Happy Birthday Nebraska and greetings from the Unicameral. One of the most important issues we deal with in the Legislature is education. I have the privilege of being a member of the Education Committee, and today I am going to summarize a handful of the bills that had hearings before the committee this week.
LB 593, introduced by Senator Scott Lautenbaugh of Omaha, would allow the State Board of Education to create charter schools. This type of school would be independent of the school district in its location. LB 593 mandates that charter schools will be non-profit and must still meet all education requirements set forth by the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education would have the jurisdiction to regulate the charter standards, discipline them, and remove them if they were not meeting their standards.
The Education Committee also held a public hearing on LB 438. This bill, introduced by Speaker Greg Adams of York, would target low performing schools and create a process to help correct their problems. LB 438 would require the State Board of Education to designate five schools, which are considered under-performing, and to get help from an intervention team appointed by the State Board. Under LB 438, this team would help both the school district and the staff at that particular school to identify the problems and create a strategy to correct them. The school would be classified as a priority school until the State Board deemed it was no longer necessary.
A public hearing was held on two different bills dealing with the Learning Community. The Legislature created the Learning Community in 2007 with the intent of improving minority and low-income student academic achievement. The Learning Community is comprised of 11 districts in the Omaha metropolitan area, and has a common property tax levy. The funds from this levy and state aid to schools is then redistributed among member districts.
LB 179 introduced by Senator Bill Kintner of Papillion would eliminate the Learning Community in its entirety. LB 585, introduced by Senator Jim Smith of Papillion would modify the current Learning Community and reduce the governing council from 18 members to six members. A 1-cent tax levy is currently used to pay for elementary learning center employees, for contracts with entities or individuals who are not employees of a learning community and for pilot projects. Under this proposal, all would be eliminated. The 2-cent levy would remain, these funds would be directed to early childhood education programs for kids in poverty and for focus school or capital projects. Under this proposal, transportation costs in some instances would be shifted onto the school district to pay. Lastly LB 585 would allow multiple school districts to work together on focus programs, magnet schools or pathway programs without the approval of the Learning Community.
The Education Committee took no immediate action on these bills. This will hopefully give you an understanding of some of the issues before the Education Committee. As always please do not hesitate to contact my office if I can be of any assistance to you or your family. My Capitol office number is (402) 471-2712 and you can always reach me by email at lseiler@leg.ne.gov.
LB 593, introduced by Senator Scott Lautenbaugh of Omaha, would allow the State Board of Education to create charter schools. This type of school would be independent of the school district in its location. LB 593 mandates that charter schools will be non-profit and must still meet all education requirements set forth by the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education would have the jurisdiction to regulate the charter standards, discipline them, and remove them if they were not meeting their standards.
The Education Committee also held a public hearing on LB 438. This bill, introduced by Speaker Greg Adams of York, would target low performing schools and create a process to help correct their problems. LB 438 would require the State Board of Education to designate five schools, which are considered under-performing, and to get help from an intervention team appointed by the State Board. Under LB 438, this team would help both the school district and the staff at that particular school to identify the problems and create a strategy to correct them. The school would be classified as a priority school until the State Board deemed it was no longer necessary.
A public hearing was held on two different bills dealing with the Learning Community. The Legislature created the Learning Community in 2007 with the intent of improving minority and low-income student academic achievement. The Learning Community is comprised of 11 districts in the Omaha metropolitan area, and has a common property tax levy. The funds from this levy and state aid to schools is then redistributed among member districts.
LB 179 introduced by Senator Bill Kintner of Papillion would eliminate the Learning Community in its entirety. LB 585, introduced by Senator Jim Smith of Papillion would modify the current Learning Community and reduce the governing council from 18 members to six members. A 1-cent tax levy is currently used to pay for elementary learning center employees, for contracts with entities or individuals who are not employees of a learning community and for pilot projects. Under this proposal, all would be eliminated. The 2-cent levy would remain, these funds would be directed to early childhood education programs for kids in poverty and for focus school or capital projects. Under this proposal, transportation costs in some instances would be shifted onto the school district to pay. Lastly LB 585 would allow multiple school districts to work together on focus programs, magnet schools or pathway programs without the approval of the Learning Community.
The Education Committee took no immediate action on these bills. This will hopefully give you an understanding of some of the issues before the Education Committee. As always please do not hesitate to contact my office if I can be of any assistance to you or your family. My Capitol office number is (402) 471-2712 and you can always reach me by email at lseiler@leg.ne.gov.
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