LINCOLN — The Nebraska Department of Education has been awarded a $55 million federal grant over the next five years to help improve literacy throughout the state.

State Education Commissioner Brian Maher, in announcing the grant Friday at a State Board of Education meeting in Nebraska City, said it is the largest competitive grant the department has ever received. It is part of the Comprehensive Literacy State Development grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Nebraska is one of 23 recipients across the country.

Maher said he and the department are excited about the “great opportunity” but said it also comes with “great responsibility.”

“We cannot just spend the next five years spending $55 million without making sure that there are positive outcomes for students,” Maher said.

The grant program is designed to support state agencies in implementing comprehensive, statewide literacy efforts from birth through grade 12. There is an emphasis on disadvantaged students — those living in poverty, English learners and students with disabilities.

“Literacy skills” include pre-literacy, reading and writing. Award recipients must use funds to support practices, strategies and interventions in response to identified reading gaps. These must be evidence-based and highly effective, such as developing phonemic awareness, decoding words and analyzing word parts, according to the state department.

The department said the grant will focus on a number of “proven strategies,” such as:

• Providing professional development.
• Improving family literacy.
• Providing high quality instructional materials.
• Utilizing tutoring and extended learning outside of school hours.
• Working toward reducing chronic absenteeism.

The grant will supplement existing state initiatives, such as the and the recently passed  Legislative Bill 1284, which appropriated to be used for reading improvement mentorship programs and to employ regional coaches to train K-3 teachers .

“We know that money isn’t everything and certainly can’t solve all of our problems,” Maher said. “But we do believe it can make a huge difference in the scope and the depth of the work that we’re able to do around the state of Nebraska.”

The Nebraska Education Department is also partnering with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Nebraska at Omaha and the national District Management Group in targeted ways to improve literacy and accountability, Maher said.

The Nebraska State Board of Education is seeking to improve third grade proficiency in English language arts test scores from to 75% by 2030.

As Maher announced the grant, board member Lisa Fricke gave an audible “wow” and later thanked department staff for initiating the process “to make the dream happen.”

Board members Elizabeth Tegtmeier and Deb Neary, board president and vice president, also thanked Maher and department staff for their leadership and taking the literacy goal seriously.

“I want to make sure that kids in Nebraska read a little better tomorrow than they’re reading today. That’s our goal,” Maher said. “If we can do that, we’ll knock that 75% proficiency level out of the park. We have no barriers other than our imagination, our ability to plan and our ability to execute that plan.”

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on and .

LINCOLN — Bills to eliminate tenure protection for university professors in an effort to halt “indoctrination (of) leftist ideology,” and one to do away with Nebraska’s inheritance tax were among 37 proposals introduced during a snowy Monday at the State Capitol.

State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City, who introduced the tenure bill, said in an email that “higher education lacks a serious degree of accountability” because of tenure, which grants protection to professors after proving their competence, from being fired for disagreements with administrators or for controversial scholarly opinions.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the University of Nebraska system hinted that eliminating tenure could threaten recruitment and retention of faculty.

Lippincott said the tenure system protects “poorly performing professors” and those who “allow their students no wiggle room for disagreements with their espoused dogma.”

‘Woke ideology’

The senator wrote that “woke ideology” is being pushed at the University of Nebraska campuses.

” … As tax-paying citizens, we have a right to expect that our tax dollars will be used to educate and edify our students, not indoctrinate them with leftist ideology,” Lippincott said in an email.

His Legislative Bill 1064 has 11 co-sponsors.

The bill calls for tenure to replaced by “employee agreements” at state universities and colleges that require annual performance reviews, “minimum standards of good practice” and “procedures for dismissal for cause, program discontinuance, and financial exigency.”

Melissa Lee, a spokeswoman for the NU system, said officials there are reviewing Lippincott’s proposal.

“Our plans for the University of Nebraska to grow and compete will require us to hold all our faculty and staff to high levels of performance and accountability,” Lee said.

One University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor tweeted that there were so many problems with Lippincott’s proposal “that I hardly know where to begin.”

“Lippincott told a reporter that he wants to destroy tenure because he wants to punish professors for expressing opinions he doesn’t hold. Which is precisely why tenure and academic freedom exist,” wrote Ari Kohen, a UNL political science professor.

Bills to end or restrict tenure were introduced last year in Texas, North Dakota, Florida and Iowa. The legislature.

‘Double tax’

Elmwood Sen. Rob Clements would eliminate the state’s inheritance tax by 2028 via his LB 1067, which has 24 co-sponsors.

Nebraska is one of only five states that levy such a “death tax,” and eliminating it has become a prime target for tax cutters over the years and again in 2024.

Clements said the inheritance tax amounts to a “double tax,” since property taxes are already paid on land and residence. It encourages retirees to move out of Nebraska, he said, so their descendants don’t have to pay the tax.

Right now, immediate relatives, such as a parent, sibling or child, pay a 1% inheritance tax on property they receive in excess of $100,000. But the tax rate climbs to up to 15% for the most remote relatives, and less is exempt.

Nebraska counties have consistently defended the inheritance tax as a way to finance one-time capital improvement projects — such as bridges — and argue that if it goes away, a much more objectionable tax — property tax — will rise.

Another aspect of Clements’ proposal would have the state reimburse counties $35 a day for any state prisoners held at a county jail, unless the state is short of funds.

