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LINCOLN 鈥斅燗s the Nebraska Legislature considers whether to mandate increased support for struggling young readers, a Lincoln mother urges officials to act as she continues a years-long push for literacy and dyslexia awareness.

Heather Schmidt of Lincoln said she is 鈥渃autiously optimistic鈥� about the to . If passed, the State Board of Education would craft a model policy around reading interventions, dyslexia screening and standards on when to recommend holding students back for persistent reading deficiencies by the end of third grade.

The model would need to include and flexibility so local schools, by July 1, 2028, could adopt or update their policies and implement the changes 鈥渨ithin existing resources.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e making progress, I think. Slowly. Not quick enough to make a difference in generations of children at this point,鈥� said Schmidt, whose oldest daughter, Norah, 19, has dyslexia.

Schmidt was among a few individuals to speak during a public hearing in support LB 1050, a priority of Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen. She offered her own framework around dyslexia screening and help designed to support students with dyslexia and not make the expectations 鈥渟quishy anymore.鈥�

鈥淚 suppose in 2018, we kind of thought, 鈥榊ay, now we鈥檙e going to do dyslexia, and these kids aren鈥檛 going to be invisible anymore,鈥欌�� Schmidt said. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 seen that materialize.鈥�

Norah Schmidt, now a college freshman, told the Examiner this month that she doesn鈥檛 think kids should be held back but should be given the help they need to learn to read. Then, retention would not be a worry.

鈥淜ids who need extra help with education should be given that because that鈥檚 the main job of educators,鈥� Norah Schmidt said. 鈥淜ids should have the education they need to succeed.鈥�

Adding nuance

The Legislature took a major step in 2018 with the passage of the 鈥�,鈥� led by former State Sens. Lou Ann Linehan of the Elkhorn area and Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln. The 2018 law set up a process where K-3 students are assessed three times a year and, if struggling in reading, are put on a formal 鈥渞eading improvement plan.鈥�

The bipartisan legislative duo toured schools in fall 2017 and later passed frameworks to and . Kindergartners in fall 2017 will head to high school this fall.

Lawmakers for years, including Linehan and former State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, have urged the Legislature to act because kids can鈥檛 simply wait for legislative action.

LB 1050 entered the picture this year with support from U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, who is visiting Nebraska on Thursday. The original bill would have mandated that students not able to read by the end of third grade be held back automatically.

Linehan had proposed similar legislation during her freshman year in 2017. She later proposed allowing parents to move their child to fourth grade if they choose. Lawmakers for a similar parental opt-out during this year鈥檚 first-round debate on March 26. The bill , and it returns for the second of three rounds of debate Wednesday. It needs 25 votes.

Some lawmakers opposing the bill worried it added bureaucracy, would be punitive or would pass on unfunded costs to schools, which they argued might increase property taxes to cover implementation costs.

State Sen. Jana Hughes of Seward, vice chair of the Education Committee and a former school board member, is leading the amendment being considered Wednesday, which would hand the development of reading intervention requirements to the Nebraska Department of Education and local school boards, rather than the Legislature.

鈥淰ery few policies are so easy or black and white that it fits a school of [Omaha Public Schools] size down to McPherson size,鈥� Hughes said.

Nebraska public schools span the range in from roughly 52,000 students in OPS to about 50 students in McPherson County Schools.

鈥楽houldn鈥檛 be new or scary鈥�

However, advocacy organizations representing administrators, school boards and teachers remain opposed, Hughes and others said.

鈥淭he Hughes amendment is far better, but our preference is for this bill to die on select file,鈥� said Nebraska State Education Association President Tim Royers. 鈥淭he governor鈥檚 planned event tomorrow with Secretary McMahon is clear evidence that this is all driven by his desire to score political points, not what鈥檚 best for kids.鈥�

Linehan and State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, an Education Committee member, told the Nebraska Examiner this week that many current complaints about LB 1050 are about what鈥檚 already required in law, including targeted supports and the thrice-yearly reading assessments. The mandatory retention, which Conrad described as 鈥渧ery misguided,鈥� has been removed.

鈥淭his shouldn鈥檛 be new or different or scary,鈥� Conrad said, noting that schools already have policies on literacy and grade retention. 鈥淚鈥檓 not quite sure why there鈥檚 still so much opposition.鈥�

Conrad said the Education Committee鈥檚 work to add a parental override and more flexibility for English language learners and students receiving accommodations was a 鈥渇ar better iteration.鈥� For some, retention might be best, she said, but it can鈥檛 be 鈥渙ne size fits all鈥� or exclude parents.

