Legislators mull schools' use of student data, senators' pay

By Fred Knapp , Senior Reporter/Producer Nebraska Public Media

24 de Febrero de 2025 a las 17:00 ·

Nebraska Capitol (Photo by Fred Knapp, Nebraska Public Media News)

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The Nebraska Legislature continued debate Monday on requiring schools disclose to parents how they are using students’ data. And a public hearing was held on a proposal to set up a commission to study raising senators’ salaries.

The student data bill, sponsored by Sen. Danielle Conrad, would require schools to take an inventory of the surveillance, monitoring and tracking technology they use, for everything from digital hall passes and anti-vaping devices to electronic surveys of student attitudes. They would then have to publish the results on their website.

Conrad says it’s important to be transparent to let parents know what schools are doing, and whether students’ data is being sold. School organizations object that it would burden them with additional reporting requirements, and that it could compromise school safety.

Sen. Brad von Gillern represents Millard, where a school shooting took place in 2011. He said safety is his constituents’ priority.

“I talked to a number of different people this weekend about this bill and what it might do, and I asked them, I said, ‘Are you more concerned about the transparency around what's happening with your child and these systems in school, or are you more concerned about their physical security?’ And 100% responded that they were more interested in their physical security,” he said.

And von Gillern said there are other good reasons for schools to use the technology that would be covered by the bill.

“There are some of these tracking systems that have been proven to track kids’ level of engagement in their classroom, and engagement in actually attendance and truancy, and those have been directly applied to increasing the performance in the outcomes for kids," he said. "So there are very helpful and very good reasons to collect some of this data. It should not be sold outside to third parties."

Sen. Megan Hunt said the proposal, LB31, would still allow schools to use technology.

“What LB31 seeks to do is not to choke off that process, not to say we can't contract with tech companies and schools," she said. "It's to say parents deserve to know how that data is being used. That's it. It's not saying publish on the internet all of the routes out of the school from the security camera so that school shooters can use it. This is a ridiculous and absurd extrapolation to arrive at."

Senators adjourned for the day without reaching a vote on the bill, with opponents seeking to make compiling such inventories optional, while Conrad expressed optimism the idea will advance in some form or other.

Also Monday, members of the Legislature’s internal governing body, the Executive Board, heard various proposals aimed at increasing how much senators are paid. Currently, the state constitution sets senators’ salaries at $12,000 per year. That amount that has not changed since 1988, and with inflation, it would take more than $32,000 to give someone the same purchasing power.

Currently, voters would have to approve a constitutional amendment to change the salary. Instead, Sen. Ben Hansen wants to establish an independent, nonpartisan commission to set the salary.

"Twenty-two other states set senators salaries through commissions. So this isn't something new. Nebraska has been paying our senators the same since 1988," he said. "Cost of living has dramatically increased since then, and it is time we do something. There have been attempts to increase the salary over the years, but the ballot language looks like senators are trying to make more money. This approach leaves it up to the commission, not the senators."

Heidi Uhing of the group Civic Nebraska, which helped draft the proposal, was among those testifying in support. Uhing said the low pay for senators denies Nebraskans balanced representation.

“While some Nebraskans may feel they are getting a good deal by paying our state senators so little, the low level of pay means that mostly retired, semi-retired, or independently wealthy Nebraskans can even afford to serve. An imbalance like this in the body prevents our state's policy outcomes from being truly representative of the average Nebraskan’s experience and perspective,” she said.

Sen. John Arch told Uhing that after the commission recommends a salary, senators would still have to approve it.

“The appropriation bill would get to the floor, the budget bill would get to the floor, and we would have a debate on senators’ salaries,” Arch said.

“Yeah, on the floor. That's a good point,” Uhing agreed.

“That sounds fun,” Arch remarked, archly, provoking laughter.

“Maybe you could be sick that day,” Uhing offered.

Arch later confirmed he was being sarcastic in saying it would be fun for senators to debate their own salaries. But Hansen downplayed any potential controversy.

“I wouldn't expect a fight. It could be. But this is not us determining our pay. This is the citizens of Nebraska, and we are agreeing with them,” Hansen said of the commission. “Now if they give us $200,000 a year, I might vote against that."

The only opposition testimony came from Josephine Litwinowicz, who said if the compensation is not tied to inflation, senators could wind up in the same position they’re in now in the future.

The board took no immediate action on the proposal.