LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) – Nebraska’s education commissioner has pledged to state lawmakers that he will be a commissioner for all students as the state tackles key goals of improving literacy, cutting chronic absenteeism in half and school staffing shortages in half.

Commissioner Brian Maher, testifying before the Legislature’s Education Committee on Friday, said the Nebraska Department of Education serves about 360,000 students in public, non-public and home schools. The department, which Maher leads, also supports vocational rehabilitation and disability determination services for Nebraskans of all ages.

“I’m happy to report that the state of education in Nebraska is strong,” Maher testified. “I am proud of the accomplishments of our schools, and there are few places as good or better to raise a child than to raise that child in Nebraska.”

Maher became Nebraska commissioner of education on July 1, 2023, after it was selected by the State Board of Education to run the state department of education.

Friday’s legislative briefing came at the request of the Education Committee, chaired by state Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil, via Legislative Resolution 496. He sought an overview of the Department of Education, regularly affected by new state laws and the state budget, but over which the Legislature has a different set of oversight than the State Board.

Murman and other senators said they get a lot of questions from constituents about the department and that the briefing, which may be repeated in the future, helped answer some of them.

Literacy of students

The main focus of Maher’s briefing focused on three legislative priorities which the State Board of Education is trying to achieve by 2030:

Improve third grade reading proficiency on state tests to 75%. Halve the number of school vacancies. chronic absenteeism.

The K-12 state test scores for the previous school year won’t be out for several weeks, Maher said, but he anticipated that Nebraska has pulled back from academic declines after the COVID-19 pandemic but continues to see “pervasive gaps” for students with disabilities, English learners foreign languages ​​and economically disadvantaged students.

The Department of Education continues to address student literacy, and the State Board is to adopt update to “The Nebraska Literacy Project” next month.

Those updates, which Maher previewed in October, include recent legislation to inform five principles for professional development based on the “science of reading,” curriculum and teacher preparation that aligns with evidence-based instruction, regional coaches of literacy at the state level, robust. data collection and family literacy programs with prekindergarten.

Nebraska recently received one $55 million federal grant over the next five years to help improve literacy levels. In partnership with Nebraska First Lady Suzanne Pillennearly 800,000 age-appropriate books were distributed to children across the country, Maher testified.

He said the steps are not to train teachers, but to make Nebraska more proficient readers.

“That’s something I hope the whole state can get behind,” Maher testified. “We will be focused and relentless in achieving this goal.”

As the Department of Education proceeds new standards for teaching literacy — led in part by state Sens. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn and Lynne Walz of Fremont — Maher said pilot schools are leading the way and there are some incentives for schools and teachers who participate.

“Our way of implementing this is to work with the coalition of the willing,” Maher said.

The pilot schools include those that need the most support, such as Omaha, Lincoln, Scottsbluff, Crete, Alliance and Ralston.

Staff shortages and chronic absenteeism

Legislative proposals continue to support teacher retention and recruitment through grants and fellowships to obtain new teaching endorsements in high-demand fields.

Many committee members said they were surprised to learn that of the department’s roughly 554 employees, 224 are assigned nationally to support adult learning and other professional activities to help Nebraskans with disabilities and potential employers.

Maher said the Department of Education has also implemented a return-to-work policy and strategically reviews each retirement, resignation or other recommendation for a new position.

This fall, Maher was one of the 14 officials from education at the national level to join a national commitment to cuts chronic absenteeism in half.

Walz asked Maher if there had been any conversations improves family involvement and parental support to combat chronic absenteeism.

Maher responded that as optimistic as he is about the literacy goal, he looks forward to exploring the basics to further address chronic absenteeism.

“I don’t have that firm view yet,” Maher said. “I would say the baby step is working across agencies.”

A pilot program in Ralston is bringing together law enforcement, the judiciary and others in the community for comprehensive services to get kids to school, though Maher said that’s all he could say at this point.

Support for all Nebraska students

Lawmakers praised Maher for saying he would be a commissioner for all students, not just public school students.

“If Nebraska is going to be the best it can be, we all have to pull in the same direction,” said state Sen. Fred Meyer of St. Paul, former member of the State Board of Education.

Maher told state Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue that anyone with questions about the Department of Education showing “favoritism” toward public education can go to him. As an example, he said, he recently met with about 10 private school leaders and they discussed how to improve their third-grade reading skills, even though non-public school students are not taking the same test as public school students.

“We need all schools in our mission to learn, earn and live,” Maher said. “We’re going to do our best to dispel what I would say is a myth that we have favorites.”

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. The Nebraska Examiner maintains its editorial independence. Contact editor Cate Folsom with questions: [email protected]. Follow the Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and X.

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