Latest news with #Royers
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers unlikely to lower minimum retirement age for Nebraska school employees
Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, center, talks about 2025 priorities for the teachers union. Jan. 28, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — Senators and school administrators expressed hesitation Wednesday in lowering, back to age 55, the minimum retirement age at which Nebraska school employees can step down with full benefits. Currently, eligible school employees face what is known as the 'Rule of 85,' whereby if someone's age plus years of service exceeds 85, that person can retire without any reductions in benefits. Employees who started before July 2018 can retire as young as 55, but employees hired after have to wait until at least age 60. Tim Royers, president of the NSEA, said an amendment to reverse that 'poor decision' would have little financial or staffing impact and could incentivize young educators to look ahead to retirement. 'Our young educators deserve the same flexibility that I and other veteran teachers enjoy when it comes to deciding when we turn off the classroom lights for the last time,' Royers said at a Wednesday hearing on the proposed amendment, which he supported. The Nebraska Council of School Administrators and the Nebraska Association of School Boards opposed the change. Lawmakers advance changes to Nebraska school retirement plan to help close budget hole Royers said it would be in the best interest of a teacher who, at age 55, already has 30 years of service, to step back if they're exhausted rather than being forced to work five more years. State Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln, chair of the Legislature's Nebraska Retirement Systems Committee, proposed the change as a deal with the NSEA. In return, the State of Nebraska would agree to withhold annual contributions to the school retirement plan for the next two years before going to a stair-stepped contribution system based on the plan's funding level. The amendment comes to Legislative Bill 645, which was introduced by Ballard on behalf of Gov. Jim Pillen and seeks to change the annual contribution levels for the state, employees and school districts. The school retirement plan for employees statewide outside of Omaha Public Schools (who have a separate pension plan) is currently 99.91% funded. If passed, the current version of LB 645 is expected to save the state about $80 million. With the new amendment, the state would save approximately $20 million more. State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, who has consistently opposed a shaky negotiations process behind LB 645, has repeatedly asked why the school plan had to be changed now. Royers said the original LB 645, which would have offered no reduced contributions to school employees or employers, was a 'poor bill' that he said was brought for the wrong reasons, mainly to help plug the state's nearly half-a-billion-dollar projected budget deficit. However, Royers said it presented a rare chance to 'force' a conversation on the plan, leading to an amended bill that could give the average school teacher more than $1,000 in annual take-home pay because of reduced contributions. Now, he views the amended bill as a way to give hard-working employees a benefit and put them on a more 'equal playing field.' Royers said he has to look for any wins for educators in a political environment where he said the 'political will' makes such victories 'candidly, limited.' Conrad asked Royers what happens if he is wrong about the feasibility of the amended bill, to which Royers responded that he hopes he's not. He pointed to an actuarial study showing that the amended LB 645 and a lower Rule of 85 could be financially feasible. Tim Hruza, appearing on behalf of the school administrators association, said the organization wanted a new actuarial study to fully understand the impact of a modified Rule of 85. But if the changes have to wait another year, Royers said he's OK with that. 'If the end result of this is we've had this conversation, it's on the radar but it's not going to be something we get to until next year,' Royers said, 'I'm perfectly fine with that.' LB 645 will return for the second of three stages of debate on Thursday. Ballard said he is likely to withdraw the amendment that was considered Wednesday. The full state budget will need to advance from the Appropriations Committee by next Tuesday, with debate beginning May 6. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Face to face: NSEA president, school choice laws author debate future of Nebraska education
Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, and former State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of the Elkhorn area participate in a debate on Nebraska education policy, including school choice, at the 50th annual Nebraska Ecumenical Legislative Briefing Day at Christ United Methodist Church in Lincoln. Feb. 8, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — Months after a tense election cycle to repeal the state's two latest school choice laws, the former state senator who wrote those bills and the current president of the state teacher's union spent Saturday debating the future of education policy, with a focus on Nebraska students in need. Lou Ann Linehan, the former state senator for the Elkhorn area, and Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, sat side by side for the 50th annual Nebraska Ecumenical Legislative Briefing Day at Christ United Methodist Church in Lincoln. They debated school choice and more for about an hour, offering competing visions for what the next steps should be to change the 'status quo.' The pair have crossed paths in and out of the Legislature, often clashing in recent years in Linehan's two committees: Revenue and Education. Royers was past president of the Millard Education Association, and Linehan chaired the Revenue Committee for six years. Beyond policy disagreements, the two have found common ground in Linehan-led and teacher-backed efforts to increase support for students struggling with reading, including dyslexia, which Linehan has, and to increase state funding for schools, largely to offset the amount of school spending relying on property taxes. Linehan also assisted Royers, a civics and government teacher for Millard before ascending to the top NSEA post last fall, by personally replying in writing to students or otherwise engaging with them on assignments and presentations that Royers devised. Most recently, Linehan and Royers were among the public faces of Nebraska's school choice 'battle,' as Linehan described it Saturday, hosting dueling rallies for and against Linehan's past laws. It was a fight that sometimes got personal, including Linehan questioning whether the union had the best interests of children or families at heart and the union pointing out Linehan's familial connection to the American Federation for Children. Her daughter works for the group. Linehan, who was term-limited last month after eight years, led the passage of two laws in her final two years to help Nebraska families cover the costs of attending a private K-12 school, after multiple earlier attempts. 