Parents already have the option to hold their child back in grades K-3 for academic reasons under a 2024 law that Conrad led.

鈥楳ore bureaucracy鈥�

State Board of Education Vice President Liz Renner of Omaha said she worries that in some states with a parental exemption, such as Michigan, the system turned into a 鈥渉aves and have-nots,鈥� where families with resources could appeal and others were held back.

鈥淚 feel like a law is not quite flexible enough for the situation, because I just think there鈥檚 a lot of gray area for families and for students and for schools,鈥� Renner said. 鈥淚 definitely think it鈥檚 a great idea for it to come to the Board of Ed.鈥�

But Renner remains opposed to LB 1050 and doesn鈥檛 understand why it would need to be put into law, especially without more state funding to help local schools implement the policies.

鈥淚 just don鈥檛 think it adds anything to the statewide goal of improving literacy, other than more bureaucracy,鈥� Renner said.

The State Board officially took no position on the original LB 1050 after a motion to oppose it split 4-4 in early March.

A model policy?

State Board of Education President Elizabeth Tegtmeier of North Platte and fellow board member Lisa Schonhoff of Bennington also voiced hesitation on the model policy component, but not on the goal LB 1050 seeks to achieve.

Schonhoff . She described it as the 鈥渁ccountability piece that we鈥檙e lacking.鈥� She is a 鈥渓ittle bit leery鈥� of the model policy, because she doesn鈥檛 know what it would look like, though she loves the deference to local control. At the same time, she noted that reading and test scores over the past decade have declined, with local control.

鈥淎t some point, we have to say, 鈥楬ey, something鈥檚 not working with local control,鈥欌�� Schonhoff said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to figure that out because kids are going to be suffering, and it just keeps getting worse.鈥�

She said she reached out to Mississippi and Louisiana education teams on how they improved reading proficiency, finding that many states have a retention policy. She, Linehan and multiple lawmakers have said the point isn鈥檛 punishment but providing targeted, strategic supports.

Tegtmeier said she was surprised no one from the Education Committee or Pillen鈥檚 team had reached out before LB 1050 was introduced, being 鈥渃onsequential legislation.鈥� She sees arguments on both sides but said the point is telling schools they 鈥渁bsolutely must do everything within their power to help children learn to read.鈥�

Providing a parental override is important, Tegtmeier said, but her concern with the model policy is that schools already have the power to act.

鈥淚鈥檓 just not sure I see the value in more legislation that doesn鈥檛 have any teeth,鈥� Tegtmeier said.

鈥楳ore harm than good鈥�

State Sens. Ashlei Spivey and Margo Juarez, both of Omaha, had urged the Legislature to slow down and that the legislation was moving too fast.

Spivey, a member of the Appropriations Committee, proposed having the Legislature spend $15 million each year to implement the law. The state doesn鈥檛 have such room in its budget, and the Nebraska Department of Education has received an over a few years, specifically earmarked for reading from state, federal and private sources.

State Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln, who succeeded Pansing Brooks, has filed a motion to kill the bill. She said she is getting 鈥渂ombarded鈥� with messages from educators, schools and lobbyists for schools that LB 1050 is still a 鈥渂ad bill.鈥� She said Lincoln Public Schools has estimated a $4.2 million annual cost, which wouldn鈥檛 be covered by the state.

鈥淚t needs to put a pause in it to go back to committee and deal with a lot of the issues that they keep bringing up,鈥� Raybould said Wednesday. She said educators have told her retention would 鈥渄o more harm than good, particularly to children of color.鈥�

Linehan said if it costs so much, she questioned what schools and others have truly done in the past 10 years to help struggling readers.

Schmidt said the arguments of being 鈥渢oo fast鈥� leave her with 鈥渟heer frustration鈥� and a sense of 鈥渟tarting over again.鈥� It has largely been freshmen senators questioning the legislation.

鈥淭hat was stunning and just sort of makes somebody almost feel like what鈥檚 the point of continuing to try and change things?鈥� Schmidt said.

Schmidt described some deja vu and a feeling of 鈥渟tarting over again鈥� like in 2017 and 2018, when some lawmakers then said the Linehan-Pansing Brooks efforts would be 鈥渞epetitive鈥� and weren鈥檛 needed.

