107TH LEGISLATURE INTERIM 

Happy 245th Birthday America! I stand eternally grateful to have been born and raised in the most amazing place on earth! We appreciate the military who allow us to be the home of the free and the land of the brave. 

This week I joined forces with 29 other State Senators to take a public stand in opposition to the Nebraska Department of Education’s new Health Education Standards. Thursday morning, July 1, the following press release was sent out to media outlets across the state.

Thirty Nebraska State Senators stand together in support of Resolution for school boards across the state to oppose Nebraska Department of Education’s new Health Standards.

Nebraskans have spoken loud and clear—they do not want their children subjected to the Health Education Standards proposed by the Nebraska Department of Education. To our disappointment, despite three months of feedback from parents, the NDE has not been responsive to their objections and concerns.

But Nebraskans can always count on parents and local school boards to take action. The Nebraska State Senators listed below respect parents as the first educators of their children. We therefore call on local school boards in our State to adopt Resolutions to reject the proposed NDE Health Education Standards and retain local control over the content of their health curriculums.

The group includes Senator Julia Slama (LD 1), Senator Robert Clements (LD 2), Senator Robert Hilkemann (LD 4), Senator Mike McDonnell (LD 5), Senator John Arch (LD 14), Senator Ben Hansen (LD 16), Senator Joni Albrecht (LB 17), Senator Brett Lindstrom (LD 18), Senator Mike Flood (LD 19), Speaker Mike Hilgers (LD 21), Senator Mike Moser (LD 22), Senator Bruce Bostelman (LD 23), Senator Suzanne Geist (LD 25), Senator Myron Dorn (LD 30), Senator Rich Pahls (LD 31), Senator Tom Brandt (LD 32), Senator Steve Halloran (LD 33), Senator Curt Friesen (LD 34), Senator Ray Aguilar (LD 35), Senator John Lowe (LD 37), Senator Dave Murman (LD 38), Senator Lou Ann Linehan (LD 39), Senator Tim Gragert (LD 40), Senator Tom Briese (LD 41), Senator Mike Groene (LD 42), Senator Tom Brewer (LD 43), Senator Dan Hughes (LD 44), Senator Rita Sanders (LD 45), Senator Steve Erdman (LD 47), and Senator John Stinner (LD 48).

A RESOLUTION FROM LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS

The following is the Resolution many local school boards across the state are signing and sending to the State Board of Education letting them know that Nebraskan’s want to decide when their children learn the delicate topics of life. The local public schools of Nebraska have been a safe, wholesome environment for decades, and we want to keep it that way.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF SCHOOL DISTRICT NO.__________ IN THE STATE OF NEBRASKA AS FOLLOWS:

 Section 1. The Board of Education (the “Board”) hereby makes the following findings and determinations:

 (a) Parents and guardians are the primary educators of their own children, especially in matters of faith and morals, including sex education; and

 (b) The school district is to support and assist the education of children, not to replace the parent or guardian; and

 (c) The Nebraska Department of Education has proposed Health Education Standards which could infringe on parent’s and guardian’s role as primary educators of their own children; and

 (d) Parents and guardians in this district have voiced their concerns over some of the proposed

Standards, making it clear that they do not intend to relinquish their role as primary educators of their own children; and

 (e) Parents and guardians who support some or all of the proposed Health Education Standards have every right and every opportunity to avail themselves of any and all educational material necessary to educate their own children in a manner consistent with the proposed Health Education Standards from the Nebraska Department of Education, and their right and ability to do so is not adversely affected by this District’s decision to decline the adoption of the proposed Health Education Standards.

 Section 2. The Board hereby directs and determines that the District will not adopt or utilize the Health Education Standards proposed by the Nebraska Department of Education. The District will make its own determinations regarding the content of its health education curriculum.

 Section 3. At such time as the Nebraska Department of Education removes all content which promotes ideological positions on human sexuality, the District will consider the adoption of new Health Education Standards.

  RESOLVED on this _____ day of ________________, 2021

Again, I strongly encourage all Nebraskan’s to read the Standards and inform themselves about content that is being considered. Take some time to review the entire document for yourself and let the State Department of Education know what you think. A draft of the Health Education Standards are available for review at: https://www.education.ne.gov/healthed/health-education-standards-development/

You can submit a formal comment by emailing nde.standardsinput@nebraska.gov.

The most important step you can take moving forward is to contact your state and local school board members and representatives and ask them to sign on the Resolution rejecting the first draft of the proposed Health Education Standards.

AN END TO COVID-19 

This week, Governor Pete Ricketts announced that the State of Emergency implemented in March of 2020 would end on June 30, 2021, removing the last official pandemic measure issued by the State of Nebraska. Isn’t it wonderful to be on the other side of this unprecedented event. We will never forget how we made it through together!

As always, it is of great importance that I hear from my constituents to effectively do my job as your voice in the Legislature. I encourage you to contact me and I look forward to hearing from you. You can reach me at 402-471-2716 or jalbrecht@leg.ne.gov.