Championing Excellence for all Iowa Students through Leadership and Service

Grimes State Office Building - 400 E 14th St - Des Moines IA 50319-0146

PHONE (515) 281-5294 FAX (515) 242-5988

www.iowa.gov/educate

TERRY BRANSTAD, GOVERNOR DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

KIM REYNOLDS, LT. GOVERNOR JASON E. GLASS, DIRECTOR

March 16, 2011

The Honorable Arne Duncan

Secretary, United States Department of Education

400 Maryland Avenue, SW

Washington, D.C. 20202

Application for Waiver 

IDEA’s Maintenance of State Financial Support Requirement

Dear Secretary Duncan:

The State of Iowa respectfully requests that you grant a waiver of the 

requirement that Iowa maintain state financial support for special education and 

related services. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(18)(C); 34 C.F.R. § 300.163(c)(1). It would be 

equitable to grant this waiver because of the “exceptional or uncontrollable 

circumstances” due the continuing consequences of the 2009 “precipitous and 

unforeseen decline” in Iowa’s financial resources. In support of this waiver 

request, the State of Iowa respectfully states the following:

I. Iowa is still recovering from a “precipitous and unforeseen decline in the financial 

resources of the State.” 

On April 29, 2010, the United States Department of Education granted Iowa a 

waiver based on a finding that Iowa’s budget crisis, which required an acrossthe-board budget cut in October 2009, was an “exceptional or uncontrollable” 

circumstance. While Iowa’s state fiscal health is improving, it has not yet 

improved to its condition prior to the October 2009 budget cuts. Iowa’s budget 

crisis was so severe that complete recovery within one year cannot reasonably be 

expected.

Iowa’s state financial support for special education in FY2009 was $525,593,244 

and its support in FY2010 was $487,490,347, a difference of $38,102,897. For 

FY2011, Iowa’s state support for special education is $521,510,321, an amount 

that is $4,082,923 below FY2009 levels. While still below FY2009 levels, Iowa’s 

FY2011 support for special education is 99.22% of FY2009 levels. Considered 

from another perspective, Iowa’s FY2011 support for special education restored 

89.28% of the cuts required in FY 2010. 
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Iowa law requires a balanced budget. See Iowa Code ch. 8 (2011). Within the 

constraints of Iowa law, Iowa has demonstrated its continued commitment to 

educating children with disabilities, by restoring state special education support 

to over ninety-nine percent of pre-crisis levels. 

Iowa’s FY2010 budget (after the across-the-board reduction) was $5.08 billion, 

and its budget for FY2011 is $5.28 billion. This is an increase of 3.94%. Iowa’s 

state support for special education in FY2010, after the across-the-board cuts, was 

$487 million and, in FY2011, it is $521 million. This is an increase of 6.98%. 

Iowa’s increased support for special education was much greater than the state’s 

overall budget growth. Special education funding in Iowa has increased at a 

faster rate than the state budget as a whole.

II. Iowa remains committed to provide a free appropriate public education to all Iowa 

children with disabilities. 

Notwithstanding its continuing difficulties, Iowa remains committed to offering 

a free appropriate public education (FAPE), as required by the IDEA, to all Iowa 

children with disabilities. The Iowa Department of Education has informed 

school districts that children with disabilities remain entitled to a FAPE even in 

challenging fiscal times. The Iowa Department of Education fully expects that all 

children with disabilities receive an education calculated to provide them with 

benefit, even after reduced state support for special education. 

As proof of Iowa’s commitment, please note the results of the United States 

Department of Education’s October 2010 special education verification visit to 

Iowa. During that visit, the Office of Special Education Programs conducted 

focused monitoring of the provision of FAPE after its decision to grant Iowa’s 

waiver request. OSEP could find no evidence that Iowa children with disabilities 

were denied a FAPE during the period for which Iowa sought a waiver (Iowa 

Part B 2010 Verification Letter Enclosure, at 10).