Schmidt said lawmakers should keep personal stories in mind and know that for everyone who speaks, there are hundreds more. She said lawmakers need to understand legislative history.

Making a change

State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil, who is leading LB 1050 as Education Committee chair, said he is good with Hughes鈥� amendment because it includes three parts: the parental override to retention, reporting requirements and early parental involvement, as early as kindergarten.

鈥淚 kind of look at it as a participation trophy, not that it鈥檚 necessarily a trophy to move on, but there has to be accountability,鈥� Murman said.

He and Schnoff said change is needed in part as have declined over the past decade. Linehan said officials don鈥檛 want to continue the 鈥渄ownward spiral.鈥�

鈥淲e cannot keep doing what we have been doing and expect different results,鈥� Murman said.

鈥榃e can鈥檛 compete with the experts鈥�

Murman noted term limits in the Legislature 鈥� restricting senators to up to two four-year terms 鈥� have also complicated the legislative process, giving increased strength to legislative staff and lobbyists compared to lawmakers. This includes efforts to address education and literacy.

Conrad, Linehan and Schmidt separately acknowledged the imbalance between a mother such as Schmidt and lobbyists. Conrad and Linehan said it might take a while before policymakers begin questioning what they鈥檙e told, with Conrad noting there鈥檚 a level of trust with local schools.

鈥淣o, we can鈥檛 compete with the experts. We don鈥檛 have the access. We don鈥檛 have the money. We don鈥檛 have the numbers,鈥� Schmidt said. 鈥淏ut our stories and our voices should be more important than that.鈥�

Linehan, no stranger to fights with school officials, said it might take three years to figure out that what a senator is being told by education leaders might not be reality.

鈥淭hen you fight them, and then you鈥檙e gone,鈥� Linehan said.

Conrad鈥檚 first legislative election in 2006 was the first time term limits began booting senators. She said it鈥檚 harder to get up to speed on complex issues and natural for new policymakers to defer to school officials, including local ones.

She said it takes a while to build independence and balance goals to support public schools while also being unafraid to hold them accountable.

鈥淚 think, unfortunately, school officials have taken advantage of that lack of strength and institutional knowledge in the Legislature and have resisted accountability,鈥� Conrad said, who returned to the Legislature after being term-limited.

Pansing Brooks is running to return to the Legislature, which would make her the second woman to return after sitting out due to term limits, after Conrad. Linehan said she鈥檚 happy about that potential.

鈥淭he only way we can hold the schools accountable to what we do, obviously, is by being there longer,鈥� Linehan said. 鈥淚 feel once Patty comes back, there鈥檒l be a reckoning, because that is really a nonpartisan issue.鈥�

The Legislature last year advanced a constitutional amendment to . Voters will weigh in on that amendment this fall.

鈥楢 shining star鈥�

Of Schmidt鈥檚 advocacy, Conrad and Linehan praised her work in helping the Legislature, especially in the era of term limits.

鈥淪he鈥檚 just a shining star when it comes to what it means to be an engaged and responsible citizen,鈥� said Conrad, now in her 12th year as a lawmaker. She is unopposed for reelection.

Linehan, who was term-limited after 2024, described Schmidt as a dedicated mom who fought to make things work for her kids. She said those advocates are important, who know the facts and background, while lobbyists organize on the other side.

鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 paying that much attention until Heather called me,鈥� Linehan said, adding later: 鈥淪he just keeps coming back. She鈥檚 just incredible.鈥�

The vigilance has also helped Linehan put in place in 2023. Schmidt, Linehan and Pansing Brooks all returned this February to fight to preserve those, and . The reporting is meant to add more accountability to the 2018 law. The group successfully fended off changes each time.

Of why she continues showing up, Schmidt said she looks at her girls and wonders, 鈥淲hat if?鈥�

鈥淲hen I think of what could have been, it鈥檚 heartbreaking,鈥� Schmidt said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want other kids and families to have to worry about that.鈥�

Conrad said she can鈥檛 describe how intimidating or scary it can be for Nebraskans to engage with the Legislature and lawmaking process, but she said when people do 鈥斅燼s Schmidt has 鈥斅爄t makes public policy 鈥渞icher鈥� and 鈥渕ore responsive.鈥�

鈥淚 am grateful for her incredible work and impressed by her vigilance,鈥� Conrad said of Schmidt. 鈥淗er personal sacrifice in stepping forward and into advocacy has made the state a better place and should inspire others.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Aaron Sanderford for questions: [email protected].

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