LINCOLN — Three educators with backgrounds in mental health and nursing are seeking to replace a two-term board member who declined reelection this year.
The three candidates are seeking to replace City of Omaha District 2 Trustee Lisa Fricke, who was first elected in 2016 and declined to seek re-election in 2024, as well as others who could have been up for re-election this year. The same goes for the three directors. Potential candidates to replace Fricke are Maggie Douglas of Bellevue, Linda Vermoten of Bellevue and Karen Morgan of Arvo.
The district is comprised of Sarpy, Cass, Otaw, Johnson, and Nemaha counties.
Voters will decide during the officially nonpartisan May 14 primary election whether two candidates will go head-to-head in the November election for a four-year term.
douglas
Douglas taught in public schools for 10 years and in parochial schools for five years. She graduated from Scottsbluff High School and came to Creighton University to earn her bachelor’s degree in elementary education.
She taught in Omaha public schools, quickly learned that mathematics was her forte, and earned master’s degrees at the University of Nebraska’s Lincoln and Omaha campuses.
Douglas said she then became more concerned about the well-being and mental health of her students and pursued a third master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling.
“[I] “I am determined to devote my energy and efforts to helping schools, students, and teachers,” Douglas said of her reasons for running for office.
From both her personal experience and the experiences of teachers she has spoken with, she believes there is still not an ideal level of respect for educators and that is something she would like to improve by working with superintendents, administrators, teachers and families. She said it was one of the.
“We all are on the same page and know that our biggest concern is our students,” she said.
Douglas, who is registered as a Democrat, added that she has no political intentions and just wants to gain experience and improve the state’s education system.
morgan
Morgan has extensive coaching experience, including overseas in Nebraska, Hawaii, Texas, Florida, Iowa, California and Brazil, and concluded that each has a culture to be appreciated.
“If you meet a different culture and start saying there’s something wrong with this culture because it’s not my culture, you defeat the whole purpose of education,” she said.
One of the main reasons she’s running is to restore “balance” through more progressive and liberal ideas, she said. She is a registered Democrat and feels strongly about teaching “historical truth.”
She said some students are learning inaccurate information, such as the actions of the national government against Native Americans and that the Civil War was about slavery rather than states’ rights.
“We’re lying to our students, and by lying to them, we’re undermining our own educational process because we’re telling smart kids that we’re lying to them. If they found out, all credibility would be lost,” Morgan said.
She said the State Board of Education should use its authority to enforce anti-discrimination laws and regulations against transgender students and others, and to “remove books from classrooms and library shelves because someone doesn’t like them.” “I want them to fight against the censorship that is being removed from the country.” ”
Morgan holds multiple undergraduate and graduate degrees in nursing or related fields, as well as a teaching license.
Belmoten
Vermoten, who grew up in South Africa and spent time in the Netherlands before finding a home in the United States, said she has always had a passion for education, even though she was “one of the kids left behind in school.”
“I was told I wasn’t smart enough to go to college and get a degree. Obviously, that wasn’t accurate,” Vermoten said.
She is currently completing her Ph.D. and said her personal experience can help students facing similar challenges. She also wants to help students who may be facing mental health issues in a rapidly changing world.
“We never want to put any student at a disadvantage, but we want to make sure we support every student to reach their full potential,” Vermoten said.
Mr. Vermoten said he is aware that the board has eight members, and that it has a fiscal responsibility perspective that increases parity between taxpayer spending and student outcomes, such as test scores and general success. He said he would like to introduce it.
Vermoten, a registered Republican, said there’s a reason this race is designed to be nonpartisan and that he wants to appeal to all voters.
Securing and recruiting teachers
The biggest challenge for all three candidates is teacher retention and recruitment. Morgan suggested a first-year or first-semester probationary program for new teachers, where a guide or mentor is available if they get stuck or have questions.
“Once they get through that, they have the option to work full time and their pay goes up,” Morgan said.
Morgan said it is also possible to restructure teacher contracts into multi-year contracts within the district rather than at the school, with options for eventual renewal or promotion.
Douglas said he wants to build on the state’s current positive trajectory, which includes multiple incentives and pathways to teacher licensure.
“I think there’s more we can do,” Douglas said.
Douglas said high schools and universities already have many programs that create pathways into the profession, and this should continue, and that teacher representation should be increased so that students meet teachers like themselves. I pointed out that it can be done.
Vermoten said states should retain teachers over the long term by increasing retention bonuses and increasing salaries for entry-level teachers to make them more fair compared to administrators’ salaries. He said there was a need to raise awareness. However, some of that work is outside the board’s control.
She also said the board would work in parallel with teachers, such as subcommittees and working groups, and ask, “To everyone on the ground, what do you think is working to retain teachers? I would like to ask “What?”
“We have to be innovative and look at things differently,” Vermoten says.
Curriculum changes
Mr Douglas said he wanted to ensure that experts were involved in the area when it came to curriculum development, and said there was a “pretty good balance” and he intended to maintain it.
“We need to listen to teachers, we need to listen to experts in the field,” Douglas said.
Morgan suggested that much of her educational experience was at the secondary level, with more blue-collar type classes being important, such as home economics and welding.
“Why not take those kids who have declared that they are not going to go into the post-secondary education system, that they are not going to go, and give them something that will make them employable as soon as they graduate from high school?” ” Morgan said.
Vermoten noted the committee and Legislature’s emphasis on phonics and reading efforts, as well as efforts to strengthen the “fundamentals” of school life such as English, reading, writing, math, science and geography. said it should.
She also wants a strong civics course so her students know that the United States is “the best country in the world” with the best education system, even if it’s not perfect.
“Every country has good and bad, and as they say, the good, the bad and the ugly,” Vermoten said. “We can’t hide the ugly parts of our history. It’s part of our history, but what do we learn from it as we move forward? And we can’t hide who we are as Americans. How should I accept it?”
Parent involvement and library books
Vermoten said she has heard from constituents, especially parents, who are concerned about not having a say in what happens to their children and their schools.
Parents need to stay informed, Vermoten explains, and sees the board as a tool that could potentially provide training in parenting skills.
“When you buy the latest technology, you get this great guidebook,” Vermoten said. “When you get married, have a child, go to the hospital, and come home, there’s no manual to bring home.”
Vermoten said content policies should be age-appropriate. When asked how she creates them, she replies that it’s the right combination of different backgrounds on the board, and how brain development and inappropriate content affect children. She claimed to understand.
she authorized witness Supported by Nebraska State Legislature suggestion For example, I tried the following Dealing with lewd behavior at school and increase criminal liability to provide Indecent content directed toward children.
Morgan said he wanted it too. Standards according to agesaid that books about homosexuality and homosexuality would not be in elementary schools, and probably would not be in middle schools either.
Morgan said students are discovering their identities in high school, so stigmatizing such books or telling students not to read them would be counterproductive. He said it was highly likely.
“When you tell high school kids, ‘I can’t,’ it’s just an invitation to them that this is what they’re going to do,” Morgan said.
Douglas said school library policy should remain at the local level and state boards should not decide what books are available.
“Those close to students know them and their needs better than we at the state,” she said. She says, “I don’t think there’s a rule that one book can cover everything.”
Douglas strives to maintain a positive attitude toward parent involvement, encouraging parents and community members to thank teachers by attending local school events, donating supplies, and more. He said it could help.
“Anything we can do to make schools feel valued will increase student morale and create a better educational environment,” Douglas said.
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