'I've always been able to choose and pick [what was best for my children] because I had the financial ability and the knowledge to do so, and I don't think that choice should be limited to just those with means,' Linehan said Saturday. NSEA-backed Support Our Schools and Linehan-backed Keep Kids First raised and spent more than $9 million combined, for and against the referendum measures in 2023 and 2024. Support Our Schools accounted for 83% of that total fundraising and spending. A key reason for the imbalance: Linehan and her supporters largely declined to fight the 2024 referendum. Royers said option enrollment, which allows parents to apply and possibly move their child to a different district or school than the one they live closest to, gives parents a choice in public schools, which Linehan supports. However, she has criticized option enrollment for leaving some students behind, particularly those receiving special education or those who can't afford transportation to a different school or district. If there's an issue with a neighborhood school, those should be resolved first, Royers said. He said he and Linehan have a 'philosophical disagreement' on how best to meet the needs of Nebraska students. 'All of those kids deserve to have the education they should need,' Royers said. 'It shouldn't just be that we provide a lifeboat to a handful of kids to go somewhere else.' The annual Ecumenical Briefing Day focuses on the assumption that part of living under God's grace means 'fighting for justice for those oppressed or in need whose voices go unheard.' Linehan and Royers also weighed in on how to best support underperforming schools, what possible ramifications could come of federal calls to abolish the U.S. Department of Education and whether chaplains should be allowed to serve as school counselors. Among NSEA's main concerns that Royers voiced Saturday: Private school tuition sometimes skyrockets after such laws pass, keeping private education out of reach for some of the families that supporters of the laws say they want to help. This often leads to families with children already in private schools being the biggest beneficiaries of expanded scholarship or voucher programs. The dollar-for-dollar tax credits disproportionately benefit a specific type of donation, to private school scholarship organizations, that doesn't apply equally to other donations, such as to public school foundations. Some have suggested expanding the tax credit program to include those public school foundations as a compromise. The scholarship or voucher programs apply to all private schools that have been 'approved' or 'accredited' by the state. Royers noted accreditation requires a higher standard. He said he knows there are great private schools, but he argued that all are accredited. He said the application process to be an 'approved' school is just one page long. 'Does that mean if we removed 'approved' and it was just 'accredited,' that you would support it?' Linehan asked Royers. 'I would be more comfortable with it, how about that,' he said. Royers said the laws also come as some attempt to privatize the education system and profit off of it. However, he said, he doesn't think that is Linehan's goal. 'Even though I fundamentally disagree with the solution she's advocating for, I fundamentally do believe that she believes this is in the best interest of kids,' Royers said. I've always been able to choose and pick (what was best for my children) because I had the financial ability and the knowledge to do so, and I don't think that choice should be limited to just those with means. – Former State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan About 57% of voters rejected Linehan's latest school choice law in November, Legislative Bill 1402, an annual $10 million appropriation to the State Treasurer's office to distribute funds to families to offset private school attendance costs. It was the fourth time Nebraska voters have rejected school choice proposals at the ballot box. Her successor, State Sen. Tony Sorrentino, has introduced a bill to revive the 2023 version of Linehan's school choice law, LB 753, which set aside $25 million in dollar-for-dollar income tax credits to offset private donations to organizations funding scholarships for students seeking to attend private K-12 schools. Linehan repealed the 2023 version in favor of the direct scholarship or voucher program last year. Sorrentino's Legislative Bill 509 is joined by LB 624 from State Sen. Rob Dover of Norfolk, which would revive the new scholarship or voucher program that voters repealed in November. Both are among at least seven school choice bills in the 2025 legislative session. Much of the union's hesitation and pushback has less to do with what the proposal is now, Royers said, and more to do with what it could become and 'the door that could open.' He said that concern grows with Linehan no longer in the Legislature because he understands Linehan's intent with her legislation. Similar laws in other states have started at a similar scale, scope and focus and have grown, he explained. Linehan said that if students are leaving any school in droves, it should raise questions. Some families can't afford to leave and might not feel like they have the power to demand change, she said, pointing to parts of the Omaha Public Schools, where she said some schools have underperformed 'for two or three generations.' 'If you are poor and you are afraid somebody might come and take your kids away from you, you don't go to school and demand answers,' Linehan said. Asked by an audience member about the next steps for underperforming schools, Royers agreed with Linehan that many decisions reside in the Nebraska Department of Education. Linehan said it is up to the department and the State Board of Education to accredit schools, but she said it's right to question why schools that are failing are still being accredited or receiving more state aid per-student aid than others that are performing better. 'It's not always just money,' Linehan said of solutions. All of those kids deserve to have the education they should need. It shouldn't just be that we provide a lifeboat to a handful of kids to go somewhere else. – Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association Royers said he needs to do better in voicing alternatives to Linehan's approach, which he said Saturday is the 'community school model.' It seeks to tailor services and supports specifically for each neighborhood, decentralizing decision-making and bringing in parents with a voting voice to 'help steer the school in the right direction to meet the needs of their kids.' 