Nebraska should follow Texas, Florida education reforms

The Nebraska Legislature is a unique institution, given its status as the country’s only unicameral and nonpartisan legislature. While there are certainly drawbacks to a unicameral system, an added benefit of our legislature gives every member a fairly equal set of responsibilities. With the addition of term limits, Nebraska has largely prevented a deep entrenchment of established power in the Nebraska legislature for some time. Our citizen legislature enables those with criticisms of the status quo to bring the message of their constituents to bear.

Currently, there is no more important place for change than our education system. That’s why I am running to chair the Nebraska Legislature’s Education Committee.

Including the Department of Education, the University of Nebraska, and the State College system, education spending for the last two years accounted for 35.9% of all state spending!1 As many of you are aware, property taxes account for the largest source of funding for our education system. Working with the Revenue Committee to reduce this burden on Nebraskans will be a mainstay of my efforts as your state senator.

We also must make take bold action to address the teacher shortage, combat critical race theory and comprehensive sex education, work with Governor-Elect Pillen as he endeavors to reform TEEOSA (the state school funding formula), and establish a parent’s bill of rights. Nebraska can no longer afford to lag behind states like Florida and Texas in enacting policy changes to improve the lives of its citizens.

We must preserve the tradition of Nebraska schools leading the nation in test scores while reducing the bloat of big government.