This past week started with Julie and I attending parades in Brady, Stapleton, and Mullen. We then spent this Saturday in Maxwell, participating in their annual parade. Eating some of the three delicious pies from Maxwell’s pie auction was the perfect end to the week. We now have our sights set on the Hershey Fall Festival!

We also attended the annual Governor’s Ag and Economic Development Summit in Kearney. The event began with the annual Nebraska Diplomats’ awards banquet. I was honored to join other area leaders in accepting the Community of the Year Award on behalf of the City of North Platte. In recent years, the North Platte area has quietly ignited amazing growth that will have a profound effect on this area for decades to come. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the outstanding work of Gary Person, who used his long history of economic development to play a key role in orchestrating the growth we see today.

Although these major developments are in the North Platte/Hershey area, the economic impact and population growth will have a large reach. Our greatest challenge over the next few years will be finding housing for all the new workers needed to meet the new job creation. There may never be a greater opportunity to grow all the communities in District 42 than right now. Going forward, we need to use all the tools in our toolbox to lower the cost of new housing and improve the existing housing stock. I look forward to working with all our area leaders to maximize economic development opportunities.

This week, Governor Pillen will be in North Platte to visit with local education leaders and attend a rally for those who support the Opportunity Scholarship Act. Governor Pillen spent his entire campaign making it clear how much he cared about helping every child in this state reach their fullest potential. To that end, he included in his budget more than $300 million in annual funding increases for public schools and a $1 billion fund to help ensure that these increases will remain in place. He also pushed for the Legislature to adopt the LB753, the Opportunity Scholarship Act.

As disappointing as it is to see that there is an effort to repeal this act, I have confidence that the voters will see through all the misinformation out there and uphold the Legislature’s decision on this issue. In the end, this bill is about reducing barriers that prevent low-income families from choosing their child’s school. I have said before and will say again, the bill is not a slam on public schools or teachers; it is about opportunities for every child to attend the school that best fits their learning style. Just as option enrollment allows parents to transfer their students from one public school to another, low-income parents can now add private and parochial schools to their options.

During my travels this past week, I had the opportunity to join the area public school superintendents at a workshop in Sutherland. I appreciated the invitation to meet with them and to understand better the daily challenges they and their teaching staff face every day. As many of you know, I was a vocational agriculture instructor after graduating from the University of Nebraska many years ago. Although teaching had its challenges then, I cannot imagine teaching today. The changes in society over the years have brought teaching challenges in the public school systems today to a new level.

Teachers have always been there to help support each and every one of their students. But the drug issues that have infested our nation are here in western Nebraska as well. As a result, teachers and school administrators have more and more interactions with law enforcement and mental health providers. These challenges go largely unnoticed by the general public but are real issues that teachers deal with every day in their classrooms. As your District 42 State Senator, I am committed to working with the Governor and school administrators to find ways to remove the barriers to education that can result in better educational outcomes.

If you have issues on your mind, please feel free to reach out to me directly at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2729. My door is always open!