Voters will narrow their choices on two issues for the Nebraska State Board of Education in the upcoming May primary.
The primary election is the first step in reforming the eight-member board, but as no incumbent is seeking re-election, four new members will be added after the general election in November.
State board positions are nonpartisan, with the top two vote-getters from each seat advancing in the May primary. There are only two candidates each for Wards 1 and 3. However, the 2nd and 4th districts each have three of his candidates, and one of his candidates in each district will lose in the primary.
The current board has a mix of conservative and liberal members, but the balance could change depending on this year's elections. Political ideology has influenced the outcome of several high-profile issues, such as banning library books and deferring health education standards.
Two registered Democrats and one registered Republican are vying for Democrat Lisa Fricke's seat in the 2nd District election, which includes Sarpy County and four other southeastern Nebraska counties.
In the 4th District race, one Republican, one Democrat and one independent candidate are seeking the east Omaha seat. It will be chaired by Democrat Jacqueline Morrison.
Candidates for District 2
Democrat Karen Morgan, a former teacher and nurse, said if she were elected to the state commission, political party would be less important than her approach to specific issues around Nebraska.
Morgan said she is passionate about helping all students participate in Nebraska schools. Recently, the state, like others across the country, has been battling over bathroom access and school sports for transgender students.
“There are separate rooms in the women's bathroom, and it's not a violation to close the door,” Morgan said. “If a man comes in there and hasn't fully transitioned and still feels like a woman, why can't they feel like who they are? People of color, religious, LGBTQ? Segregating people is unfair and un-American.”
Morgan also opposes any censorship of library books. Earlier this year, state Commissioner Kirk Penner proposed banning sexually explicit books from schools, but the motion was later defeated by the board.
“When I was teaching in Texas, librarians would cut out pages from books because they felt there were pictures that were offensive to them,” Morgan said. “She couldn't believe she was actually doing that.”
Democratic mental health expert Maggie Douglas said she believes decisions about library book content should be left to local school boards.
“They know their students better than the state level,” she said.
Douglas said she is working diligently on teacher recruitment and retention, which is the state's biggest challenge due to the continuing educator shortage. Mr. Douglas has been a teacher for 15 years, with parochial schools for five years and Omaha Public Schools for 10 years, before leaving the field in 2021.
“I just want to attract more teachers into the profession and make sure we support them as well,” Douglas said.
He said it's important that state committee members have “the same team spirit” even if they have different political affiliations or backgrounds.
“We all have our own views, backgrounds and belief systems,” Douglas said. “While we recognize that we all come from different circumstances, our main focus is to support all children. Conversations about our differences help all students. You need to be focused on that.”
Republican Linda Vermoten did not respond to requests for an interview for this article. In her previous interview, she said that improving her academic skills, especially reading comprehension, was her main focus. A former home health nurse said the state's reading scores are a pressing concern.
According to data released in 2023, approximately 60% of fourth graders in Nebraska are not proficient readers.
“When I heard the overall score and how low it was, I was very concerned,” Vermoten said. “Fiscal responsibility is one of the reasons I run it. I make sure that the funds are used to actually help individual students learn, not just participate in programs.”
Vermoten also said she would like to see schools be more transparent with parents about what their children are learning in the classroom.
Candidates for District 4
Republican Stacey Matula, a former financial expert, said controversial issues are not a priority for voters in the 4th District, who live in eastern Douglas County.
“The number one priority for my constituents is fiscal transparency and our core values of education, which is getting graduating students to read above second grade,” Matula said.
She said it's also important that state committee members be nonpartisan and “not influenced by their own party.”
Redna White-Griffin is the only registered independent candidate in the two contested district races. Her two main values are improving reading comprehension and ensuring parental choice.
White Griffin, who has worked for OPS for more than 25 years, is the founder of Leaders to Legends Academy, a private learning community for homeschool and private school students. He said parents should be able to send their children to the most appropriate education, whether private or public school.
“If a child is not experiencing success, parents should do something about it,” White-Griffin said.
Improving students' reading comprehension is also one of White Griffin's goals. She says this is a skill that all children need to succeed in the future, but one that Nebraska needs to improve on.
“If we can get that right, we can do everything else right,” she said.
When it comes to the topic of “school choice,” Democrat Liz Renner said she is disappointed in Nebraska's recent decision to use tax dollars to fund private schools. Last month, Congress narrowly passed a so-called “end-run” bill that would allocate $10 million a year to private school scholarships.
“I think this is an abuse of public funds and public trust,” Renner said. “We need to ensure a strong public school system and we need to hold recipients accountable when funds are misappropriated.”
Renner said the teacher shortage will also be a top concern. One of her goals is to help introduce solutions other than competitive pay to attract and retain teachers.
“Equally important to many educators is having a good working environment, class size, and time to plan,” Renner said. “Basic work-life balance elements are equally valuable in encouraging teacher engagement.”