'It's not a cookie cutter answer, because the fundamental principle is it should be tailored to whatever the needs of the community are,' Royers said. Linehan said she is 'so proud' of Sorrentino, who she said 'just ran in there' and said, 'I'm going to do this.' She said it takes a lot of nerve and is very hard to take on the teacher's union. 'The Education Committee in the Legislature is one of the most important committees there is. And if you're a Republican, a conservative, and you're for choice, and you put yourself on that committee, you're putting a bull's-eye on your back, and it's not right,' Linehan said. 'We can help all kids, and I've always wanted to help all kids.' Royers said that while the two disagree on how, he and Linehan are united in wanting to help students. 'Where I think we do have common ground is both of us are unhappy with the status quo,' Royers said. 'We just fundamentally disagree on what the solution is to the status quo.' Both Royers and Linehan bristled at the suggestion of having chaplains serve as school counselors, a proposal advanced by State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City in 2024 and proposed again in LB 549 in 2025. The new bill would allow a clergy member to serve at a school in a volunteer capacity, such as providing academic, career, emotional or behavioral health support. Royers said that while he's had important pastors in his life, they're not trained to be counselors. 'To imply that those two are the same, candidly, in my mind is insulting to both counselors and religious leaders,' Royers said. Counselors also take up coordination of federal Section 504 support plans for students, Royers said. It is a second tier of special education services with a lower qualifying threshold than individualized education plans (IEPs). Linehan said she hasn't read the new bill, but she remembers part of the 2024 push was for schools without counselors or other needed teachers in rural Nebraska, which could be helpful. She said she didn't disagree with Royers' concerns. 'If you're going to be a counselor, you need education that says you're a counselor,' Linehan said. Some of the biggest cheers for both debaters came from an audience question on the possible ramifications to Nebraska schools of President Donald Trump, tech billionaire Elon Musk 'and their kind' who have pushed ideas including the abolishment of the U.S. Department of Education. Royers said if anybody tried to give a definitive answer right now 'they're wrong,' because while there is a lot of rhetoric that sounds alarming, it 'really doesn't have a lot of teeth behind it.' For example, he said, eliminating the federal department would require an act of Congress. He predicted that once people realize the department's role as a distributor of resources with little influence on curriculum, abolishing it will face bipartisan opposition, as it did last year. Royers said eliminating the department would diminish certain financial accountability measures in place for federal dollars, such as requiring compliance with federal special education laws. 'Right now, it just feels overwhelming and you have to play almost a sense of policy triage, otherwise you mentally won't get through these next four years, just to be candid with you,' Royers said. 'You have to prioritize what's the most immediate concern.' Linehan said she had breakfast Thursday with a very conservative friend who similarly questioned federal actions in recent weeks and called it 'crazy.' 'It is crazy, and I agree with Tim,' Linehan said. 'The president of the United States can't just do things. He can't just fire people. He can't just do away with departments. He's got to deal with Congress.' Linehan worked in Washington, D.C., for 12 years, including as campaign manager and later chief of staff for former U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. She later worked in the U.S. Department of State in various roles, including deputy assistant secretary. She said it's hard to get anything done in Washington. Linehan said Trump is 'showboating a bit' to let people feel like he'll get something done. With a flood of information, she also offered her personal solution: 'I do not listen to the blah, blah, blah on TV … It's not healthy.' Linehan also earned a laugh when she said at one point, 'I am never running again, you can tell by some of my answers.' Royers similarly suggested self-reflection on reactions to political developments, noting that negativity draws more attention. He said more people engaged with the NSEA on social media posts regarding school choice than when the union discussed the priorities of its teachers. He said getting engagement on those other issues is 'like pulling teeth.' 'We've gotten very good at getting fired up about something we don't like,' Royers said. He continued: 'It's a choice to always focus on things that get you fired up in the wrong way, and we still need to be vigilant about these things, don't get me wrong, but at a certain point, we're just eating ourselves up.' LB 753 (2023) — The 'Opportunity Scholarships Act' from State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan. It created dollar-for-dollar income tax credits for individuals who donated to newly established scholarship granting organizations. The annual cap was $25 million in credits, which could grow to $100 million each year over time, if there was high demand. Passed 33-11 in May 2023. The Support Our Schools campaign gathered enough signatures to place a repeal of the law on the November 2024 ballot, raising and spending more than $1.8 million to do so. The Keep Kids First campaign, backed by Linehan, raised and spent more than $1.4 million against the signature-gathering effort. LB 1402 (2024) — The second similar school choice law from Linehan. It created an annual $10 million program in the State Treasurer's Office for $10 million in education scholarships or vouchers. The bill repealed LB 753, ending the active repeal efforts. Passed 32-15 in April 2024. The Support Our Schools campaign gathered enough signatures to place a repeal of the law on the November 2024 ballot, raising and spending more than $5.6 million to do so. The Linehan-backed Keep Kids First campaign raised about $86,000 and spent $127,000 opposing the referendum effort. The repeal passed at the ballot box with about 57% support, receiving majority support in 45 of the state's 49 legislative districts. LB 509 (2025) and LB 624 (2025) — LB 509, from State Sen. Tony Sorrentino, Linehan's successor, would nearly word-for-word revive the Opportunity Scholarships Act. LB 624, from State Sen. Rob Dover, would revive LB 1402 in the State Treasurer's Office. Other bills in 2025 seek to enact school choice policies, such as through option enrollment (LB 557, State Sen. Christy Armendariz of Omaha; LB 633, State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair), educational savings accounts (LB 131, Sorrentino; LB 427, State Sen. Bob Andersen of Omaha) or limiting such state support for foster care youths (LB 481, State Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln).
