Please pause during your school celebrations this weekend and join in changing the narrative of public education: Counting the wins and saluting our determined teachers

As the 2023-24 school year came to a close this past week, two miracle eighth graders drew the loudest applause – and tears of joy – at a Moore Middle School promotion ceremony. Three years earlier, those Lincoln Public Schools kids had arrived as sixth graders performing below grade level, rarely speaking, holding little hope for their future. Today they have blossomed into young people ready for high school, conquering math and reading at grade level, seeing education as a path to success.

That’s a win.

Over at Elliott Elementary School last week, three English Language Learner students who struggled mightily in learning to read and write, showered their teacher with love and praise, their families feeling grateful – every day since they arrived in this country – that their children had such a conscientious teacher.

That’s a win.

A graduating senior – a kid who never liked coming to school – was recognized with a $1,000 scholarship this spring and had his own personal business cards presented to him by the vice president of a local bank.  A student at one of the newer LPS focus programs, Bay High, the young man says he’s finally beginning to understand his own potential. 

And that’s a win.

***

A few weeks ago, a Saturday Night Live skit went viral, featuring three smiling teachers (SNL actors), opening a sketch to supposedly celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Week. “Sometimes the classroom can feel like a battlefield,” one teacher began, “so we have a special message for our students: ‘Y’all won.’”

The sketch went on to feature a series of horror stories, from teachers teased for having a "funky neck" – to winding up in an actual neck brace – to the clear crowd favorite, a teacher who claimed to scream “TSIDDAHN” (“sit down”) – at least 628 times a day.  “Kids … y’all won.”

Personally, I thought the skit was hilarious.  Every teacher has those moments when they feel like they haven’t taught anyone – anything.  The skit reflected their frustration.

But here’s why I’m writing this blog: I don’t want that SNL skit to be the final word.

Teachers across Lincoln and across our country are counting up student successes every single day.  The educators I know and respect are by no means waving a white flag.  

Instead, they are mighty warriors, some of the most determined, diligent people in America, and they are winning – with perseverance, researched strategies and damn hard work. 

And when teachers win – their students win.

Proudly talking about those two transformed students at Moore Middle School, Principal Gary Czapla says: “The majority of their success is attributed to their resilience, but also to the resilience, skill and care of a group of educators and support staff who would not give up no matter how the students resisted guidance, accountability and help.  That promotion ceremony affirms all that is good about public education and demonstrates the power of teachers who still believe they have the skills, knowledge and moral obligation to make a positive difference in the life of every student.”

Elliott Elementary teacher Jen Delka said this year was one of her most challenging in educating refugee and immigrant children – with one new student arriving almost every two weeks.  “I had moments that utterly depleted me, but at year’s end I was flooded by what is really important: kids and families. After several mothers embraced me with tears and profound thanks, it occurred to me this fifth-grade graduation may have been very important in their lives – lives they likely would not have lived in Guatemala and Afghanistan.” 

Of course, dear readers, let me not mislead. This is certainly not the whole story of our schools. 

America’s educators are in the middle of a battlefield right now. Let’s call this what it is: A full-blown attack on public education from a group of right-wing crusaders – including our own governor and many Nebraska state senators – spewing vile and misleading claims focused on anti-transgender, anti-’woke,’ and anti-Critical Race Theory. 

But never fear, I see no white flags of surrender among educators. Local, state and national advocates of public education are rising up in protest. 

Undeterred, they fully understand what they must do: 

1) Shout from the rooftops the good news about public schools.

2) Work even harder to make them better.

My son, Josh Swartzlander, principal of KIPP Legacy High School in Kansas City, believes schools are stronger and more resilient than their enemies assume – and more effective than we’re being told: “There are so many examples of great schools capable of great things – everywhere.”

Of course, it’s not easy.

Josh is constantly reading about education, especially drawn to Doug Lemov, author of “Teach like a Champion.” 

And Lemov identifies a triangle of major obstacles in teaching right now:

• The detrimental impact of smartphones and social media, particularly on mental health but also simple attention span.
• Distrust in governmental institutions, which often spills over into distrust of schools.
• Our sense of social disconnectedness, ravaged further by the pandemic.

