Governor Reynold signed HF 2612 into law, impacting all nine Area Education Agencies (AEAs) in the state. Senators Lynn Evans, a Republican, and Sarah Trone Garriottt, a Democrat came in studio to discuss how this negatively or positively impacts Iowans, and why they disagree on aspects of this bill. 

Republicans say this was designed to bring accountability, transparency, and consistency to AEAs, turning over AEA’s to local school districts. Democrats say it dismantles and fragments a working system meant to be adaptable, possibly allowing people to fall between the cracks. It’s a complicated issue, and they both explain their perspective. 

A few notes: 

First, Justin Brady’s focus on interviews like this is to be fair, give equal time to both, and not ask questions that may be considered unfair. At the end, he offers closing statement time as a backstop to make sure both voices were heard. 

Second, you’ll notice we don’t address the increase in teacher pay in this interview, because both parties have already been clear on their support for an increase in teacher pay. We focused on the core areas of disagreement.

Hear the full show:  https://iowapodcast.com/iowa-aea-law-hf2612-lynn-evans-sarah-trone-garriott