Voters will narrow the choices in two contested races for the Nebraska State Board of Education in the upcoming May primary.
The primary will be the first step in a transformation of the eight-member board, which will have four new members after the November general election since no incumbents are seeking reelection.
The state board positions are nonpartisan and the top two vote-getters for each seat in the May primary will advance. Districts 1 and 3 have only two candidates each. But Districts 2 and 4 have three candidates each, meaning that one of the candidates in each district will be eliminated in the primary.
The current board has a mix of conservative and liberal members, but the balance could change depending on this year's elections. Political ideology has impacted the outcome of several hot-button issues such as banning library books and postponing health education standards.
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In the District 2 race, which includes Sarpy County and four other counties in southeast Nebraska, two registered Democrats and one registered Republican are vying for the seat held by Lisa Fricke, a Democrat.
The District 4 race has one Republican, one Democrat and one nonpartisan candidate seeking a seat in the eastern part of Omaha. It is currently held by Jacquelyn Morrison, a Democrat.
Board of Education District 2 candidates
Karen Morgan, Maggie Douglas, Linda Vermooten
Democrat Karen Morgan, a retired teacher and nurse, said if she were elected to the state board, her political party wouldn't matter as much as her commitment to particular issues around Nebraska.
Morgan said she's passionate about supporting inclusion of all student populations in Nebraska schools. Recently, the state, like others across the country, has battled over accessibility to bathrooms and school sports for transgender students.
"A women's restroom has cubicles — you can close the door and there is no violation," Morgan said. "If a male had gone in there and not gone through a transition completely and they feel like a woman, why prevent them feeling the way they are? Segregating people of color, religion, LGBTQ — that's not fair and that's not American."
Morgan also disagrees with any censorship of library books. Earlier this year, state board member Kirk Penner proposed a ban on sexually explicit books in schools, but the motion was later rejected by a majority board vote.
"When I was teaching in Texas, the librarian was cutting pages out of books because she felt some pictures were offensive to her," Morgan said. "I couldn't believe she was actually doing it."
Democrat Maggie Douglas, a mental health professional, said she believes decisions about library book content should be left to local school boards.
"They know their students better than at the state level," she said.
Douglas said she is passionate about teacher recruitment and retention, a top issue in the state because of an ongoing educator shortage. Douglas was a teacher for 15 years, working at a parochial school for five years and the Omaha Public Schools for a decade before leaving the field in 2021.
"I just want to make sure our teachers are supported while we are attracting more teachers to the profession," Douglas said.
It's important for state board members to also have a "same team mentality" even if people have different party affiliations and backgrounds, she said.
"We all have our views and our backgrounds and our belief systems," Douglas said. "Just recognizing we all come from different situations but our main focus is supporting all of our children — the conversations of our differences need to be steered to helping all of our students."
Republican Linda Vermooten didn't respond to interview requests for this article. In a previous interview with The World-Herald, she said a key focus for her is to increase academic performance, especially in reading. The former home health nurse said the state's reading scores are a pressing concern.
According to data released in 2023, roughly 60% of Nebraska fourth graders are not proficient readers.
“I became quite alarmed when I heard about the composite scores and how low they are,” Vermooten said. “Fiscal responsibility is one of the (reasons) that I’m running — making sure we’re using money that’s actually going to help the individual student with learning versus just going into a program.”
Vermooten said she also wants schools to be more transparent to parents about what children are learning in the classroom.
Board of Education District 4 candidates
Stacy Matula, LeDonna White Griffin, Liz Renner
Republican Stacy Matula, a retired finance professional, said controversial issues aren't a priority for District 4 voters, who live in eastern Douglas County.
"What is more a priority with my constituents is financial transparency and the core values of education — getting more students who graduate to read above a second grade level," Matula said.
It's also crucial for state board members to be nonpartisan, not letting "your party influence you," she said.
LeDonna White Griffin is the sole registered nonpartisan candidate in the two contested district races. Her top two values are increasing reading proficiency and ensuring parent choice.
White Griffin, who worked for more than 25 years in OPS, is the founder of Leaders to Legends Academy, a private learning community that caters to homeschool or private school students. She said parents should be able to send their children to whatever education would fit best, whether that would be a private or public school.
"If a child is not experiencing success, then parents should do something about that," White Griffin said.
Boosting student reading proficiency is also one of White Griffin's goals. It's a skill that all children need to succeed later in life, but is something that needs improvement in Nebraska, she said.
"If we get that right, we can get everything else correct," she said.
Democrat Liz Renner said when it comes to the topic of "school choice," she's disappointed in the recent decision to use taxpayer dollars to fund private schools in Nebraska. Earlier this month, the Legislature narrowly passed what was called an "end run" bill to appropriate $10 million per year for private school scholarship funds.
"I think it's a misuse of public dollars and public trust," Renner said. "We need to be ensuring that we have a strong public school system and if we are going to divert money, we need to hold the recipients accountable."
Renner said the teacher shortage would also be a top concern. One of her goals would be to help implement solutions besides competitive wages to attract and retain teachers.
"What's equally important to a lot of educators is having a good work environment, class size and time for planning," Renner said. "Basic work-life balance elements are just as valuable in that appeal to keep teachers on board."
Correction: A map in an earlier version of this article map incorrectly labeled the State Board of Education districts. The map labeling has been corrected.