Welcome to By The People - Deliberation Week Project
"The State of Education"

October 24 event was a great success. Read what people had to say in the news article What to teach, locations and how to pay for schools topic at NET event, (Kearney Hub, October 25, 2005).

For a brief background and discussion guide, please read The State of Education Background Materials.

The PPC has archived of many of our events online; to watch the NETV presentation of this event online click here.

Click here to read the Public Policy Center final report.

Nebraska public education has had many successes in the past decade. In fact, Nebraska students rank in the top ten in almost every national measure of student achievement. Despite these achievements, Nebraska education policymakers, school administrators, teachers and parents are confronting a variety of issues critical to the structure and performance of Nebraska public schools.

The introduction of the federal No Child Left Behind achievement standards and rigorous state standards have caused educators to consider what material needs to be taught to students in order for them to both meet standards and prepare them for the future. Also at issue is which level of government (federal, state or local) should make decisions about what educational services are offered, what standards should be set, and how students should be assessed.

Additionally the debate over how to adequately and equitably pay for educational services has become a focus of Nebraska education policymakers, as evidenced by two lawsuits filed by close to 50 Nebraska school districts against the State of Nebraska about the current state aid to education formula. Yet another emotional issue is the 2005 passage of LB 126 in the Nebraska Unicameral, which will force the merger of many small rural school districts and signals a move toward district consolidation.

On Monday, October 24th, residents of Central Nebraska will gather on the campus of the University of Nebraska at Kearney to discuss these issues and hear from a distinguished panel of experts on education policy. Kearney will be one of sixteen other communities across the nation that will be discussing important domestic issues that week, part of a local-national initiative called By the People. This will be the second By the People event to be held at UNK. It is a joint partnership between MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, NET Television, UNK Office of the Chancellor, UNK College of Education, UNK Department of Political Science, and the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center.

For more information contact:

• Tarik Abdel-Monem, NU Public Policy Center (402) 472-3147
• Dana Cohn, NU Public Policy Center (402) 472-0108
• Bill Kelly, NET Television (402) 472-9333
• Dr. Peter Longo, UNK Department of Political Science (308) 865-8039
• Dr. Ed Scantling, UNK College of Education (308) 865-8502

Sponsored by:
University of Nebraska Public Policy Center
University of Nebraska at Kearney
NET Television

Local support for University of Nebraska Public Policy Center By the People Deliberation Week project is provided by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, and by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Rockefeller Brothers Fund.