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NSEA, lawmakers outline 2025 priorities after survey of nearly 10,000 Nebraska teachers
Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, leads a news conference highlighting 2025 priorities for teachers statewide. Jan. 28, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — The Nebraska State Education Association sought to rally support Tuesday for a package of legislation designed after a survey of nearly 10,000 teachers statewide. Tim Royers, president of the state teacher's union, joined with seven lawmakers to unveil the top 2025 priorities for the NSEA. The proposals generally seek to increase state support for teachers, such as retention bonuses, stipends for student teachers, reimbursements for school supplies and paid family and medical leave. 'One of the things that we know in Nebraska is that without our teachers, Nebraska has no future,' State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha said at a morning news conference. The eight bills presented Tuesday were introduced by State Sens. Margo Juarez of Omaha, Jason Prokop of Lincoln, George Dungan of Lincoln, Ashlei Spivey of Omaha and Danielle Conrad of Lincoln. All are Democrats in the officially nonpartisan Legislature. Royers said the legislation is part of NSEA's goal to ensure all Nebraska children get to receive a great public education, which he said often depends on highly qualified teachers. In the fall, the NSEA received written comments from thousands of teachers, whose feedback ranged from workplace conditions to compensation and teachers' plans for the future. Royers said only 8% of respondents reported feeling that the Legislature takes them into account when crafting education policy, and about 11% said the state currently incentivizes them to stay in the profession. More than a quarter of educators, Royers continued, are unsure if they want to continue teaching after this school year 'unless something meaningfully changes.' 'Candidly, educators don't really feel like they have folks in their corner right now,' Royers said. One of the 'boldest' 2025 ideas, Royers said, comes from Spivey's Legislative Bill 440. It would establish an additional 0.35% payroll tax on teachers, matched by local school districts, to offer teachers six weeks of paid family and medical leave by funding long-term substitute teachers. For a teacher making $60,000, that would amount to a monthly fee of $17.50. 'For less than $20 a month out of a teacher's paycheck, they would get access to a profound benefit,' Royers said. The focus of the Spivey legislation started on young women in teaching sometimes being forced to leave the profession after taking one or two months of unpaid leave because they had a child early in their career. But the NSEA began to see other needs, too, Royers said, such as teachers who faced cancer diagnoses or teachers who waited seven years to even attempt having kids, trying to save up enough days off 'so they wouldn't take that hit.' 'No person should have to make family decisions based on when their paid leave is sufficient for them to do that,' Royers said. Juarez, a former school board member for Omaha Public Schools and former paraeducator, is seeking to create retention bonuses for paraeducators through LB 524, $1,000 for a para working an average of 28 hours per week, or proportional for a paraeducator working less. Her LB 523 would establish a statewide student teacher stipend program, paying them $4,000 per teaching semester. Juarez said the underpaid and unpaid labor that teachers are expected to offer when training for the job is 'extreme,' which begins with student teaching. Quality educators, she said, are sometimes turned away because the financial burden. Another Juarez bill, LB 161, would increase how much the state pays school districts for full-time early childhood students. The bill does not yet have a cost estimate from the Legislature. Currently, all school districts get about $1,500 in state aid for each K-12 student, but districts receive roughly 60% of that amount, or $900, for each early childhood student. Juarez's bill would raise that to 100% for the foundation aid. 'Education is more likely for early childhood students to earn higher wages later on, live healthier lives and avoid incarceration, raise strong families and contribute to society,' Juarez said. Prokop's LB 282 would similarly seek to support teachers who 'pour their hearts and souls' into their classrooms and students as well as their wallets, with one study indicating teachers annually pay average out-of-pocket costs on school supplies of about $860. His bill would establish up to $300 in reimbursements through the State Board of Education for qualified teaching supplies. If all of Nebraska's approximate 27,000 teachers applied for the reimbursement, the Nebraska Department of Education estimates it would cost $8.1 million annually. The Legislature's fiscal office estimated that 60% of teachers might use the funds, which would also gain $300,000 to $400,000 in additional state revenue through increased teacher income. 'While it's about acknowledging that financial commitment they've made to the students, it's really more about the acknowledgment that they just really care about their kids and the students that they are teaching,' Prokop said. LB 411, from State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, would establish baseline retention grants for all teachers, beginning at $2,500 for teachers in years one through six of service and increasing to $4,000 for teachers in their 16th or later. 'One of the things that we know in Nebraska is that without our teachers, Nebraska has no future.' – State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha Excluding high-need retention grants, Dungan's program could annually cost between $66 million (if all teachers were in their first to sixth year of teaching) and $106 million (if all teachers were in their 16th year of teaching or beyond). If all teachers received one high-need retention grant before 2028, as allowed under the bill for certain subject area endorsements, that would cost an additional $132 million. DeBoer's LB 598 would increase state funding for school districts that provide teachers at least 60 minutes of non-instructional planning time daily. The bill would also allow school districts to apply for additional limited English proficiency program funding, based on need, and get additional funds based on the number of students with disabilities who are on Section 504 support plans. The last bill, LB 589, from State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, would allow school districts to be reimbursed for the costs of substitute teachers who cover special education teachers if they take a 'paperwork day' to complete documentation, reporting and compliance requirements. The bill does not yet have a cost estimate from the Legislature. Four such days could be reimbursed annually. 