Many topics were covered during the 2024 legislative session and Iowa’s Area Education Agencies saw a substantial financial cut.

Iowa Senator Sarah Trone-Garriott tells Raccoon Valley Radio that every year a seven and half million dollar cut is made towards the AEA funds with another 15 million on top of that. Trone-Garriott explains that the 22.5 million dollar cut wasn’t surprising, but expresses disappointment about the additional 10 million dollar cut in order to pay for an increase in the Department of Education’s budget. She highlights that combining that with the changes made to the AEA’s, even more money can potentially be cut.

“There’s the potential that the total cuts for the AEA’s could be as high as $75,000,000 (75 million) in the coming year. That’s a lot of money coming out of that system.”

Trone-Garriott emphasizes the crucial role that AEA’s play within the school district in the state of Iowa. She admits that AEA’s have already begun resigning in fear of an uncertain future.