Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring.  

Governor Kim Reynolds’ attitude toward public education reminds me of a scene from an old movie called the Longest Yard, starring Burt Reynolds. There’s a 2005 Adam Sandler remake, but that’s more like a missed field goal.

Burt plays Paul Crewe, a wisecracking, pro quarterback who is convicted and sent to prison. The warden stages a game between the guards and prisoners.

Burt tells his offensive linemen to let a tackler through the line. They do, and he throws a hard pass at close range, into the guard’s groin. On the next play, he tells his line to do the same thing. Again, the same guard rushes and is hit in the same location with the same result.

In the huddle, one of his teammates asks, “Why did you do the same thing twice?”

Burt replies, “It worked the first time. It’s worth a second try.”

During the last legislative session, Reynolds and her legislative lemmings repeatedly attacked public schools accusing teachers of indoctrinating students and teaching pornography. Those attacks were designed to hurt the credibility of public schools and pave the way for a new private school voucher entitlement with little or no accountability.

It worked the first time.

Now, Reynolds is hinting at more plans for public schools during the next legislative session. We need to be aware. 

Mikaela Mackey recently reported for the Northwest Iowa Review that Reynolds is going to “reassess” Iowa’s Area Education Agencies (AEAs). In a statement provided to the newspaper, the governor said AEAs will undergo a “comprehensive review,” aimed at “more closely aligning AEAs with the Department of Education.” Reynolds believes that

Iowa’s Area Education Agencies were created 50 years ago to address the needs of students with disabilities, but over the years, they’ve significantly expanded their scope of services beyond the core mission.

A “comprehensive review” sounds like using outside consultants to downsize or even eliminate this vital part of the education family. That’s the procedure Reynolds used when she “realigned” state government to merge many state agencies. She’s also seeking to eliminate dozens of state boards and commissions. We don’t need a crystal ball to predict how this will be done. She’s shown us.

It’s worth a second try.

The Iowa legislature created Area Education Agencies in 1974 through a bipartisan bill to provide services to schools. It’s hard to catalogue the services provided by AEAs. Many are invisible to the public but essential for students and educators.   

AEAs provide special education services to both public and private schools, but those services are done one on one with students through developing and following a students’ Individualized Education Program (IEP) in cooperation with a school district teacher. 

AEAs also offer school psychologists, social workers, and consultants. They provide media services and educator professional development. Without AEAs, small school districts wouldn’t be able to afford those services. Urban and suburban schools couldn’t afford the same level of service now provided by the AEAs.

There is certainly no guarantee any cost savings from downsizing or eliminating AEAs would be funneled to local school districts. Historically that has not been the case. 

Reynolds is justifying her “comprehensive review” based on data from the National Assessment of Educational Data Results. This data is based on standardized test scores. Most educators strongly believe this is the wrong measure. Special education should be judged based on students’ performance under their IEP.

There’s nothing wrong with the state periodically reviewing education services. But there’s something terribly wrong with making judgements using faulty data and without listening to practitioners working daily with the AEAs.

If Reynolds wants to revamp AEAs, she needs to listen to administrators, educators, and parents about what services are essential and how those services may be protected and enhanced.

Special education students should not be political chess pieces for a governor who may be seeking higher political office. That’s bad decision making at any level and especially when the future of our children is at risk.

Top photo of educator with student by Monkey Business Images, available via Shutterstock.