Listen To This Story
A new initiative led by the Nebraska State Education Association encouraged state senators to visit classrooms around Nebraska.
Twelve Nebraska lawmakers spent time shadowing teachers and observing classrooms in November. NSEA President Tim Royers said the program aims to create a connection between lawmakers and schools to build a better understanding of how legislation affects classrooms.
“There was a big difference in perspective on what the reality of school is like right now,” Royers said. “We figured the best way to solve this is just to get our lawmakers into school for a day, so they can see what a day of school looks like.”
The NSEA president emphasized the need for lawmakers to witness the effects of their policies, both positive and negative, adding a more humanizing element for educational legislation.
“The best way we can make sure they are making the right call is to remind them of the fundamentally human level of their policies,” Royers said. “Their willingness to get in there and see down at the human level [of] what this looks like — that’s the reason why this matters.”
Sen. Danielle Conrad, a registered Democrat in the officially nonpartisan Nebraska Legislature and a member of the Education Committee, visited Goodrich Middle School in Lincoln. Conrad said that visiting classrooms gives a unique perspective that can’t be replicated in a legislative hearing.
“Any time state senators have an opportunity to be invited into a school and learn more about what’s impacting that school, it’s going to help us have a better, clearer understanding of the public policy issues we’ll have to decide upon,” Conrad said.
The senator, who has two children in school, said she often observes educational issues from a parent’s perspective. She said shadowing educators as a lawmaker gave her a deeper look into both challenges and successes within the state’s schools.
“I got a chance to talk to teachers and just hear how their day was going, what was changing in their work, and then what policy initiatives we should really focus on, to be good partners to what they're seeing and hearing and doing at our public school,” Conrad said.
Royers said that more lawmakers have expressed interest in participating after winter break. He said he hopes the initiative continues to grow and eventually becomes a routine for lawmakers when making educational policy.