(My Views Are My Own)
By Lisa Schonhoff, Ed.S.
1/14/2025
My first week as a member of the State Board of Education was filled with meeting people and learning! On Wednesday, January 8th, we were provided with an overview of parliamentary procedures and Robert’s Rules of Order by Deputy Commissioner, Ryan Foor. The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) facilitated a team building session so that the eight members could get to know each other better.
On Thursday morning, January 9th, we had a briefing of Article 7 in the Nebraska Constitution provided by Deputy Commissioner, Brian Halstead. In the afternoon, the four new SBOE members were sworn in at the capitol. It was a joyous affair with all of the senators greeting us upon arrival. The SBOE reconvened at the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) to elect a president and vice president on Thursday evening. The president and vice president positions were unanimously voted on. Congratulations to Elizabeth Tegtmeier as this year’s president and Deborah Neary as the vice president. I look forward to our work together.
You can watch the meeting from Friday, January 10th on the NDE Website. We heard from Dr. Larianne Polk about the history of Education Service Units (ESU) and their roles within our public school system here in Nebraska. Dr. Polk wrote more than 200 pages regarding the work of our ESUs. I plan to read through these pages before writing a more in-depth blog post on the work of our ESUs.
Congratulations to Lindsey Wilson, our 2025 Teacher of the Year! Lindsey teaches middle school students for Bennington Public Schools. She is passionate about engaging her students in real world application of scientific concepts. It will be wonderful to hear about her experiences throughout the year.
A significant part of our meeting was learning more about the Nebraska Literacy Project Plan from Allyson DenBeste, Academic Officer and Lane Carr. As the new chair of the Planning and Evaluation Committee, I look forward to working more on the following components of the Literacy Project:
When I asked how High Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) were determined, I was told that EdReports is used. EdReports is a “nonprofit organization designed to improve education by providing reviews of K-12 instructional materials.” When researching any non-profit, it’s important to see who they are funded by and what their mission statement is. “EdReports is funded by Broadcom Corporation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, the Helmsley Charitable Trust, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Overdeck Family Foundation, the Samueli Foundation, the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, the Stuart Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, and the Oak Foundation.”
Other nonprofit organizations that are being paid with Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds are Nebraska Children and Families Foundation (NCFF) and National Center for Families Learning (NCFC). NCFF recognizes that “racism is a root cause of systemic problems, and racial justice is necessary for systems change. Nebraska Children’s mission and values are driven by a goal of a Nebraska where all children, young people and families can thrive; and we know this will not happen in communities where racial and ethnic inequalities exist. We commit to repairing and eradicating racial injustice. Nebraska Children pursues individual, programmatic, and system-level change with the goal of ensuring equitable access to supports which promote well-being and positive outcomes for all, regardless of race. To achieve this, race equity is not an activity to perform, but must be a central tenet for all of our work.”
Overall, I was thrilled to be a part of the parliamentary process and look forward to continuing my research and working hard for Nebraska. You can find my weekly blog posts on my website. Please reach out with questions.
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