'Making small changes like that, that don't come with a big price tag to state taxpayers, can make a world of difference for the teachers and the children that they are serving,' Conrad said. Conrad and Royers indicated the proposed legislation is in direct response to legislation that they said would undermine teachers' ability to serve kids. That includes continued efforts to divert state funds for private schools, which Conrad described as a 'slap in the face' to voters. 'Let's be clear: We're not content to just play defense when it comes to standing up for our schools and our kids and our teachers and our incredible public education system,' she said. Royers said the NSEA will also partner with State Sens. Kathleen Kauth and John Fredrickson, both of Omaha, on studies that could inform possible future legislation around alternate certification pathways for high school teachers and for high behavioral needs care facilities. A third planned interim study would examine how to improve higher education compensation. Royers said even with a projected budget shortfall for the state, he and senators are confident they'll find the support for proposals that are 'perfectly in line' with the Education Future Fund that Gov. Jim Pillen carved out in 2023 to ensure continued state support for education. 'Some of these bills that you just heard about today aren't going to get over the finish line this year,' Royers said. 'It might take us a few tries, but I can tell you that by simply introducing all of these proposals, it's already making a difference in how educators feel in this state.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NSEA, lawmakers outline 2025 priorities after survey of nearly 10,000 Nebraska teachers
Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, leads a news conference highlighting 2025 priorities for teachers statewide. Jan. 28, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — The Nebraska State Education Association sought to rally support Tuesday for a package of legislation designed after a survey of nearly 10,000 teachers statewide. Tim Royers, president of the state teacher's union, joined with seven lawmakers to unveil the top 2025 priorities for the NSEA. The proposals generally seek to increase state support for teachers, such as retention bonuses, stipends for student teachers, reimbursements for school supplies and paid family and medical leave. 'One of the things that we know in Nebraska is that without our teachers, Nebraska has no future,' State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha said at a morning news conference. The eight bills presented Tuesday were introduced by State Sens. Margo Juarez of Omaha, Jason Prokop of Lincoln, George Dungan of Lincoln, Ashlei Spivey of Omaha and Danielle Conrad of Lincoln. All are Democrats in the officially nonpartisan Legislature. Royers said the legislation is part of NSEA's goal to ensure all Nebraska children get to receive a great public education, which he said often depends on highly qualified teachers. In the fall, the NSEA received written comments from thousands of teachers, whose feedback ranged from workplace conditions to compensation and teachers' plans for the future. Royers said only 8% of respondents reported feeling that the Legislature takes them into account when crafting education policy, and about 11% said the state currently incentivizes them to stay in the profession. More than a quarter of educators, Royers continued, are unsure if they want to continue teaching after this school year 'unless something meaningfully changes.' 'Candidly, educators don't really feel like they have folks in their corner right now,' Royers said. One of the 'boldest' 2025 ideas, Royers said, comes from Spivey's Legislative Bill 440. It would establish an additional 0.35% payroll tax on teachers, matched by local school districts, to offer teachers six weeks of paid family and medical leave by funding long-term substitute teachers. For a teacher making $60,000, that would amount to a monthly fee of $17.50. 'For less than $20 a month out of a teacher's paycheck, they would get access to a profound benefit,' Royers said. The focus of the Spivey legislation started on young women in teaching sometimes being forced to leave the profession after taking one or two months of unpaid leave because they had a child early in their career. But the NSEA began to see other needs, too, Royers said, such as teachers who faced cancer diagnoses or teachers who waited seven years to even attempt having kids, trying to save up enough days off 'so they wouldn't take that hit.' 'No person should have to make family decisions based on when their paid leave is sufficient for them to do that,' Royers said. Juarez, a former school board member for Omaha Public Schools and former paraeducator, is seeking to create retention bonuses for paraeducators through LB 524, $1,000 for a para working an average of 28 hours per week, or proportional for a paraeducator working less. Her LB 523 would establish a statewide student teacher stipend program, paying them $4,000 per teaching semester. Juarez said the underpaid and unpaid labor that teachers are expected to offer when training for the job is 'extreme,' which begins with student teaching. Quality educators, she said, are sometimes turned away because the financial burden. Another Juarez bill, LB 161, would increase how much the state pays school districts for full-time early childhood students. The bill does not yet have a cost estimate from the Legislature. Currently, all school districts get about $1,500 in state aid for each K-12 student, but districts receive roughly 60% of that amount, or $900, for each early childhood student. Juarez's bill would raise that to 100% for the foundation aid. 'Education is more likely for early childhood students to earn higher wages later on, live healthier lives and avoid incarceration, raise strong families and contribute to society,' Juarez said. Prokop's LB 282 would similarly seek to support teachers who 'pour their hearts and souls' into their classrooms and students as well as their wallets, with one study indicating teachers annually pay average out-of-pocket costs on school supplies of about $860. His bill would establish up to $300 in reimbursements through the State Board of Education for qualified teaching supplies. If all of Nebraska's approximate 27,000 teachers applied for the reimbursement, the Nebraska Department of Education estimates it would cost $8.1 million annually. The Legislature's fiscal office estimated that 60% of teachers might use the funds, which would also gain $300,000 to $400,000 in additional state revenue through increased teacher income. 'While it's about acknowledging that financial commitment they've made to the students, it's really more about the acknowledgment that they just really care about their kids and the students that they are teaching,' Prokop said. LB 411, from State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, would establish baseline retention grants for all teachers, beginning at $2,500 for teachers in years one through six of service and increasing to $4,000 for teachers in their 16th or later. 