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LINCOLN 鈥� Nebraska lawmakers will be back Monday after two months with a dueling education hearing and forum on social and emotional learning.

The Education Committee will meet in State Capitol Room 1525 at 1:30 p.m. Monday to consider three studies offered by State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil, the committee鈥檚 chair.

Legislative Resolutions , and will respectively look at parental involvement in education, the Nebraska Department of Education鈥檚 use of COVID-19 pandemic relief funds and social and emotional learning in K-12 schools.

Murman described these as information gathering and paths toward transparency to improve schools.

鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to the hearing, and hopefully we鈥檒l come out after the hearing with better ideas, especially for the future going forward in education,鈥� Murman said this week.

Monday will feature but no opportunity for public comment, which is not unusual for interim studies. The eight are:

• Brian Maher, the Nebraska education commissioner.
• Mike Pate, a Millard Public Schools board member.
• Lisa Wagner, president of the Central City Public School Board.
• Jackie Egan, representing NAACP Lincoln, Nebraskans for Peace, Let鈥檚 Talk Alliance and the Lincoln Education Collaboration.
• Kirk Penner, a State Board of Education member and former Aurora Public Schools board member (testifying in his personal capacity).
• Lisa Schonhoff, an English language learning educator with Bennington Public Schools.
• Sue Greenwald of the Protect Nebraska Children Coalition, a conservative political action committee that formed in 2021 to elect more conservative school board members.
• Lori Samuelson, a school psychologist in Hastings Public Schools.

Back to 鈥榖asics鈥�

Following years of backlash to critical race theory and comprehensive sex education, Monday鈥檚 hearing may feature a new concept for some: social and emotional learning.

The Nebraska Department of Education a definition from CASEL, the , that it is the process for children and adults to 鈥渦nderstand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships and make responsible decisions.鈥�

The department also has its own for educators and leaders about the concept.

Murman said social and emotional learning has become a 鈥渂uzzword,鈥� and the hearing is a way to consider its role compared to the 鈥渂asics,鈥� such as reading, writing, math and STEM subjects.

Renee Jones, a Lincoln Public Schools teacher and the 2023 Nebraska Teacher of the Year, said the social and emotional well-being of students has been a 鈥減ressing concern,鈥� exacerbated by challenges because of COVID-19.

鈥淲e simply cannot stick to teaching the 鈥榖asics鈥� (math, reading, writing, history, etc) without recognizing that we are teaching humans, rather than information robots,鈥� Jones said in an email.

Framework as 鈥楾rojan horse鈥�

However, Penner has said social and emotional learning is the 鈥淭rojan horse鈥� for all gender and critical race theory lessons being brought into education.

鈥�3 of us on the board are on a mission to remove SEL and after 鈥�24 elections we should have the majority to have it removed,鈥� Penner said in a .

The York County Republicans will host an event led by Greenwald, a former pediatrician, on Tuesday 鈥� 鈥漇.E.L. Horrors鈥� 鈥� where she is set to address how social and emotional learning has 鈥渋nfiltrated鈥� every aspect of the school day.

The event will feature Greenwald鈥檚 interpretation of how social and emotional learning brings Marxist teachings, how moral relativism is replacing moral absolutes of religion, how sexualizing children traumatizes them and how the nuclear family is under attack.

Schonhoff, who is running for the State Boad of Education, said she has been a public school educator for more than 20 years and is a mom of four children attending public schools. She said she will share how the teaching 鈥渋s being pushed into our schools at alarming speeds.鈥�

鈥楾he whole child has to be involved鈥�

State Board of Education member Deb Neary of Omaha said many of the topics for Monday鈥檚 hearing are 鈥渂orn out of politics鈥� and not problems in the state. were dominant in Neary鈥檚 re-election campaign last fall, including continued fallout after the board considered health education standards, including sex education, in 2021.

Neary said teachers and schools have been teaching social and emotional learning for decades.

鈥淭eachers and schools have always talked about kindness and getting along and persistence,鈥� Neary said. 鈥淣ow they鈥檝e been tagged with a name and there鈥檚 been a lot of misinformation around it and fear-mongering by politicians.鈥�

Jones said she鈥檇 like the committee to bear in mind how each component of a student鈥檚 health impacts not just their academic performance but their 鈥渁bility to navigate life beyond school.鈥�

Murman said the hearing is not intended to diminish teachings of kindness and compassion but to help everyone involved with education understand and improve systems for students.

鈥淚f they [students] don鈥檛 have the right mental health or emotional health, it鈥檚 not the best learning environment either,鈥� Murman said. 鈥淭he whole child has to be involved in education.鈥�

Additional resolutions

Murman鈥檚 two other resolutions are intended to dive deeper into efforts announced in the past year.

This spring he introduced 鈥� the 鈥淧arents鈥� Bill of Rights and Academic Transparency Act鈥� 鈥� which has not advanced from the Education Committee. It would legislate that parents are the 鈥渇oremost decision maker in every child鈥檚 life鈥� and address parental involvement.

Lisa Wagner of Central City said she plans to detail how parental involvement is addressed in her city.

The final resolution comes nine months after Murman and four other senators called for an into the Nebraska Department of Education鈥檚 use of pandemic funds, centered on Launch Nebraska, a department website built to help schools reopening during the pandemic. 

The office of then-Gov. Pete Ricketts identified a New York University website link last June that, after two or three clicks, led to a document defending critical race theory and discussing racial justice. The link was removed prior to the senators鈥� news conference last October.

In , Murman also called for the department to remove links and resources to on its . The resources remain on the department鈥檚 website.

David Jespersen, a spokesman for the department, confirmed Murman鈥檚 office had reached out on some links, which were left up after staff decided they were appropriate.

Jespersen said there are still layers of vetting for anything that goes on the website.

Murman said he understands that only started in his role leading the State Department of Education and was not in charge when the pandemic funds were spent. He said it鈥檚 not about trying a 鈥済otcha鈥� but understanding what happened and what can be done moving forward.

Public forum down the hall

Just down the hall from the hearing will be a on social and emotional learning, led by State Sens. Machaela Cavanaugh, John Cavanaugh, Terrell McKinney, Carol Blood and Megan Hunt. The forum will start at 3 p.m. in Room 1510.

None of the five senators serve on the Education Committee, though McKinney served on it previously. He that anyone worried about what鈥檚 going on with should pay attention to the hearing. 

Machaela Cavanaugh said there was a 鈥減retty large outcry鈥� from the public about not being able to testify on Murman鈥檚 resolutions.

鈥淚 thought, well, if we鈥檙e only going to have one side of testimony here, and that doesn鈥檛 seem appropriate, we should find an avenue for the public to come in and share their thoughts,鈥� she said.

The senators have the space for two hours, and Cavanaugh said they鈥檒l try to accommodate anyone wishing to speak. It will run similarly to a normal hearing but won鈥檛 be recorded since it鈥檚 not official.

Murman said he will likely sit in on the forum and does not want to be confrontational.

鈥淚 just want to hear a broad range of ideas on all three of those LRs,鈥� Murman said. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure there鈥檒l be some beneficial testimony there.鈥�

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