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"The almost 500 employees we’ve lost, that leaves a hole," said Stan Rheingans, chief administrator of Keystone AEA in northeast Iowa.
Rheingans is also serving as the interim chief administrator of the neighboring Central Rivers AEA, taking over from departing administrator Joel Pedersen. It's one of several positions the two AEAs are planning to share next year as they figure out their budgets.
“Iowa’s school vouchers, known as Educational Savings Accounts, are driving up the tuition for private schools. That’s the early conclusion from a study from a Princeton University researcher.”
“Since Governor Kim Reynolds signed the ‘Students First Act’ into law last year, Jennings and a team of researchers at Princeton compared tuition increases for kindergarteners in Iowa’s private schools to the increases in neighboring Nebraska, which is set to implement a similar plan next school year.”
“…Jennings worries tuition will keep rising as Iowa expands who can use the vouchers.”
“Hills Elementary School will close next school year after nearly 60 years of educating students, and members of the Iowa City School Board cite inadequate state funding as one of the reasons why.”
“It is the result of chronic and persistent underfunding by the state that has been going on for the past decade,” school board member Lisa Williams said during Tuesday’s meeting. “It is a direct result of the governor and legislature’s decision to take your tax dollars and divert them away from public schools.”
One of Iowa's area education agencies says it will likely have to face budget cuts once Gov. Kim Reynolds signs the AEA reform bill into law.
Cindy Yelick, chief administrator of Heartland AEA, said they're looking at ways to modify their current system in anticipation of the bill becoming law.
"It's obviously going to be a time of change, and it's going to be a time of reinvention," Yelick said.
Former Iowa school superintendent says Gov. Kim Reynolds is following right-wing playbook to ruin public education
“…it’s evident by the company she keeps that Reynolds doesn’t work for Iowans. She works for outside groups that push extreme right-wing agendas, not only in Iowa, but anywhere Republican majorities control legislatures. Laws providing educational vouchers for private schools aren’t about giving parents more school choice. It’s about destroying public education.”
“The question for Iowans is whether the governor and the legislature should work for the people or for billionaires aiming to transform the nation to fit their elitist ideas.”