“We’ve heard from parents, students, educators, and community leaders: Iowans love their AEAs and depend on the educational services they provide,” Iowa state Sen. Molly Donahue said. “Slashing services and funding is not the answer. By breaking our AEAs, Senate Republicans are breaking Iowans’ trust and doing real harm to Iowa communities.”

“Instead of throwing special education into chaos and sowing instability and uncertainty for hundreds of districts and thousands of students, Senate Democrats offered an amendment to bring Iowans together to strengthen our AEAs,” Donahue said. “Iowa has a rich history of working together to solve challenges. Any changes to our AEAs should be cautious, inclusive, and collaborative.”

Donahue, D-Cedar Rapids, serves on the Senate Education Committee and is a career special education teacher.

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