This paper focuses on the history and utilization of special education funding in the Green Valley Area Education Agency 14 (AEA 14). AEA 14 is the most rural AEA in Iowa and serves 22 public school districts and 1 parochial school district. AEA 14 has lagged financially due to its sparse population and low special education funding. Services such as school social work and special education counseling were limited by the financial strain. The responsibilities for these services were placed upon special education teachers. The AEA 14 director of special education resolved this financial inequity by proposing legislation to include a sparsity factor in the funding formula. Prior to the sparsity formula being initiated, the Special Education Teacher Advisory Committee was formed in 1989 to offset the lack of special education consultants. The first year the committee worked on a project dealing with the increasing numbers of at-risk students in Iowa schools. Once AEA 14 received the sparsity funding, a search for full time consultants began. However, the director of special education believed the best consultants were teachers. Six of the seven teachers serving on the committee were hired to provide consultant services outside of classroom time. It is presently the only "teacher as consultant" model in the state of Iowa. This model demonstrates that it is teachers who are best equipped to evaluate, communicate, and facilitate teacher change. (LP)