'One of the things that we know in Nebraska is that without our teachers, Nebraska has no future.' – State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha Excluding high-need retention grants, Dungan's program could annually cost between $66 million (if all teachers were in their first to sixth year of teaching) and $106 million (if all teachers were in their 16th year of teaching or beyond). If all teachers received one high-need retention grant before 2028, as allowed under the bill for certain subject area endorsements, that would cost an additional $132 million. DeBoer's LB 598 would increase state funding for school districts that provide teachers at least 60 minutes of non-instructional planning time daily. The bill would also allow school districts to apply for additional limited English proficiency program funding, based on need, and get additional funds based on the number of students with disabilities who are on Section 504 support plans. The last bill, LB 589, from State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, would allow school districts to be reimbursed for the costs of substitute teachers who cover special education teachers if they take a 'paperwork day' to complete documentation, reporting and compliance requirements. The bill does not yet have a cost estimate from the Legislature. Four such days could be reimbursed annually. 'Making small changes like that, that don't come with a big price tag to state taxpayers, can make a world of difference for the teachers and the children that they are serving,' Conrad said. Conrad and Royers indicated the proposed legislation is in direct response to legislation that they said would undermine teachers' ability to serve kids. That includes continued efforts to divert state funds for private schools, which Conrad described as a 'slap in the face' to voters. 'Let's be clear: We're not content to just play defense when it comes to standing up for our schools and our kids and our teachers and our incredible public education system,' she said. Royers said the NSEA will also partner with State Sens. Kathleen Kauth and John Fredrickson, both of Omaha, on studies that could inform possible future legislation around alternate certification pathways for high school teachers and for high behavioral needs care facilities. A third planned interim study would examine how to improve higher education compensation. Royers said even with a projected budget shortfall for the state, he and senators are confident they'll find the support for proposals that are 'perfectly in line' with the Education Future Fund that Gov. Jim Pillen carved out in 2023 to ensure continued state support for education. 'Some of these bills that you just heard about today aren't going to get over the finish line this year,' Royers said. 'It might take us a few tries, but I can tell you that by simply introducing all of these proposals, it's already making a difference in how educators feel in this state.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nebraska school choice supporters, opponents ready for another rematch
State Sens. Lou Ann Linehan and Justin Wayne of Omaha flank Gov. Jim Pillen after he signed into law LB 753, the Opportunity Scholarships Act, on May 30, 2023. (Courtesy of the Nebraska Governor's Office) LINCOLN — Advocates and opponents of school choice programs in Nebraska, including one that voters rejected in November, are gearing up for another legislative session featuring efforts to revive the policies. Lawmakers supporting those programs introduced proposals this month with an end goal of helping students attend private K-12 schools in the state. Two bills would revive the laws passed, repealed, replaced and then repealed by voters in just the past two years. The latest version in law, Legislative Bill 1402, was repealed by 57% of voters in November — in 45 of Nebraska's 49 legislative districts, 82 of its 93 counties and all three congressional districts. 'I'm not dissuaded by the fact that it was defeated at the ballot box,' said freshman State Sen. Tony Sorrentino of Omaha, one of many lawmakers with school choice proposals in 2025. 'There's been a number of cases that lost at the ballot box and were reinstated, so let's hope for that.' The effort to revive LB 753 and its one-for-one tax break to fund 'opportunity scholarships' will return to the Revenue Committee, while the effort to revive LB 1402 and its state-funded vouchers or 'education scholarships' will return to the Appropriations Committee. Two new proposals will go to the Health and Human Services and Education Committees. The first would create and narrow a voucher or scholarship program for private education to youths in foster care. The other would pay families whose K-12 'option enrollment' application to a different public school district is rejected. Tim Royers is president of the Nebraska State Education Association, which led successive repeal efforts against the state-funded version of the law in 2024, and successfully placed the tax credit version on the ballot before lawmakers replaced that program. Royers said he and others are disappointed that senators, no matter their approach, are 'choosing to ignore the very clear message that voters set in November on this issue.' 'We're really looking for our leaders in Lincoln to be championing legislation that's going to tackle the real issues surrounding education and not trying to relitigate something that has already been resolved at the polls,' Royers said. Royers said the focus should be on getting friendly, pro-public education legislation over the finish line, such as those to tackle teaching vacancies statewide. He's confident school choice efforts will be stopped before a major vote this year. But if needed, Royers said, opponents are ready for a school choice rematch, even if they have to 'make it an annual summer habit' to get signatures to repeal the laws. 'We joke about it, but in all seriousness, we will out-resolve them on this issue,' Royers said. 'We will be more tenacious than them. We will have more resources and more commitment than them on this. If they don't get that point, yes, we will absolutely put this in front of the voters again so that way they can reject vouchers for the fifth time in the state's history if necessary.' Sorrentino is the Elkhorn-area successor to former State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, who championed the previous voucher and tax-credit laws in 2023 and 2024 after years of trying. Sorrentino's LB 509 would nearly word-for-word reinstate Linehan's 2023 tax-credit law: the Opportunity Scholarships Act. He said that law 'didn't get the proper time' before lawmakers repealed in October, a strategic move as part of LB 1402 by Linehan partly to stop a certified ballot measure seeking to repeal the law. When her replacement scholarship or voucher law made it to the ballot in November, nearly 55% of voters in their Legislative District 39 rejected it. Sorrentino, a tax practitioner, noted the Opportunity Scholarships Act had raised nearly $10 million of the $25 million it could have raised in its first year. The program could grow over time to $100 million annually, if there is high demand. Under the Opportunity Scholarships Act, Nebraskans could donate to scholarship-granting organizations for a one-to-one tax credit. Donations from 2024 are still tax deductible, even with the law being repealed. He said the 'beauty' of the bill is supporting children in their formative years, when their values are set. 