Petition To Eliminate State School Board

By Gordon HopkinsNebraska is one of 24 states that allow citizens to initiate legislation through the petition process. The petition process can be a powerful tool for bypassing the state government when an initiative is popular with voters but not necessarily with those in power. In recent years, both casino gambling and expanded Medicare coverage have become law in Nebraska despite opposition by Governor Pete Ricketts.In order to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot, a petition must be signed by at least 10 percent of registered voters in the state. Determining the exact number needed is difficult because signature requirements are based on the number of registered voters upon the signature petition filing deadline, and voter registration fluctuates. As a result, the exact number of signatures required to qualify cannot be known beforehand.In October of this year, the total number of registered voters in Nebraska was 1,240,385, according to data from the Nebraska Secretary of State.State Department of EducationCurrently, 12 petitions are circulating for the 2022 election. One of those is called “Replacing the Department of Education (NDE).”According to the petition’s “Object Statement,” the purpose is to, “Replace the Nebraska Department of Education, School Board, and School Commissioner with its functions assumed by a newly formed Office of Education, which is accountable to both the governor and Unicameral, through a constitutional amendment.”The State Board of Education is an elected, constitutional body that sets policy and ensures that the State Department of Education functions effectively within the framework developed by the state Legislature and the Board.The petition reads, “The State Department of Education in its entirety, including the State Board of Education, the Commissioner of Education, and all elected or hired positions, and all programs contracted by the State Department of Education, including proxies, shall be replaced with the newly formed Office of Education. The Director of the Office of Education shall be appointed by the Governor subject to confirmation by a majority of the members of the Legislature. All functions, programs, and funds of the State Department of Education shall be reallocated to the Office of Education.”SponsorsA sponsor of the petition is 2022 gubernatorial candidate Michael Connely. While the petition is dated September 2, 2021, Connely has supported the elimination of the NDE for some time. On May 28 of this year, Connely wrote on his Facebook page, “I want to eliminate this entire department. It is filled to the brim with socialists who want to indoctrinate the most vulnerable.”“Keep pushing, keep focusing attention on this problem so everyone is aware of it. I want people to KEEP this in mind when the 2022 ballot comes along and my Educational Initiatives are on there,” Connely wrote. “I do not know how many of you have visited the schools, especially in the city, but socialist indoctrination is almost 100% in some areas.”Connely added, “I can imagine that NONSENSE in Michigan, Illinios (sic), New York and other unsavory neighborhoods, BUT HERE IN NEBRASKA! It is OUR fault. We let them in our house.”The other sponsor of the petition is Kelli Brady, a member of the conservative organization, Nebraskans Against Government Overreach (NAGO). However, on November 23, NAGO rescinded its support for Connely for governor and sites this very petition as a factor, “This initiative we believe violates the value we hold not to grant our Governor, any Governor, dictatorial power over ‘We the People’ and our children’s education. There lies the potential this could be fine with a good Governor and disastrous with a bad Governor. This doesn’t seem to change the abilities to do anything, just removes the publics (sic) participation in electing the people that determine how our tax payer dollars are used.”Other CriticsLike NAGO, some critics fear the change would put too much control to the Governor. Jenni Benson, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, said the petition would, “put total power in the hands of the governor.”“I think Nebraska really is in good hands with the way we have it,” said Maureen Nickels, president of the Nebraska Board of Education.Other SupportersAnother supporter of this move is Senator Steve Erdman (District 47). Erdman spoke with FJN on October 14 of this year, “Yeah, that thing is out of control. But I’m not, I’m not stupid. And it’ll never happen because it’s in the Constitution.”Erdman said, “You have to have a constitutional amendment. So that will never happen. But the point still is, I do agree that it needs to go away. We need to get rid of Blomstedt (Commissioner of Education Matthew L. Blomstedt, Ph.D.) and all the leadership there and also change that whole Board of Education completely. Absolutely out of touch with what the people of Nebraska want to do.”In August, Erdman called for the resignation of the entire Nebraska Board of Education.Senator Erdman has also recommended former Nebraska U.S. Senate candidate Matt Innis to fill a vacancy representing District 5 on the Nebraska State Board of Education. The vacancy was created by the resignation of former board member Patricia Timm. In a letter to Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts Erdman wrote, “Please consider Matt Innis for the State Board of Education. Matt Innis comes to you with my highest recommendation. Matt’s conservative worldview, expert research skills, and ability to relate well with the public make him an ideal candidate to serve on the State Board of Education.”District 5 represents communities in southeastern Nebraska, which includes Jefferson County.The appointee will serve until January 2023. The next election for District 5 of the State Board of Education will take place in November 2022. The appointee will serve until January 2023.Innis came to Fairbury in August of this year and spoke to a group of people at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, where he indicated he supports abolishing the entire Nebraska Board of Education and recommended replacing the role with a single individual, answerable to the Governor. At his presentation, Innis said, “We need to abolish the Department of Education. It would save hundreds of millions of dollars, I’m guessing. I’ve been talking with a number of state senators about how this would be done on a Legislative Resolution. It can be done because then we end up with what we had before, which is a Commissioner of Education. It’s a lot cheaper paying one guy to oversee everything and to pay the hundreds of bloated salaries that we have in Lincoln, Nebraska at that building there that we don’t need.”Innis pointed out that the notion of replacing the NDE was not a new one, “Ronald Reagan’s platform, when he ran for president, was to abolish and dissolve the Department of Education, because he saw that it was a tool that could be used by the government to basically indoctrinate children with social and political issues, something we should not be doing.”The deadline to get the necessary number of signatures on the ballot is July 7, 2022.

12.1.21

Toy Drive

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