And yet, listen to Shamara Bullock – one of Josh’s assistant principals – proudly talk about:  

* The junior who started in ninth grade with the belief that they were supposedly "not good at reading and writing" – a kid best known for not speaking to anyone all day – who now has earned college credit and almost $200,000 in scholarship money.

* The student that started eighth grade, two years behind in reading, and left eighth grade on a ninth-grade reading level, planning to graduate early to attend college. 

“I know what winning looks like,” Bullock says.  “Winning is 100 percent engagement in high rigor, high energy – and safe, learning environments, where excellence in academics and character are being practiced … The key for educators is having resilience, purpose and vision – beyond this being just a job – and having tools, resources and support to keep going.”

In fact, Lincoln High School Principal Mark Larson said this was likely his favorite year in education (Year No. 19).  “I think I'm older and wiser and have a different perspective than I did when I was 22. I think I appreciate some things more that I took for granted before COVID.”

But the real magic for him this year was as basic as this: Schools took away cell phones.  “I think there were some of us who thought the great cell phone battle was a lost cause. But this year, adults were clear and more consistent on a policy that made sense.  And teachers were much more intentional about finding ways to get students to talk to each other about their learning. What we found was students and adults found more joy in conversation and learning this year than I remember seeing for a while.” 

Josh believes you keep it simple: “Give students clear expectations, hold them to a high bar, teach them some cool stuff.  Your students will be fine.” 

Adults tend to lose perspective over time, Josh says. “Every generation has challenges in education. The phrase – ‘Kids these days’ – was probably the first thing etched on a cave wall.  Kids are kids, they have always been a challenge.  It’s sort of their job to be a challenge.  But an adult’s job – an educator’s job – is to teach them to be responsible adults.  That’s never going to change.” 

Our country’s education system is not perfect.  Never was.  But our educators are fighting like hell and a great many of them are winning. Now is the time for all of us to start changing the narrative of public education – to stop buying into an organized, manipulative effort that paints all our schools as failing. 

Respectfully, I ask each of you to take a moment amidst the school celebrations throughout this holiday weekend – and do not TSIDDAHN.  

Stand up, shout out, support the enormous possibility and promise of public education. 

Then pause to salute the real winners: Those students fortunate enough to have teachers who will not give up – educators who are ferocious and focused on making sure their kids learn.

***

Call to action:  This past session the Nebraska State Legislature passed LB 1402, an obvious and devious end run around a planned referendum for November to vote on the voucher scheme passed the previous year.

If you would like to know more about the second, ongoing petition drive for the right to vote on whether public dollars should fund private schools – go to Support Our Schools Nebraska/Public Dollars for Public Schools:  https://supportourschoolsnebraska.org/

*For your viewing pleasure, here's a link to the Saturday Night Live skit: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttska8oXZP4

It's been a week...

by Mary Reiman

Yes, it's been a week.

It started with the Kentucky Derby. My pick, after analyzing the odds, trainers, jockeys, horse names and colors (color being the most important factor), I usually select a horse with around 10-1 odds. It’s good to cheer on the ‘underdog.' 

Moving on to Monday. There was our governor. Calling the petition drive to repeal LB1402 “absurd” and also calling for at least 39 of the 49 State Legislators to be conservatives. 

One of the candidates for legislature in my district in Lincoln sent out very large, colorful (some would say slick) postcards regarding everything she supports.  The return address on all of those oversized postcards is her hometown. Columbus, Nebraska. 

Tuesday was the primary election. The statewide voter turnout was 27%. I wonder why people don't vote. They have opinions. Why don't they vote?

I am usually not very interested in the primary elections across the state. This year I paid more attention, thanks to JoAnne Young’s 5 Women Mayhem blog last week, Nebraska women navigating their own political storm. 

I was also more involved thanks to my friend, Glenda Willnerd, candidate for the State Legislature from District 1. Glenda is a woman with strong beliefs in the importance of caring for all people and fighting for their rights. In the many years I have had the honor to know and work with her, she has been an advocate. For students, for teachers, for her community, for our country. Her campaign slogan was 'Leading with Integrity.'

