News Release

February 6, 2018

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 2018 LEGISLATIVE BILL STANCES

The legislative session is in full swing and senators have introduced more than 450 bills.  Nearly three dozen bills impact education in some way or another.  The State Board of Education held a legislative retreat on Friday, February 2^nd to discuss the education proposals.

In January, NDE staff provided the board with summaries of the bills, their potential impact, and recommendations on how to proceed.  The legislative committee then discussed the bills and formed recommended stances for the full board. All Board members had a chance to discuss the bills at the retreat. 

The board took stances of neutral, support, or opposition.  

The board opposes three bills:

• LB 1116 (Senator Linehan) – Create the Quality Education Accountability Commission and the Quality Education Accountability Office.
• LB 1135 (Senator Vargas) – Adopt the Alternative Certification for Quality Teachers Act.
• LR 285CA (Senator Murante) – Constitutional amendment to eliminate the State Board of Education.

The board supports six bills:

• LB 803 (Senator Stinner) – Change provisions related to kindergarten, early childhood education, and the Step Up to Quality Childcare Act
• LB 1052 (Senator Pansing Brooks) – Require instruction and teacher education related to dyslexia.
• LB 1069 (Senator Brasch) – Change provisions related to the Committee on Americanism.
• LB 1070 (Senator Brewer) – Change an election requirement for school districts with fewer than twenty-five students in high school grades.
• LB 1081 (Education Committee) – Change education provisions regarding reporting, penalties, residency, boundaries, priority schools, subpoena authority, poverty, and limited English proficiency.
• LB 1110 (Senator Vargas) – Require annual reporting of school performance scores and classifications.

The board also chose to support the amendment to LB 651, Senator Linehan’s reading improvement act, but remain opposed to the original bill.

The board will have a chance to revisit the proposed bills as they move forward in the session. 

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