Issues
We need education that is protective of children’s hearts, minds and bodies, in line with the will of parents, and mindful of the resources provided by taxpayers.
Decision making power
Local school boards, with input from their constituents, need to be given more power to make decisions for their schools.
Academic proficiency
The academic achievement of students needs to be improved. To do this we need to identify practices which lead to high performance and then do what we can to implement them in all Nebraska schools.
Protection of our students' hearts, minds, and bodies
We need to be vigilant in regards to the content of the curriculum used in our schools.
Teacher shortage
Need to recruit high quality individuals to the teaching profession, and once hired, work to retain them. Also need to secure quality substitute teachers.
Financial resources provided by taxpayers
Taxpayers need to be assured schools and governing entities are spending money in a responsible manner.
I have recently been asked if I believe Critical Race Theory is in our Nebraska schools. Here is my response:
To this I say yes, in various forms and degrees. When many think of CRT they think of only instructional material such as what is offered at the college level, but CRT can manifest itself in the form of school policy, programs, teacher in-services and even children books. Recently, I was made aware of a CRT related assignment in a Lincoln high school, and have an example of a children’s book available in one of our local elementary school which contains Critical Race Theory ideology. The book is Not My Idea: A book about whiteness. Additionally, I believe there are indicators that if CRT is not yet in your Nebraska school, it is on its way. One indicator is in July of 2021, the National Education Association issued a statement of support for teaching Critical Race Theory in our public schools and encouraged schools to implement Black Lives Matter at School Week which is a 5-day unit teaching the 13 guiding principles of BLM, one of the principles being and I quote “disrupt the western prescribed nuclear family” (end of quote) namely our families headed by a mom and a dad. This is very troubling to me. A second indicator that CRT is coming to a school near you is that our own Nebraska Department of Education has links to CRT resources available on their website to school staff. I believe Critical Race Theory is divisive.