Tuesday evening, Glenda and her husband, Phil, hosted a gathering for those who had helped with her campaign. The evening began with all of us turning to the flag and pledging allegiance. That simple act said so much to those of us who know Glenda. 

It set the tone for thoughtful reflections of what democracy really means. Glenda addressed the group with her favorite quote from Dolly Parton, “You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try.” She then shared her story of how she became a candidate, putting in her paperwork on the last day they were accepting applications, after much contemplation. Bravely moving forward into a new realm of learning.

In typical Glenda fashion, she then paid tribute to all for helping with her campaign. She went around the room, acknowledging each by name, giving us a more complete picture of everything/everyone involved in the process. Friends who helped write ads and flyers, put up yard signs and large highway signs, located sites for the various community meet-and-greets, addressed hundreds of postcards, made numerous phone calls to encourage people to vote, and canvassed towns throughout the district. 

Nebraska Legislative District 1 is comprised of 5 counties. 38 communities. That’s the whole southeast section of our state. Many miles driven, from the day she committed to this endeavor until Tuesday,

Glenda spent an exorbitant number of hours learning about everything involved in running a campaign. There aren’t enough how-to manuals provided for women moving into the political realm and I wish we could have known how to shelter her from mean-spirited emails.

I greatly admire my friend’s fortitude and stamina and willingness to fight for us. She would have been a fabulous legislator. She would have listened and she would have responded and worked tirelessly to solve the issues and concerns of her constituents. She put herself out there and although she was not one of the top two finalists, she is a winner in our hearts for her willingness to take a risk. And, most definitely, for her bravery and her integrity.   

Yes, it's been a week...and so begins another...

As I watch CBS 60 Minutes, Pope Francis is discussing "the globalization of indifference." So many topics blend together. 

Perhaps we need a week to block out everything. Recharge. Rethink. Focus on the beauty of so many shades of green. Think about the joyfulness of graduation celebrations with young adults who give us hope for our future.

Then let us take a moment to salute our flag, say the pledge of allegiance, think about our freedoms and our democracy. Next weekend celebrate Memorial Day. Remembering, honoring, being grateful.

Nebraska women navigating their own political storm

By JoAnne Young

 

Women in Nebraska are in the middle of a political storm, fighting for autonomy, trying and often failing to accomplish improvements they believe are imperative for their families, children and professional lives. You need only to look at a recent incident of public sexual harassment on the floor of the Legislature to understand it. 

 

Childcare costs for Nebraska parents are among the least affordable in the nation, costing slightly over $1,000 a month for an infant, averaging $15 an hour, in general. Five Lincoln childcare centers have closed in the past six months. The Nebraska Legislature passed two bills addressing affordable childcare this session, but failed to fund them. 

 

At the same time, the Legislature is chipping away at women’s ability to choose whether to terminate a pregnancy, with abortion now outlawed after the 11^th week, with only a few exceptions. 

 

Parents can’t choose medical care for transgender children until they are 19. And the governor has issued an executive order that requires gender identification to be determined at birth, affecting athletics, schools, anti-discrimination laws. Only a female can be a mother and only a male a father. 

 

Teachers and librarians, the majority women, came under fire when a bill was introduced this session to have them held criminally responsible for providing “obscene material” to Nebraska students in grades K-12. It undoubtedly would have led to book banning. 

Will the gender pay gap ever go away?

 

I decided to ask Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, who has six sessions of experience in the Legislature, what it’s like these days for women at the Capitol. 

 

She had a telling story. She lost a lot of weight over the interim last year, 60 to 70 pounds, and when she returned in January, at about the weight she was when she first campaigned six years ago, people treated her differently, especially the men. They considered her “more attractive,” she said.

 

“It’s stark. It’s highly noticeable ... it’s them putting me more in a position of, like, ‘poor sweet little girl, let’s make sure nothing bad happens; I’ll help you out.’” 

Hunt believes women must have loyalty to men in power, and the institutions they run, to have any power themselves. They promise leadership and opportunities, but they’re always going to make decisions based on their own best interests, she said. 

 

The Legislature had a record high number in this two-year session of 18 female senators, 37%, and could have a voting bloc for important issues, but the split between conservatives and progressive ideologies ensured that didn't happen. 