LB 1067 would allocate $3.9 million a year for the State Prisoner Reimbursement Act.

Incentives for teachers

Fremont Sen. Lynne Walz introduced two bills Monday to help address the state’s teacher shortage.

LB 1052 would allow teachers at public and private schools to obtain up to $300 per year in reimbursement for purchases of classroom supplies.

Walz, a former teacher, said it would be welcome help, especially for new teachers, who have to buy many of their own classroom supplies.

Another proposal, LB 1053, would give veteran teachers a bonus if they stay on a few more years.

The bill would provide up to five “extended-career retention grants” of $2,500 a year for such teachers who decline to retire.

Walz said part of Nebraska’s teacher shortage is because of the exodus of experienced teachers from the profession.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on and .

Shaheen fled Iraq in 1998 during Saddam Hussein’s regime, made a harrowing escape to Jordan and eventually settled in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Shaheen is now a substitute teacher for the Lincoln public schools, but not without the financial burden of enrolling in courses to meet English language requirements and taking student loans because her Iraqi degree wasn’t recognized.

“It was almost impossible for me to start from the beginning, which is very difficult for someone learning a new language,” Shaheen told ����Ӱ��.

A new program launched by for internationally trained immigrants and refugees who want to become teachers in the U.S. aims to ease the challenges Shaheen faced. 

According to the , more than one in three educators, or 34 percent, are unemployed or not using their degree.

Yet, thousands of teacher vacancies across the country persist — with more than , according to Kansas State University’s College of Education.

“Even as we experience the Great Resignation, which heavily impacted the education sector, there’s still individuals who want to be part of this workforce,” said Mikaela Santos, senior program manager of World Education Services.

“The cultural perspectives and new ideas immigrants and refugees bring to the table becomes wasted talent because of the many regulatory and systemic barriers in the American education system,” she added. 

To combat this problem, three organizations were awarded a $100,000 grant in July 2023 to create pathways for foreign trained teachers to become educators in the U.S.

In the next year, the in Lincoln, Nebraska; the in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and in Chicago, Illinois will place more than 150 teachers trained in their home countries at schools in their communities.

Here is a snapshot of each organization’s effort to help internationally trained teachers and address racial disparities in the classroom.

Asian Community and Cultural Center

Nearly 50% of Nebraska’s school districts had unfilled teacher positions during the 2022-23 school year — with 66% saying there were either unqualified or no applicants, according to the .

Lee Kreimer, the CareerLadder director at the Asian Community and Cultural Center, said the organization is looking to place at least 35 foreign trained teachers into Nebraska’s Lincoln public schools and South Sioux City public schools.

The need for diverse teachers is especially great in rural areas like South Sioux City that have had a high influx of Latino families immigrating partly because of the that has historically relied on foreign-born workers, Kreimer said.

The reported a growing 47.8% Latino population in South Sioux City with more than 63.6% Latino students .

“We see this as a great opportunity to tackle multiple challenges at one time and it’s truly a win-win way to help everybody,” Kreimer told ����Ӱ��.

The organization recently set up programs at schools in both districts for immigrants and refugees to be mentored as they finish up their U.S. teaching licenses.

“Investing in schools by providing teachers that look like their students helps them succeed,” Kreimer said. “And from a racial equity standpoint, children seeing teachers that look like them and have experiences like them helps with retention, staying out of trouble and getting better grades.”

Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Equity

In Oklahoma, there were nearly 180,000 unfilled teacher positions in 2022 — more than twice the average a decade ago, according to the .

The Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Equity estimates nearly 650 internationally trained teachers in Tulsa have education degrees but don’t work in the field.

Chief resilience officer Krystal Reyes said the city wants to hire at least 65 teachers trained in their home countries — largely from Latino, Afghan and Ukrainian backgrounds to reflect the families immigrating to Tulsa.

“Because we have a diverse student body, we need our teachers to reflect that,” Reyes told ����Ӱ��. “So we know that our immigrant community can help us meet that language and cultural need.”

Programs include expanding job training with ESL courses and creating free courses for those seeking alternative certification.

“We need to do more as a government to make sure that there’s full participation, representation and economic opportunities from all our communities,” Reyes said. “There may be a money barrier or an English barrier, but they’re still trained educators that could be filling a great need in our schools.”

Richard J. Daley College

In Illinois, 73% of districts report teacher shortages — with 30% saying positions remain unfilled or filled with someone less qualified, according to the .

Janine Janosky, president of Richard J. Daley College, said the school aims to connect at least 50 foreign trained teachers to schools across Chicago.

“We’re seeing many immigrants and refugees coming with professional experiences already from their home country,” Janosky told ����Ӱ��, adding how more than 10% have teaching licenses.

Trish Aumann, vice president of academic and student affairs at the college, said the need to hire diverse teachers is especially great because of the influx of immigrant families — particularly Ukrainian refugees.

“We need multicultural and multilingual individuals in positions in our schools,” Aumann told ����Ӱ��. “So it’s that bigger picture of supporting K-12 schools that will in turn help immigrants and refugees with their economic mobility.”

Janosky said the college is creating a pilot program for internationally trained teachers to fill vacancies in Chicago’s schools.

“Within the middle part of the United States, there’s very few of us doing this work,” Janosky said. “That gives us a huge responsibility, but also a huge opportunity, to make a big difference for Chicago, Illinois, and the entire country.”