No 'Mississippi Miracle': Public School Coalition Gets Legislature to Kill 3rd Grade Literacy Bill

by John Gage

Lawmakers voted down a bill Wednesday aimed at improving literacy among Nebraska elementary students after an effort by a coalition of groups in support of public schools urged state senators to kill the measure.

The coalition, which called itself the Nebraska Education Collaboration, circulated a memo telling state senators to oppose both LB1050, which would provide requirements for dyslexia screening and limit advancement to fourth grade for students who were not meeting proficiency levels, and a compromise amendment by State Senator Jana Hughes, which would have required the State Department of Education to develop a model policy for reading intervention for kids in kindergarten through 3rd grade.

The original bill was modeled after a Mississippi law that would hold 3rd grade students back a grade if they did not reach proficiency levels. The measure has been praised for being the catalyst for the “Mississippi miracle,” which refers to the state going from second to last place in reading proficiency in 2013 to the top 10 in the country for reading scores. When adjusted for poverty and student demographics, the state is number one.

Nebraska’s version of the bill failed after supporters could only muster 31 votes in an attempt to end the 33-vote filibuster. Democratic State Senator Jane Raybould led the opposition against the measure on the floor. Raybould said the bill was “distracting teachers from doing things that they know best,” and that it would put unnecessary restrictions on school districts and teachers.

The state senator cited the Nebraska Education Collaboration letter, which claimed the bill and amendment “risks limiting local control and the flexibility districts need to address the unique needs of their students, distracting from the thoughtful, research-grounded work already underway through ongoing partnerships between districts and the Nebraska Department of Education.”

Democratic State Senator Danielle Conrad criticized the public school coalition for attempting to fight the literacy bill and the Hughes amendment. “Well over 90% of the concern has been left behind and resides in the original legislation,” she said, adding that the “Optics are troubling that schools are fighting tooth and nail against a policy to improve reading.”

Conrad accused opponents of the bill of engaging in “political theater.” “This shouldn’t be a filibuster, this is commonsense,” she said.

Republican State Senator Fred Meyer, a supporter of the bill and the Hughes amendment, said opposition against the bill was a result of people not wanting to be held accountable. “Whenever you shine the bright light of accountability on some, all kinds of things happen, and that’s what I think is happening here this afternoon,” he said.

Pillen Calls Filibuster ‘Antiquated’

Following the bill’s failure, Governor Jim Pillen, who had requested the measure be introduced, took aim at the Unicameral’s 33-vote filibuster.

“Today, the Nebraska Legislature failed to advance a commonsense measure that would have held public schools accountable for the basic literacy of the kids they are entrusted to educate,” he said on Twitter. “Despite having the bipartisan support of an overwhelming majority of senators (more than 63%!), it could not even get a fair up-or-down vote because of the Legislature’s broken filibuster rule.”

Pillen went on to blame the filibuster for obstructing bills that had “the support of a clear majority of the People’s representatives.”

“Pro-Life protections, tax reform, winner-take-all, keeping men out of women’s bathrooms, and other much-needed bills have been deprived of fair up-or-down votes by a minority of the Legislature,” he added. “Nebraskans are electing majorities Lincoln to get work done, only to have it die by an antiquated filibuster rule. This is dysfunctional and fails to serve the will of the people of our state.”

Earlier this year, Democratic state senators and a handful of Republicans successfully filibustered the budget until legislative leaders agreed to take out a provision to fund scholarships to private schools for kids which Pillen had backed.

Republican state senators have complained that legislative leadership has not taken up their priority bills. Republican bills that were given a personal priority but were not heard on the floor, included — among others — property tax relief measures, winner-take-all, and a bill to keep biological men out of women’s locker rooms and bathrooms.

Legislative leadership has pointed to the Unicameral’s 33-vote filibuster for why some “politically charged” legislation has not been taken up.

John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.

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