Several Nebraska Board of Education members on Monday said a legislative bill that would require schools be graded on an A-F scale would undo two years of work and could bring back a punitive system of gauging school performance.
“Overall, it would undo much of the work we’ve done over the last two years,†said board member Maureen Nickels of Chapman. “Our educators don’t need that. It’s like flip-flopping. I think we need to really understand where this would take us.â€
The bill (LB662), sponsored by Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, would require the Nebraska Department of Education to create an A-F grading scale to measure school performance based on graduation rate, student proficiency in core subjects and growth or improvement in those scores from year to year.
The state’s current system, called AQuESTT (Accountability for A Quality Education Today and Tomorrow), classifies schools in four categories: excellent, great, good and needs improvement.
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AQuESTT was unveiled in December 2015 and also identified three low-performing “priority schools†in which the state intervened to help them improve.
Board member Patsy Koch-Johns of Lincoln, a longtime teacher at Lincoln High who was elected in November, said the new system injected a feeling of hopefulness, something that became clear as she talked to teachers during her election campaign.
“There’s a hopefulness about it that they won’t just be labeled and then abandoned,†she said.
Board member Molly O’Holleran of North Platte said she worries the bill would make it harder to comply with the requirements of the new federal education law.Â
The state education board on Monday discussed various education bills introduced this session but didn’t take a position on LB662 or two related bills.
Those bills are LB608, which would provide vouchers for students to attend private school if their local school is among the lowest performing; and LB630, which would allow charter schools in districts with low-performing schools.
Commissioner Matt Blomstedt said all three bills would require more conversation before the board takes a position.
While his gut reaction is not to adopt an A-F system because of the “motivational factor, it's worth having a conversation with the Legislature about the best way to inform parents on school performance and to find the best way to help schools and ultimately students.
“I always take these things as opportunities to look at what our next steps are,†he said. “We have a lot of work to do yet and our partnership with the Legislature is critical on this.â€