Iowa’s AEAs and LEAs were able to provide FAPE with a reduction of $38 

million from FY 2009 levels, during the year in which the United States 

Department of Education granted Iowa’s waiver. Iowa has the will and 

capability to provide a FAPE when the reduction from FY2009 levels is only $4 

million. This factor alone weighs heavily in favor of granting this waiver 

request.
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III. It would be equitable to grant this waiver due to “exceptional or uncontrollable 

circumstances.”

Due to the continued recovery of Iowa’s fiscal health, it would be equitable for 

you to grant this waiver. This is so for several reasons.

First, a combination of state aid and local property taxes are utilized for special 

education costs in Iowa. When state special education funding is reduced, an 

LEA may raise property taxes or use cash reserves, and an AEA may use its cash 

reserves. LEAs may request permission to receive allowable growth (the right to 

raise additional property taxes) for negative balances in special education during 

a school year. Iowa Code § 257.31(14). In contrast to Iowa’s LEAs, the Iowa 

Department of Education and the AEAs lack taxing authority to counteract a 

reduction in special education funding. If Iowa’s Part B grant were reduced 

under section 300.163(b), Iowa’s AEAs and the Iowa Department of Education 

would be disproportionately harmed financially and lack the ability to recoup 

the loss of funds.

Second, special education faired very well in Iowa’s FY2011 budget, both in 

absolute and comparative terms. As noted above, Iowa’s special education 

funding has recovered at a faster rate than the state budget as a whole. This is 

not a circumstance where special education funding is bearing a 

disproportionate weight of fiscal troubles. Rather, the opposite is true.

Third, the action required by the Part B regulations is harsh. The penalty Iowa 

faces is a reduction in its Part B grant equal to the amount it fell short of 

maintaining state financial support. 34 C.F.R. § 300.163(b). If Iowa was actively 

pursuing other priorities to the exclusion of special education, the remedy might

have deterrent value. That is not the case here. Due to the deterioration, within 

a matter of months, of Iowa’s fiscal standing, Iowa has no choice but to make 

drastic reductions in FY2010, and Iowa has taken concrete steps to bring state 

special education support to over ninety-nine percent of FY2009 levels. Any 

additional reduction in federal assistance would have no deterrent value and 

would make matters worse.

Fourth, and most importantly, Iowa’s children with disabilities are still receiving 

FAPE. OSEP’s focused monitoring visit confirmed this, and the Iowa 

Department of Education remains committed to monitor and enforce this 

requirement.
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Iowa’s economic and fiscal affairs are recovering, but not completely, from the 

unavoidable deterioration that required the October 2009 across-the-board 

budget cuts. Iowa remains committed to providing needed special education 

and related services to all children with disabilities. Imposing the statutory 

penalty for failure to maintain state financial support, when such failure is 

directly traceable to an unavoidable, nation-wide fiscal crisis, would take a bad 

situation and make it worse. Equitable principles support granting this waiver. 

IV. Conclusion

For the reasons stated in this request, the Iowa Department of Education 

respectfully requests that you exercise your authority under 34 C.F.R. section 

300.163(c) and waive the requirement that Iowa maintain state financial support, 

due to “exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances.” The specific amount 

sought is $4,082,923. If you have any questions about this matter, please contact 

me. You may also contact Martin J. Ikeda, Iowa’s state director of special 

education, at Marty.Ikeda@iowa.gov or 515-281-5735. For questions about this 

request and the law, please contact Thomas Mayes, Iowa’s special education law 

consultant, at Thomas.Mayes@iow.gov or 515-242-5614. For questions about this 

request and special education finance, please contact Steve Crew, Iowa’s special 

education finance consultant, at Steve.Crew@iowa.gov or 515-326-1029.

Thank you in advance for your careful consideration of this application.

Respectfully submitted,

Jason E. Glass

Director

Iowa Department of Education

(515) 281-3436

Jason.Glass@iowa.gov

CC: Office of the Hon. Terry E. Branstad, Governor

Martin J. Ikeda, Iowa Department of Education

Kevin Fangman, Iowa Department of Education

Konni Cawiezell, Iowa Department of Education

Jeff Berger, Iowa Department of Education

Iowa Department of Education Special Education Administrative Team
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Iowa Department of Education Special Education Finance Team

Iowa Department of Education Special Education Legal Team