'I just don't think you can put a round peg in a square hole when it comes to education,' Sorrentino said. 'Education needs to meet the needs of children, not to meet the needs of organizations or opponents to this.' Of the four legislative districts that voted to retain LB 1402, the state-funded scholarship program in the State Treasurer's Office, in November, one of the representatives is seeking to revive the program: State Sen. Rob Dover of Norfolk. The other three districts that voted to retain the law are represented by State Sens. Brian Hardin of Gering, Terrell McKinney of Omaha and Mike Moser of Columbus. LB 624, from Dover, would revive LB 1402, but his version is one page compared to the repealed section of LB 1402, which was five pages. Part of his effort is to explicitly define the annual $10 million program as an appropriation, which some have argued can't constitutionally be subject to a referendum. The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that the more expansive LB 1402 version was subject to referendum because it wasn't a direct appropriation. Dover said his structure is similar to the READ Nebraska grant program established in 2023 to boost mentorship, at the request of Gov. Jim Pillen. That program was created through the annual state budget, not an individual bill. Dover is a member of the Appropriations Committee. 'I think we should let the kids go where they need to go, where they're the most happy because, obviously, a happy child, a happy student, is going to be much more receptive to learning,' Dover said. Dover said he wants to be a voice for his constituents, and his primary concern is the roughly 4,500 students who received funds under LB 1402 but might not get additional funding in the future. Some, Dover noted, might go back to hostile environments where they were bullied or felt unwelcome. 'I'm not a Catholic. I'm not Lutheran. There's no gain in my religion to do this,' Dover said. 'I think it's just a responsibility to children, to kids.' LB 427, from State Sen. Bob Andersen of Omaha, would require the state treasurer to allow families to create educational savings accounts for any K-12 school expenses. LB 131, also by Sorrentino, would expand the state's current college savings accounts to let them be used to cover the costs of K-12 schools. State Sens. Beau Ballard of Lincoln and Christy Armendariz of Omaha are taking a narrower approach to support students in need. LB 481, from Ballard, would create the Foster Care Child Scholarships Act focused on foster care youths, a vulnerable population he said the state already seeks to give every opportunity to flourish. He said those children, too, should have an opportunity to go to a school where they can achieve their dreams. Ballard's bill would set aside $200,000 in state funding for the next two years for HOPE Scholarships for private K-12 schools through the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. 'I just don't want to fit students into a box,' Ballard said. 'This is just an opportunity for them to fit their needs.' LB 557, from Armendariz, would offer significant changes to the state's option enrollment process by which a family can 'option' to a different, participating public school district. Net option enrollment pays the receiving district about $11,000 per student in state funding, multiple senators said. The bill would give any family $2,500 for the educational support of the student should their option enrollment application be rejected, no matter the reason. LB 557, as introduced, has no cap on those funds. Armendariz said she plans to amend her bill to narrow its impact to students who qualify for free and reduced-price lunch, at 185% of the federal poverty level, and who are currently in 'failing schools,' which she said would be defined based on state test score proficiency rates. 'Really it's to give more kids in failing schools some sort of an out,' Armendariz said, noting it 'might be a drop in the bucket' of what some people would need. A similar proposal, LB 633 from State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair, would empower the State Board of Education to give students' families an 'option enrollment tuition account' after a denied option enrollment application. It would have state K-12 funds follow the student. Iowa, Wisconsin, national educators urge Nebraskans to repeal state support to private schools Royers has testified in the past that option enrollment is a positive 'choice' program within public schools but that denials could come because a family doesn't fill out their application correctly or a school is at capacity. He said the 'obvious' efforts of the new bills to advance a 'voucher agenda' through low-income students or youths in foster care are 'fundamentally wrong.' 'They're trying to utilize some of our most vulnerable students to prop up a foot in the door to set up a much larger voucher program,' Royers said. 'Candidly, we think it's pretty despicable that that's the way that they're choosing to try and do this rather than respecting the lesson they learned at the ballot.' Royers originally criticized LB 391, from State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil, the Education Committee chair, which would create state savings accounts for people with disabilities to use for qualified expenses, including but not limited to education, before he learned more about the program uses. Murman supports the school choice efforts and said he didn't know education would be covered under his bill. He and Ballard said supporting people in need isn't a 'foot in the door.' National education leaders as well as Royers have noted similar programs usually start small and grow over time. Armendariz said whether option enrollment works, in practice, 'is a completely different picture' than its purported goals and that the Legislature can't wait. 'My focus wants to be on a child. We only have them for 13 years, and it goes by fast,' Armendariz said. 'To sit here and think about it for 20 [years] is not an option.' Armendariz noted that she grew up in northeast Omaha, in what is now District 11, and sees a 'real need' for local families. District 11 is represented by McKinney. 'I was one of those kids. My family could not afford any other options than the schools we went to, whether they were failing or not,' Armendariz said. 