LINCOLN, Neb.– Conservative lawmakers seeking to weave religion into the school curriculum in Republican-dominated Nebraska presented a slew of bills Monday to the state Legislature’s Education Committee.
The list includes a bill that would give parents more control over their local school’s library books and curriculum, and another bill that would give public school students college credit for attending religious classes outside of school. Another measure would change school funding so that tuition continues at private schools, while banning the state from interfering with the curriculum or beliefs of private schools.
Sen. Dave Murman, the conservative chairman of the Nebraska Legislature’s Education Committee, has revived his so-called parental rights bill, which would make it easier for parents to object to curriculum and remove books from school libraries. The bill introduced last year was one of several bills that stalled as Conservatives focused on passing a bill to allow the use of taxpayer money to fund private school scholarships. That measure, which was signed into law last June, is the subject of a referendum that will ask voters in November to repeal it.
Murman, a Glenvil farmer, took over the committee chairmanship last year when Republicans in the officially nonpartisan, unicameral Legislature removed a former Democratic schoolteacher from the post in what was widely seen as an effort by conservatives to ” to crack and crack democracy’. pack” key committees to get more bills up for discussion.
These bills are part of a broader Republican effort to target a variety of cultural issues in education nationwide, including diversity, equity and inclusion programs and the types of books allowed in school libraries. Conservative officials across the country have increasingly tried to limit the types of books children are exposed to, including those that address systemic racism and LGBTQ+ issues.
Sen. Steve Erdman’s school finance bill would include a $5 billion education finance bill that would shift costs from local property taxes to the state’s general fund by creating an education savings account for every student in the state. That money would be distributed by the state treasurer to fund a student’s education at the local public school — or could be used to help cover the costs of private school education or even costs associated with homeschooling. The bill is modeled after an Arizona law, Erdman said.
Critics charge that Arizona has made no academic progress since the school choice law took effect and that fly-by-night charter schools have opened in strip malls that raise state money, only to later close. Others argued that Erdman’s bill would hurt funding for rural school districts like his, which have fewer than 350 students.
But it’s part of that bill that the state is “strictly prohibited from altering the curriculum or beliefs of any private school” that others are questioning.
“If a private school were to introduce critical race theory into their curriculum or sing ‘Lift Every Voice (and Sing)’ every morning, I can guarantee you there would be an uproar in this Legislature about it,” Ron Cunningham of Lincoln testified. “But under this bill, as it was written, there was nothing you could do about it.”
Sen. Loren Lippincott’s bill would give college credit to public school students who take religious classes outside of school during school hours. Allowing religious education, he said, would help students “develop a stronger sense of morality” and would help lead to “fewer behavioral problems in schools.”
Middle and high school students would be able to participate, and the religious credits program would be open to all religions, as long as it “does not blatantly promote debauchery or practices contrary to school policy.”
Not all bills that the committee considered on Monday aimed to intertwine religion with education. One offered by Omaha Senator Kathleen Kauth — best known for her bill last year that restricted gender-affirming care for people under the age of 19 — would ease the process for teachers certified in other states to teach in Nebraska classrooms , as the state struggles with a teacher shortage .
Under the bill, out-of-state teachers would be able to earn Nebraska certification by taking a knowledge test exam that they must pass. The bill drew some opposition from Nebraska teachers as being too lenient, but received bipartisan support and a rare personal appearance Monday by Gov. Jim Pillen, who testified in favor of it.