The sand is quickly passing through the hour glass on the current legislative session. It is very hard not to get cynical when one watches the legislative process up close. This session’s education bills are very good examples of this. Basically, there are three bills that are of major interest to school districts across the state. This column will give this writer’s brutally honest perspective on two of them.

Easily the most emotionally charged education bill is LB 1092 sponsored by Senator Harms. This bill emerged following the school bus tragedy in Seward that claimed several students’ lives. Everyone is in agreement that this incident was a disaster of major proportions. Senator Harms believes putting seatbelts on all school buses will decrease the likelihood of such tragedies in the future.

While the intent is laudable and agreed to on all sides, the solution is not. First of all, the likelihood that a student will be killed in a car accident on the way to school is much greater than a fatality on a school bus. Secondly, several other states have implemented similar laws and have not seen bus deaths decrease as a result. Thirdly, many feel that requiring seatbelt usage could make bus safety worse. Imagine trying to evacuate 50 first graders strapped in by seatbelts from a burning bus.

There are many negatives in this bill. They include; the increase district liability; decrease in district bus services to avoid this liability; increase responsibility on bus drivers; decrease seating capacity; extra expenses for buying more buses at a higher per bus cost; and increase gas and personnel expenses caused by decreased bus capacity. To top it off, districts are to address these extra costs with no state assistance to help pay for them. 

To his credit, Senator Arnie Stuthman has voted against this bill and has been willing to voice his opposition. Unfortunately, his words seem to be falling on deaf ears. This is an example where the inexperience of many new senators shows itself. They are willing to vote on a bill for emotional reasons without looking at a cost to benefit analysis.

Another bill that has some rather questionable features is LB 988. This bill restructures the state school aide formula. Overall, CPS comes out okay in the bottom line of this bill. However, how this bill has been grafted together is disturbing. Basically, it rewards school districts for structuring themselves in ways that the state education committee believes is best for education.

This would not be so disturbing if their educational model was based on sound research and information. Unfortunately, in many instances, this is not the case. One example is elementary class size. Districts are rewarded with funds if they get their K-3 class sizes to between 10 and 20 students. This is very easy for districts who are losing enrollment or who are building new schools. Other districts struggle to make this happen without adding classrooms that were not in their facility plans.

Maybe this could be justified if research proved that classes of 20 resulted in better student achievement. Unfortunately, this is not the case. To truly impact student achievement you need to go down to 15 to 1, have a basic change in classroom delivery to reflect these smaller numbers, and maintain it for at least four years. If these conditions are not met, just having class sizes of 20 to 1 makes little difference in student achievement and is a very expensive way to try to improve student results.

I could go on at great length on this topic. A great deal could also be said about the third major education law, the assessment bill, LB 1157. Let us just close by saying that the legislative process in Nebraska is far from perfect. Its imperfections often create an educational environment that is not supportive of sound educational practice or policy.

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