Lawmakers reject proposal to give more power to parents of special education students

By Fred Knapp , Senior Reporter/Producer Nebraska Public Media

April 7, 2026, 5 p.m. ·

Nebraska lawmakers prepare to vote Tuesday. (Fred Knapp/Nebraska Public Media News)

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In the Nebraska Legislature Tuesday, senators rejected an attempt to give parents of special education students more power over their children’s education.

Sen. Victor Rountree is the sponsor of the proposal to require that parents must approve any changes to a special education student’s individualized education program, or IEP. Rountree said the bill was brought to him by the Defense Department following complaints by military families that sometimes Nebraska schools were denying their students services they had previously received in other states.

Rountree said he was trying to address a power imbalance between parents, who are often on their own, and schools, who have experts and lawyers on their side.

“At the end of the day, this bill is about whether we believe parents matter, whether we believe their voices should carry equal weight, and whether we are willing to correct a system that, as it stands, too often leaves families without a meaningful path to advocate for their children,” Rountree said.

Sen. Bob Hallstrom opposed Rountree’s proposal, saying it went too far.

“This amendment would expand consent requirements far beyond what is required by federal law, effectively giving parents veto power over every single decision made by educational experts for special education students,” Hallstrom said.

And Sen. Tanya Storer questioned its effect on small, rural schools like many in her Sandhills district.

“My concern is all schools may not have access to all resources, and this could become a very burdensome issue, an expensive issue for particularly smaller rural schools in the state,” Storer said.

But Sen. Danielle Conrad faulted her colleagues for not listening to parents.

“There is a problem when they're fighting tooth and nail against dozens of school experts and lawyers and lobbyists to get a few extra minutes of speech therapy or physical therapy or a less-restrictive environment, and if Sen. Rountree's measure would help to make that process work a little bit better for the most vulnerable party in the situation, for the taxpayer, we couldn't be bothered,” Conrad said.

Lawmakers voted 28-14 against Rountree’s amendment, then gave the underlying education bill (LB937) second-round approval on a voice vote.

Also Tuesday, lawmakers debated a proposal that would permit drivers for companies like DoorDash to deliver customers goods from company warehouses while still being considered independent contractors, not employees.

The proposal brought forth arguments similar to a proposal last year that clarified drivers, including for Uber and Lyft, were independent contractors not entitled to benefits like workers compensation coverage.

DoorDash wants to establish brick-and-mortar warehouses containing items that could be delivered to customers. And the company wants the law to say that just because drivers pick up items from one of those warehouses, they are still considered independent contractors.

Sen. George Dungan opposed the idea, saying the determination of a worker’s status should be left for the courts to determine.

“By clarifying in the law that a Door Dasher or another driver is still an independent contractor, even if they go to this brick and mortar specifically for the things that are ordered, it is the Legislature, yet again, putting its thumb on the scale as to what the courts do or don't determine,” Dungan said.

But Sen. Ben Hansen supported the idea as a necessary innovation. And he argued that legislation requiring more benefits for employees is forcing companies to respond.

“When you start mandating stuff, you're going to see more of this happening," he said. "And so you have proponents of increasing the minimum wage, you have proponents of mandating paid family leave. And then they come on here in the microphone and say… ‘We got to stop these kind of innovations from happening.’ Now you want to talk about self-destruction of the economy. That's the perfect way to do it: stop innovation, stop businesses from trying to find a solution to these over-burdensome regulations, and then force other employers to pay exuberant amounts of money because you feel it's better."

Ultimately, Sen. Eliot Bostar offered an amendment that he said clarified that the workers in the warehouses would still be considered employees, while the drivers would still be considered independent contractors, even if they went into the warehouses to pick up goods. Senators adopted that amendment, then voted 34-9 to give the bill(LB921) second-round approval.

Tuesday marked the 56th day of this year’s legislative session, which could end this Friday. If Gov. Jim Pillen vetoes any bills, senators could meet one final day next Friday to consider any veto overrides. Pillen signed the main budget bills without any vetoes Tuesday, but there are still other bills that he could veto.