The system keeps governance in the hands of the citizenry and closest to those who are governed. It.'s logical that AEA governance comes from publicly-elected local district board members. At election time all local boards in a district meet in a convention. Each district is allowed a percentage of votes equal to the percentage of the school district's population in the Director District. AEA board members must reside in the district they represent, may be members of local school boards, but cannot be school employees.
Directors serve without pay for staggered three-year terms.
Each board elects its own president and vice-president, and appoints a treasurer and secretary. The AEA administrator serves as the board's chief executive officer. Iowa's area education agency budgets are made up of a combination of direct state aid, local property taxes and various grants. The mechanism which brings state fund to the agencies is unique, however, because the AEAs have no taxing authority. AEA funding appears in each local school district's budget, but it merely flows through the school budgets.