Policy Topics

Nebraska has a teacher crisis in our state, and addressing this challenge will be our board's most urgent priority.  None of the other policy items mean anything, if we do not have enough teachers in our classrooms to accommodate Nebraska's students. Being with the teacher and our other staff in the classroom is what students need-- today and always. And-- on the other side of that equation-- our teachers need respect, support from parents, healthy environments, more efficient pathways to certification, and higher pay.  These are the discussions our board will continue to have this year.  I have been bringing this matter forward at many, many of our board meetings.  I am now on the executive committee of the board and we are charged with working on this issue with our state legislature. There are several appropriate bills that have been introduced this year that are considering some of the certification issues that challenge our teacher pipeline.  Several of these bills have support from nearly every entity in the education sector including school administrators, university representatives, the Nebraska State Education Association, and many other key stakeholder groups. 

The Health Education policies are complex and I have spent a tremendous amount of time in the past year listening to faith leaders, parents, medical doctors, school nurses, educators, and school leaders.  People may not realize that when I say I am listening to parents -- that I mean I am listening to "all" parents.  I have heard from a large number of parents who have LGBTQ children, including many parents of transgender students.   I believe in listening, but I also believe in learning from data and research, and also in having conversations to find common sense approaches.  

Through this process I have learned that health education is important to keep children safe and successful in life.   Nebraska is one of the only two states in the country that does not currently have health education standards. The research shows that health education does help build confident youth who are less likely to be victims of abuse. And- there were many components to the health standards that included nutrition, mental health, and cultural diversity.

The health standards matter to me because they offer important opportunities to  teach respect and dignity for all, to reduce teen pregnancies, and to help solve the current STD health challenge in Nebraska.  That is the reality for kids today — 57% of Nebraska students said in a survey they had sex in  high school. And– if we do not have health standards– I fear that too many kids are learning sex from scary online places.  Having health education standards that are research-based discussions and for an appropriate age I have always believed should be the goals. I believe we could have achieved a more age appropriate third draft. And, I will always advocate for parents to have the right to make the decision for their child about attendance in health education classes.

Elections of SBOE members help to limit the influence of politics and provide for greater input from voters. Legislators recognized the importance and value of an elected board when they proposed creation of the State Board in 1951. An elected board is crucial to a strong education system because:

• Elected State Board members serve as the citizen’s voice in education.

• Board members represent geographic districts across the state.

• Nebraska has long prided itself as a “local control” state. Having regional elections for state board members ensures decision making and responsiveness is closer to the local voter.

• Greater stability and continuity of policy is maintained with an elected board.

I am a strong public school advocate and keenly aware that we have 50,000 school age youth living in poverty in Greater Omaha, and 100,000 youth across the state of Nebraska. We also have many diverse learners and language needs. I am all for school choice opportunities that uphold state school standard accountabilities, and continue the tradition of taxpayer oversight (elected school boards). I do not believe in privatizing our education sector but I do believe we can learn much from the innovative learning opportunities in our own communities, and around the country. I think we have a system of school choice in Nebraska that can always be improved and enhanced, and this can be done within the current authority of the State Board in partnership with local school boards.

I am very proud of the work we have done in the last 2 years to keep our schools safer. At the Nebraska Department of Education we created the Safe2HelpNE Hotline that has been used by thousands of Nebraskans in the last 2 years. https://www.safe2helpne.org

Safe2Help NE is a school related tip management system that allows students, parents and community members that live in the Douglas County, Omaha, Nebraska area to instantly relay and submit secure and anonymous safety concerns to the appropriate school, law enforcement agency or crisis counselor. Information shared from the student or community member can be related to harmful, dangerous or violent activity that is directed at schools, students or staff members or the threat of these activities. Some of these activities range from violence, suicide, weapons, domestic violence, inappropriate relationships, illicit drug use, threatening behavior, bullying, cyberbullying, self-harm and other acts of victimization that impact youth/students in Douglas County, Omaha, NE. The Safe2Help NE app allows you to submit anonymous and secure school safety related information to a 24/7 staffed crisis center. The crisis center is housed with the Boys Town National Hotline. Tips can be submitted via the Safe2Help NE website, calling 531-299-7233 or through the mobile app. Thousands of tips have been provided by Nebraskans, and more than 70 guns have been found as a result of this effort.

For further information about school safety—please visit this editorial I wrote that appeared in the Nebraska Examiner.

Having a State Board set academic "standards" is intended to ensure that all students have the skills & knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, & life upon graduation from high school, regardless of where they live. Not all standards are mandated. The curriculum requirements, text books & other resource materials, are all decided by local school districts which allows for strong local control & more parent input. The balance of local & state allows for the best results possible. There have been many controversies around "standards" previously in Nebraska. In the past voters fought to exclude climate change from science standards & fought to include creationism instead of evolution. Balance of state & local ensures excellence.

Art in education is a crucial part of any youth’s success and is a powerful motivator for all youth and most students that have trauma and stress in their personal lives. Research shows that low-income students that had high participation in the arts in high school, were two times more likely to graduate from college.

Less than 1 percent of workers in the U.S. begin their careers as an apprentice, learning a trade and getting paid for it at the same time. Yet skilled apprentices in the u.s. earn more than the average college graduate over a lifetime, with the exception of those in high-end majors, according to Dr. Anthony Carnevale director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the workforce. The United States has 30 million jobs that pay an average of $55,000 per year and do not require a bachelor’s degree. Skilled trades show among the highest potential among job categories, and high schools are the keys to filling industrial jobs.

A child’s learning doesn’t just end when the school bell rings.  Outside supports like after school programs and mentoring can turn the aimless hours after school into productive learning time. That’s a big benefit for kids with learning and attention issues, or youth whose family lives are challenged. But these out of school time supports also help youth develop the important social-emotional skills they need to be successful in life.  I have spent decades working outside the school buildings to support our school children, through my work as Education Director at the Durham, and as the former Executive Director of MENTOR Nebraska for 10 years. According to Bret Anderson, Principal of the Wilson Focus School in Omaha, one of the most innovative new schools in Omaha, he endorses me because “We need people like you that understand what is going on in education, non-profits, and understand the importance of community based support.”

Population trends of Nebraska are changing, and yet Nebraska ranks third highest in the country for the largest gap between whites and persons of color achieving an associate degree or higher. This creates a dramatic pipeline issue. Since the fastest growing segments of our population aren't attaining higher levels of education, they're also not likely to fill or create the jobs necessary to grow Nebraska's economy. We need to make sure that we are looking at every policy, initiative, and task force of the Nebraska Department of Education, and make sure that we are providing appropriate support to insure that all students will be successful.

Research has clearly demonstrated that the emotional, social and physical development of young children has a direct effect on their overall development and on the adult they will become. That is why understanding the need to invest in very young children is so important, so as to maximize their future well-being. This is not just an education matter, but something that economists also weigh in on. In states like Nebraska where unemployment is low, the most effective economic development policies are those that increase the quantity and quality of the local labor pool. Economists have repeatedly demonstrated that increased investment in high quality early childhood education has a proven record of improving local labor markets by developing soft and hard skills needed in school and in the workforce. The ROI for public dollars invested in early child education can be 6 to 1.

CRT is not taught in Nebraska's k-12 schools. Most young people would never understand CRT, most adults do not. CRT is not the same thing as teaching an accurate version of American history. I have a master’s degree in American history and I believe in teaching youth an accurate version of historical events. Without understanding our history we cannot progress as a country. I am proud to live in the United States and I know that we as a country have much to celebrate with pride.