 

“You’d think we’d be able to agree on things like helping children who are living and born and need food, but we cannot even do that,” Hunt said. 

 

She believes conservative women have more cache and influence because they align themselves with men and their agendas. She is good one-on-one with other senators, she said, but when group think takes over, it becomes more tribal, more us vs. them. 

 

I’d like to see more women in the Nebraska Legislature, like Nevada, who established a female majority in 2019 of 52%, and has continued to add to it. In 2023, the majority grew to 62% overall and in each of both houses. It doesn’t stop there. Five of seven Nevada Supreme Court justices are women (compared to two of seven in Nebraska). Four of the largest cities have female mayors; two of four U.S. representatives and both U.S. senators are female.  

 

A few other states are poised to follow Nevada. Nebraska would have to add seven women to get a slight majority. 

 

Nevada legislators don’t make a big deal out of the female majority, said Steve Sebelius, political reporter, KTNV Channel 13 in Las Vegas and before that with the Las Vegas Review Journal for 23 years. They want to be recognized for their legislation and political achievement, he said, not for their gender. The majority victories mostly come down to individual districts and races and the quality candidates who run. Many are business owners, attorneys, professionals, he said.

 

The one office they haven’t conquered is the governor’s. “I can’t imagine the state of Nevada will not have a female governor within next 10 years. It’s almost inevitable,” Sebelius said. 

 

In Nebraska, Hunt said she’d like to see women in the Legislature toughen up, speak directly, be firm, call senators and others out when they are being sexist or racist. “Nobody should be normalizing that,” she said.  

 

The Nebraska Legislature is the smallest in the nation, and run in such a way that senators have a lot of power, Hunt said. They can introduce as many bills as they want, chair committees without party interference, have no party caucuses or whips or leaders telling them what to do. 

 

Step into that power, she said. 

 

She'd also like to see more women run for office who are independent thinkers. The only way things change is to have more representation and diverse perspectives. But women must be willing to ignore bad treatment and objectification by colleagues, constituents, slanted publications, and toxic comments they receive on social media and in comment sections. 

 

“You have to say, so what? I’m going to do the work anyway,” she said. 

 

Information on running for office is available at: https://www.womenwhorunne.org/howtohelp

 

Spirit of the Prairie art by Elizabeth Honor Dolan, located in the Capitol law library. 

 

Follow us at 5 Women Mayhem on Facebook. 

What's In a Protest?

 By Marilyn Moore

Note to readers:  I have frequently said that I write in order to figure out what I think.  This blog is a classic example of that.  It’s long, and it doesn’t hold together at every step of the way.  This is what my thoughts look like right now….  If you find the length daunting, you’re welcome to scroll to the end and see where I land...for the moment.  When I learn more, I may think differently.

The front pages stories on local and national newspapers and the lead-off stories on local and network broadcast news have featured protests, i.e., marches, encampments, demands, confrontations, occasional use of police forces to disperse, arrest, maintain order, clear out an occupied building or plaza.  What it is that is being protested is not always clear, but generally it focuses on the current realities of the war between Israel and Hamas, realities that include dire (as in life-threatening) circumstances for the people living in Gaza and the ongoing conflict between the Israeli government and the Palestinians.

The protests that have received the bulk of the news coverage have been on major college campuses; Columbia University and UCLA have been in the spotlight for many days.  Marches and gatherings have turned into encampments, with tents set up on plazas and common green spaces on campus.  There has been property damage, there has been disruption to the normal daily life of a campus, including the regular schedule of classes and the usual spring graduation ceremonies.  It’s loud, it’s unruly, it’s messy.  Some students have been suspended, some have been arrested, and some have gone home for the remainder of the semester.  

State and federal elected officials have weighed in with advice for university leaders, sometimes following a short visit to a campus and sometimes based on what they saw in the news.  That advice is usually along the lines of, “Get control of the situation,” sometimes followed by, “Call in the National Guard if you have to.”  

Protests are kind of an American thing.  The Boston Tea Party was a protest, complete with destruction of property.   The ruling government at the time, the British, regarded it as an insurrection.  Women marched for the right to vote in the 1900's, and farmers drove their tractors to Washington D.C. to demand federal assistance during the farm crisis of the 19u80's.

