives more control to Iowa school districts over special education, media, and education services funding.
If they like the services their AEA provides and are satisfied with the results, then they can keep their AEA.
The bill also moves oversight of the AEAs to the Iowa Department of Education to ensure compliance with both federal and state laws, works to reduce administration costs so more money is freed up for students, and increases accountability by requiring reports to the school district on spending.
Additionally, the bill raises the minimum teacher salary in the state to $46,251.
I want to be very clear. Nothing in this bill cuts services to students. The only goal of this bill is to improve services for students who require special education services.
We know our system needs improvement, and we always want Iowa students to have access to a great education.
I think we can all agree we want to help the students who need it, and make sure these services are helping them succeed and preparing them for the future.
All the communication I have received on this bill is appreciated. This bill has gone through a lot of changes since the idea was first brought forward.
We have all heard from parents, school districts, AEA staff, superintendents, and more about this bill and what they liked or didn’t like about it. A lot of hard work has gone into this piece of legislation, with improvement of services being the central focus.
The conversation on the final version of this bill is continuing with the House and the governor’s office.
This week, I floor managed two bills: House File 2257 and House File 2262.
House File 2257 allows state licensed poultry plants to perform custom-exempt and official processing at the same plant.
Under this bill, a plant’s poultry products will be exempt from inspection if the articles and containers used for the products are kept separate, marked “not for sale,” and the facility is sanitary.
House File 2262 creates an exemption from money transmission licensing requirements for a person who provides payroll processing services on behalf of an employer, as long as the employer and the payroll processor have a written agency agreement, other parties like the employees are informed of the agency arrangement, and any payment obligations are not affected if the agent fails to make a payment for any reason.
To contact Senator Gruenhagen during the week, call the Senate Switchboard at 515-281-3371. E-mail him at kerry.gruenhagen@legis.iowa.gov. Gruenhagen serves on the following committees: Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Technology, Workforce and Government Oversight.
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