(ABC 6 News) – Governor Reynolds’s Area Education Agency reform bill made its way to senate and house education committee hearings on Wednesday.

AEA leaders like Joel Pedersen are pushing back against the governor saying test scores aren’t only thing to measure success by.

“A student who can’t walk, success, meaning they take their first step, they can have a job when they leave school, and their parents didn’t know if that could happen. But that’s success that won’t show up on the standardized test scores,” said Pedersen.

But those in favor of the bill say AEA hasn’t provided the help to districts that was promised. And they want to see change.

“If you’re familiar with Okoboji, it has a strong special-ed department. Our teachers are wonderful, and they also would like to have more services at the local control in our district to provide more. We are getting short on those services,” said Okoboji Superintendent Todd Abrahamson.

But Pedersen says opposition for this bill has gained a lot of traction over the past few weeks and it showed in the hearings on Wednesday.

“I think it’s fair to say the amount of push back from smart, educated, passionate people that understand the system has been so strong to legislators and they have listened,” said Pedersen.

The house education committee did not pass the bill, but it did pass in the senate. However, some senators do want to see some amendments to the bill and continue the legislative process.