Tuesday's Hearings in the Unicam:

8-6-4-2! We Want Peace! Yes, We Do!

 

It's the Hatfields vs. the McCoys, Montagues vs. Capulets, and "War of the Worlds" when it comes to education battles in this state these days. Here are three more legislative bills that will be up for public hearing before the Education Committee at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in the State Capitol's Room 1525.

 

The middle one proposed by Sen. Roger Wehrbein of Plattsmouth is an additional push for school consolidation, added to the lineup described in Thursday's www.GoBigEd.com Some of these folks have taken OPS' bogus "one city, one school district" slogan and stretched it to "one universe, one school district" proportions. Sheesh. We already know men are from Mars and women are from Venus . . . but these school turf-war bills are truly from outer space.

 

You can read more about each bill by surfing to its number on www.unicam.state.ne.us

 

Maybe we should all put on tie-dyed shirts, colorful headbands, and stick flowers in the educators' rulers and dunce caps that they're brandishing at each other, demanding that they be civil and wait for cooler heads to figure this out.

 

PEACE NOW! PEACE NOW!

 

Or at least . . . HEY! HEY! HO! HO! SCHOOL CHOICE IS THE WAY TO GO!

 

LB 998 (Cornett)

 

In 1983, Bellevue and Papillion-LaVista schools made a boundary deal. But suburban growth has outstripped that agreement, and now Bellevue wants to welsh. Bellevue is seeking to take over two Papio-LaVista grade schools, Anderson Grove and Golden Hills, because they now come within the City of Bellevue's zoning jurisdiction.

 

Sen. Abbie Cornett of Bellevue filed her bill accordingly. It aligns with the OPS push for ownership of all schools within Omaha city limits because of its slogan: "one city, one school district, one big, fat misinterpretation of state law but who cares?" However, she's got a point.

 

But apparently the citizens involved, who live in the Quail Creek subdivision, think their point is more powerful: that they were there first, and they bought their homes expecting that their kids would go to Papio-LaVista schools. Papio sued Bellevue in Sarpy County District Court last year attempting to establish that once and for all; Bellevue has since been told by the court not to lobby the Legislature on this one because it's touchy.

 

Bellevue's superintendent is making people touchy with public statements like this one on Jan. 19 to the Quail Creek homeowners: "I've never seen forward planning with the Papillion schools." Ouch! Where'd HE go to charm school?

 

No matter which way this one goes, people are going to be mad. Oh, well: wear a helmet in that neck o' the woods.

 

LB 1050 (Wehrbein)

 

This bill would create a statewide study committee on consolidation of schools so that there would only be one public school district in each of Nebraska's counties. There would be at least two business people and two teachers from each of the three Nebraska Congressional districts on this committee, which would be chaired by the State Education Commissioner, Doug Christensen. They could appoint more people if they wish, and would report back by Jan. 1.

 

Mama mia! Here we go again. Any further consolidation of school districts would be truly foolish and contrary to what the evidence plainly says about what's best for kids of all sociodemographic groups.

 

Here is a wise old owl who says it better than I ever could. He is John Stone, a Tennessee education professor who has been instrumental in spreading value-added assessment as an accountability tool nationwide. Visit his website: www.education-consumers.com Here's what he happened to write in a listserv posting on another issue (nationalized learning standards, which also dovetails with this creepy consolidation push) Thursday:

 

 

"If there is anything we know about the institution of public education, it is that the schools are overrun with people who--with the very best of intentions--will use their authority as a lever for favored social reforms.  Their prime objective is to advance their vision of a better world, not provide the kind of schooling wanted by parents or policymakers.  We don't have to theorize about their approach.  Just look at the schools today.  Consumers are mainly worried about reading, writing, and arithmetic.  The public education establishment is mainly worried about equity, diversity, and social justice.

 

"The problem is not that the goals aren't commendable, it is that the schools are so little influenced by economic or political forces that it is very difficult to halt or redirect an effort goes when they go off course.  Once schools become invested in a course of action that benefits internal stakeholders, it is very difficult to redirect their efforts or even to access honest progress reports.

 

"In my opinion, anything that further empowers the social, political, and institutional interests that have been in charge for the last 40 years is risky.  Top-down policy changes can make a difference, but political majorities cannot be sustained indefinitely.  Voters and movements come and go, but the publicly funded bureaucracy is permanent.  If a redirection of schooling (from bureaucratic priorities to those of the public) is to be maintained in the long term, I think schools must become more financially dependent on satisfying parents."

 

Yeppers! He's right. SO right! This bill ought to be artfully ejected so that it swirls prettily around, and drops, soundlessly and with finality, into the round file.

 

LB 1243 (Kremer)

 

This bill appears to be attempting to be a peacemaking instrument for boundary disputes between districts. It would set up arbitration requirements when annexed territory becomes a bone of contention. It may not be as flashy as long-barreled pistols at 10 paces . . . but maybe we'd all live to tell about it when the smoke clears.

 

1/27/06 • www.GoBigEd.com is a public-service website on K-12 education issues by Susan Darst Williams, a writer who lives at the base of Mount Laundry, Nebraska.