'This really refines it to pinpoint poor kids that probably, arguably, are not getting the best opportunities that they could.' Her comments on not waiting echo those of McKinney and former State Sen. Justin Wayne of northeast Omaha, two Democratic lawmakers in the officially nonpartisan Legislature who had joined Linehan and other Republicans in supporting the Opportunity Scholarships Act. McKinney said change is 'more than overdue' in part because lawmakers are seeking to repeal his 2023 law to prohibit suspensions of children before third grade or to lock children up younger, or charge them with crimes as adults sooner. 'And when you look at the demographic of the kids that will be suspended or locked up, they look like me, they're coming from my community,' McKinney said. 'That's why we can't wait for change,' McKinney said. 'The school system has to change. It has to be modernized. And it has to work for everybody, and not just some, and it hasn't been working for everybody.' In 2024, McKinney was 'present, not voting' on LB 1402. His district has the lowest average household income in the state and has the highest percentage of people below the poverty level, including seniors and children, according to the most recent legislative data. McKinney said fewer than 50% of students in some of his schools are on track to graduate. He said he approaches school choice legislation thinking about his community, so he wasn't surprised when his district's voters voted to keep LB 1402. McKinney said he takes himself out of the conversation and focuses on the concerns affecting his community, not yet reading or weighing in on Sorrentino's revival of the bill he previously supported. McKinney said those issues are sometimes left out of the conversation of issues facing District 11. 'The real question is: Are we OK knowing that we have districts and communities where kids have been historically failed, and we have done nothing about it but say wait?' he said. Whether McKinney and at least one other Democratic lawmaker, or two, support any school choice effort could be key to any of the legislation passing. At least a couple of rural Republicans, including State Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams, say voters have already spoken. Dorn voted to allow LB 1402 to take effect partly to repeal its predecessor. 'If the Legislature is going to listen to our voters, then we shouldn't pass that same type of bill up here,' Dorn said. State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, a lead opponent of Linehan's past efforts, said he's a big believer that public dollars should remain in public schools, which isn't a policy choice, he noted, but a constitutional mandate in Nebraska. The Nebraska Constitution prohibits state appropriations to schools 'not owned or exclusively controlled by the state or a political subdivision thereof.' He said either directly, in the case of LB 1402, or through 'loopholes' like tax credits, 'they achieve the same goal' of sending public dollars to private schools. Freshman State Sen. Ashlei Spivey, who succeeded Wayne in northeast Omaha, said she acknowledges the split views of vouchers and school choice in her district but that overall, voters have spoken. 'The true question for me is why aren't parents happy with their school choice for their children, and how can we make sure that our public education system is meeting the needs of the unique challenges and opportunities especially faced in my district?' Spivey said. McKinney questioned what opponents would suggest as a solution, and Spivey said she looks forward to working with local leadership on finding steps forward. 'We do not have the luxury to wait, and this is a top priority for me in ensuring that people have access to equitable, quality, fully funded public education,' Spivey said. Dungan said he agreed that public schools can always be improved, ensuring that public education statewide serves students well, 'not just adequately, but successfully,' while noting not every school will handle situations the same. 'I don't think the way to answer that problem is to dismantle the system or fund it any less,' Dungan said. 'I think the way to handle that problem is to make sure that we have the best public schools in the country.' Supporters of LB 1402 didn't fund an opposition campaign last year as they did in 2023 to try to preserve the tax credit for funding scholarships in the face of a public vote. Families urge Nebraskans to retain state support to private schools Jeremy Ekeler, executive director of Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska, a group that benefited from both of Linehan's school choice laws, said he is encouraged by the passion of senators seeking to help Nebraska kids and families. 'Thousands of Nebraska families are counting on lawmakers to protect their right to access the education that works best for them,' he said in a statement. Linehan has said if Nebraskans knew they were voting to take funds from students, they would have preserved the laws, and she expected parents to demand answers if the repeal won. Sorrentino said supporters are energized more than before. He'd be happy with any 2025 proposal 'getting some air time' because 'repetition, sometimes, drives the point home.' 'These are all Nebraska's kids, these are all God's kids, and they weren't all created equal, both financially and needs-wise,' Sorrentino said. 'I don't see why we turn our back on a young man or a woman for financial need just because we have public schools.' LB 131 (State Sen. Tony Sorrentino of Omaha) — Allow NEST 529 plans under the College Savings Plan Program to be spent on any K-12 education costs. LB 427 (State Sen. Bob Andersen of Omaha) — Require the state treasurer to create separate educational savings accounts for any K-12 education expenses. LB 481 (State Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln) — Adopt the Foster Care Child Scholarships Act, to give foster care youths HOPE Scholarships to attend private schools. LB 509 (Sorrentino) — Adopt the Opportunity Scholarships Act, a 2023 law that provides dollar-for-dollar income tax credits for donations to scholarship-granting organizations. LB 557 (State Sen. Christy Armendariz of Omaha) — Change provisions related to option enrollment for a student who applies to a different public school district than their own and allow a family whose application is rejected, for any reason, to get $2,500 from the state for 'the educational support of the student.' LB 624 (State Sen. Rob Dover of Norfolk) — Appropriate $10 million annually to the State Treasurer's Office to distribute education scholarships or vouchers for students to attend private K-12 schools. LB 633 (State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair) — Require the State Board of Education to provide families whose applications for 'option enrollment' to a different public school district are rejected to set up tuition accounts for private K-12 schools. The accounts would include the state funding amount earmarked for each student. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
