Landmark schools plan approved, signed by governor
Posted: Friday, May 25, 2007
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Lawmakers passed and Governor Dave Heineman signed a landmark education plan Thursday designed to resolve tense disputes in the Omaha area and help poor, minority children who some say have been neglected by the Omaha school district.
Heineman said he signed the bill despite it not being "perfect"; he has expressed concerns in the past about creating a new layer of bureaucracy to oversee Omaha-area school districts.
But overall, he said, it is good legislation because it repeals the breakup of Omaha Public Schools, protects the boundaries of suburban districts once threatened by an OPS takeover, and could improve the education of children.
"I hope that today is the start of a new era of collaboration and cooperation when it comes to what matters most -- ensuring a positive future for the children of Nebraska," Heineman said.
The bill (LB641) was welded together over many months during difficult negotiations by parties motivated to replace a law passed last year that critics said amounted to state-endorsed segregation.
"I am proud of the way the Legislature has addressed the issues" in the bill, said Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk, speaker of the Legislature.
The new plan would partner Omaha-area districts in a so-called "learning community," where district borders would become less important and would be crossed regularly. A new council would help enact programs to encourage integration and achievement, especially among poorer children.
Also, school district boundaries would be frozen, resolving district takeover and breakup disputes. And the districts would share a common property tax base.
The disputed law passed last year would have split Omaha Public Schools into three district, largely along racial lines. Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, who pushed last year's law, said dividing the state's largest district would have put control of schools in the hands of those who know each community best.
But the division was put on hold after lawsuits raised the concern that the new smaller districts would amount to state-endorsed segregation. Chambers has signed off on the new plan, saying it represents the closest the Legislature has come in the nearly four decades to addressing education issues in a concerted way.
Overseeing the learning community would be an 18-member governing body with a mix of appointed and elected members.
Through an open-enrollment plan where kids could be transported for free to other schools, schools now filled with mostly white, affluent students, for example, would have more poor and minority students. The so-called learning community would have to design a diversity plan designed to attract students with different backgrounds to schools.
Lawmakers and others have described it as revolutionary.
Doug Christensen, state education commissioner, said the law has the potential to force revolutionary changes in the Omaha area.
"The reality?" said Christensen. "We'll have to wait and see."
It's impossible to tell now whether districts outside Omaha will use the law, he said.
"We haven't demonstrated it's worked in Omaha yet," he said.
Heineman said he signed the bill despite it not being "perfect"; he has expressed concerns in the past about creating a new layer of bureaucracy to oversee Omaha-area school districts.
But overall, he said, it is good legislation because it repeals the breakup of Omaha Public Schools, protects the boundaries of suburban districts once threatened by an OPS takeover, and could improve the education of children.
"I hope that today is the start of a new era of collaboration and cooperation when it comes to what matters most -- ensuring a positive future for the children of Nebraska," Heineman said.
The bill (LB641) was welded together over many months during difficult negotiations by parties motivated to replace a law passed last year that critics said amounted to state-endorsed segregation.
"I am proud of the way the Legislature has addressed the issues" in the bill, said Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk, speaker of the Legislature.
The new plan would partner Omaha-area districts in a so-called "learning community," where district borders would become less important and would be crossed regularly. A new council would help enact programs to encourage integration and achievement, especially among poorer children.
Also, school district boundaries would be frozen, resolving district takeover and breakup disputes. And the districts would share a common property tax base.
The disputed law passed last year would have split Omaha Public Schools into three district, largely along racial lines. Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, who pushed last year's law, said dividing the state's largest district would have put control of schools in the hands of those who know each community best.
But the division was put on hold after lawsuits raised the concern that the new smaller districts would amount to state-endorsed segregation. Chambers has signed off on the new plan, saying it represents the closest the Legislature has come in the nearly four decades to addressing education issues in a concerted way.
Overseeing the learning community would be an 18-member governing body with a mix of appointed and elected members.
Through an open-enrollment plan where kids could be transported for free to other schools, schools now filled with mostly white, affluent students, for example, would have more poor and minority students. The so-called learning community would have to design a diversity plan designed to attract students with different backgrounds to schools.
Lawmakers and others have described it as revolutionary.
Doug Christensen, state education commissioner, said the law has the potential to force revolutionary changes in the Omaha area.
"The reality?" said Christensen. "We'll have to wait and see."
It's impossible to tell now whether districts outside Omaha will use the law, he said.
"We haven't demonstrated it's worked in Omaha yet," he said.
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