For those of us who remember the protest marches of the 60’s and 70’s, it all seems eerily familiar.  The causes were different – civil rights and the Vietnam war.  The strategies are similar: make a noise, cause a disturbance, disrupt the normal activity of the campus, take over a building, and rally others to the cause.  And, from the perspective of fifty years later, the protests served a purpose, rallying citizens who would never march but who would vote, to vote for change.  Civil rights legislation was passed, and the Vietnam war ended.  

In neither case was it perfect.  Civil rights are still not equally granted and protected, and in fact seem to be more out of reach today than twenty years ago; particularly disappointing is the gutting of the Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court.  The Vietnam war did not end with peace with honor, no matter what the headlines, and the president, said. Soldiers who fought in that war came home to criticism and abuse, with PTSD still being experienced.  The Vietnamese who had been American’s allies did not fare well under the new regime that ruled when the last American helicopter left.  Nevertheless, change happened, and one could argue that the protests were a force in making that happen.

The comments and remarks about today’s protests have taken on a political tone, with office holders and candidates for office from both parties using them as campaign talking points.  President Biden, in his remarks about the protests earlier this week, said that this is not a time for politics, but a time for clarity.  And therein lies the difficulty, how does one bring clarity to this moment in time.

The issue itself is complex.  This little strip of land, which today is home to the nation of Israel and the Palestinian territories, Gaza and the West Bank of the Jordan River, has been the site of competing claims for land for thousands of years.  It’s a conflict that is historical, religious, political, and cultural.  The current conflict started with an attack from Hamas, the defacto ruling party of Gaza, on the nation of Israel.  More than 1300 Israelis were killed, and more than two hundred hostages were taken.  Hamas is housed, or hidden, within Gaza, which is home to more than two million people, most of them Muslim.  Israel retaliated with air power and an invasion of on-the-ground soldiers.  Death and destruction have ensued; more than 20,000 residents of Gaza have died, either from bombs and warfare, or starvation and illness.  Some Hamas cells have been discovered and eliminated; some remain.  Homes, hospitals, supply chains of food, water, and medicine, have all been disrupted. Widespread famine has been reported.  Some hostages have been released, in a brief cease-fire a few weeks ago; many are still being held.  How many have died in captivity is not known.  It is the position of Israel that their nation was attacked, and they will not cease their retaliatory military action until all of Hamas has been found and destroyed.  It is the position of Hamas that Israel has created intolerable conditions for the Palestinians living in Gaza and on the West Bank of the Jordan for decades, and that the only way to get the world’s attention is through a terrorist strike.  

The world’s attention is certainly there.  Many philanthropic groups have joined efforts to get food, medicine, and water to the people living in Gaza.  The US has persuaded Israel to allow some humanitarian aid in.  Secretary of State Blinken has visited Israel several times, trying to mediate a cease-fire.  President Biden has traveled to Israel and since talked with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, affirming Israel’s right to defend itself, while urging restraint in response, citing the international code of war that innocent civilians are to be protected.  Iran launched an attack on Israel of more than 200 drones; most were repelled by the Israeli defense system known as the Iron Dome.  Other countries have attempted to intervene, with referrals to the United Nations and with cooperative humanitarian efforts.  What other countries have not offered is to take in refugees from Gaza, providing a safe landing spot to a people increasingly under attack with no place to go.  

The protest movement is also complex.  The protests, moving across the country from the coasts to the center, are largely focused on the Palestinian people, who claim a religious heritage to that land as do the residents of the nation of Israel.  The protesters raise the specter of lack of housing, medical care, food and water, and safety for those living in Gaza.  Some are calling for a two-state solution, establishing a Palestinian nation along with the nation of Israel.  Such a solution has also been proposed by elected officials in the US and in other countries.  It is a solution that is championed by some and is a total non-starter for others.  The protesters frequently call for their universities to divest any endowment monies from funds that are connected to Israel and to end all international programs with Israel, including study abroad opportunities.  

