Over the past several months the AEA system has continued to engage with the Governor and legislators in conversations about the AEA system in advance of the start of the legislative session.
The legislative session will gavel in on Monday, January 8, and the Governor will hold her Condition of the State speech at 6 pm on Tuesday, January 9. Based on our conversations with the Governor, state legislators and key Capitol staff, we anticipate that Governor Reynolds will be requesting additional review of and potential legislative changes to our statewide organization during her speech Tuesday evening.
As you can imagine, public interest and media coverage of our system will be amplified over the next several months. Our goal during this time of increased scrutiny and publicity will be to maintain honest and transparent conversations with all of you, and to address questions and concerns with data and confirmed information in a timely manner.
Please know that we continue to work with legislators to help them understand the complexities of Iowa’s AEA and the great value that is provided by our staff and system. We have been pleased to hear positive support about our system’s work from many state leaders, and we continue to actively collaborate with those who may benefit from learning more about the strengths of our system. We have heard from many of them about the emails and letters they have received from our staff, our district partners, and our parents and guardians who work with many of you, and we appreciate the groundswell of support we’ve seen from everyone who engaged in this outreach. This work will continue through the legislative session.
Keep providing the support and services that we know are valued among our stakeholders: we’ll be in touch with more information as soon as possible.