Most of the citizens of Israel are Jewish, and some/many/most Jewish students on the campuses where protests are being held report being harassed or threatened because of their religion.  Some protestors say that they are not opposing Judaism, or Jewish people, they are just advocating for justice for Palestinians.  Some Jewish students say they do not feel threatened, and that they agree that the Palestinians’ lives should be better.  There is not a monolithic Jewish student, nor is there a monolithic protester. The protests occur at a time that reports of antisemitic language and attacks are reported throughout the US.  

In the midst of all the complexity, and increasingly heightened tension, campus presidents and chancellors are attempting to navigate several higher ed values. One is the freedom of expression, related to the First Amendment right to free speech.  There are, of course, limits on this freedom.  My observation is that college campuses have given wide latitude to freedom of speech, while generally stopping at hate speech or speech that is threatening.  Hence, the student who said that Zionists should not be allowed to live was expelled.  It’s not an easy line to draw, and reasonable people will disagree.  Likewise, protesters on campuses have generally been able to gather in public spaces; that’s another part of the First Amendment, the right to peaceably assemble.  When is an assembly no longer peaceable?  When someone is uncomfortable?  When someone is prevented from going to class?  When someone is hurt?  When a building is broken into and occupied?  Depending on your views and your life experiences, different people will land at different places on this continuum.  

Those are the questions the university leaders are trying to navigate, trying to negotiate.  The content of the speech is a component of the response to the protests, in that generally the sentiment in this country has been more supportive of Israel than the Palestinian people; Israel is a major ally of the United States. That is true of most of our elected officials; the House of the Representatives has just passed a bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Bill, which, among other things, defines antisemitic language.  Many significant donors to major universities are also supporters of Israel.  All are voices to which university leaders are attending.  They’re also attending to the voice of the students…attempting to turn this into some kind of a learning situation, sometimes successfully, other times, not so much.  It’s a case of trying to balance competing values, those of freedom of speech and an orderly environment.  

As I noted at the beginning, this is messy.  And clarity does not come easily.  I was impressed with UNL Chancellor Rodney Bennett, speaking of the protest that was held on the UNL campus last week.  He spoke of the value of freedom of speech, a value he described as dear in a higher education setting.  He also spoke of the need for safety of all on the campus.  It was clear from his comments, and from the comments of student leaders, that they had been in conversation before the planned protest and had come to a seemingly respectful agreement on the parameters of the protest.  Such conversation doesn’t always happen, and such conversation doesn’t always result in a mutual agreement.  It is complicated further when a significant portion of the protesters are not students, but outsiders (that is, outside the campus community) who have joined the protest.  

The question always in the mind of leaders is what happens when the protest exceeds what seems reasonable; sometimes further conversation results in a de-escalation, and sometimes it doesn’t. This week, police forces were called in to Columbia and UCLA to clear the encampments, arresting more than 2000 persons, not all of whom are students.  Those of us who remember Kent State in 1970 have qualms about any decision to send National Guard troops onto a college campus in an attempt to subdue protests.

A conclusion?  Not there yet.  Perhaps an attempt at what clarity looks like to me….

    o The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is way too complex to try to summarize in this essay…and efforts by some of the world’s most foremost and skilled mediators have failed to bring about long-lasting peace.  

    o The United States, and any other country or international organization, has limited ability to influence the behaviors of other countries.  Whatever influence we have depends on our relationship with that country, the resources we choose to invest, or not, and the values and principles upon which we stand.

    o Israel is an ally of the United States.

    o The Palestinians, those in Gaza and on the West Bank, live in dreadful circumstances with no protection of basic human rights.

    o The First Amendment is a major component of our Constitution and the rights that are guaranteed to all US citizens.  That includes speech and assembly that some may find offensive and uncomfortable.  That speech is especially that which is protected.

    o Actions which cause damage and chaos and destruction are not protected by the First Amendment. 

    o I’ve been a higher ed administrator, though I did not have to deal with a student protest movement.  It’s hard work, and it can get explosively harder overnight.  Second guessing doesn’t help.  

    o De-escalation is usually a better option than escalation.  It’s also a lot harder.  This is true in conflicts between nations and in responding to student protest movements.

    o As my friend Tyler White, professor of practice in political science, said, “It’s okay to feel really bad about all of this.”  I do.

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