2006
Week 15 - B
April 21, 2006

Yo

The legislature adjourned without dissolving. An attorney has been hounding us for months with the demand that we fold up shop -- sending volumes of legal files which hold us in contempt of the law if we do not quit voluntarily. Her deadline has passed for turning our inaction over to the Supreme Court. We continue to rumble on. One wonders what about the Constitution an attorney does not understand. Sigh.

The Omaha schools fight is settling down, faster than I predicted. Last night's paper pictures the four key Superintendents side by side, smiling and saying they will be working together for the educational benefit of all the children in the Metro area. Send up a few rockets. They are a powerful team, with top rank staffs. The future looks much brighter than our past.

The only cleanup item is to remove the 3-way split of OPS, which should not be difficult if the leaders continue to work together. It will be easier to do after the November 7 vote on the "one room" schools, from last year. Then it is our job to get out of the way for two years, while the schools study and plan.

My/Our comments have centered on OPS, which is misleading. When I said we must get the districts to the table, I was always thinking plural. There are three groups. One, OPS, which has the most low income and minority schools. Two, the four "coalition" districts, which have been actively trashing OPS rather than coming up with plans. Three, the six districts which are in the Metro area but have been standing clear of the fight.

I pay a special tribute to those six districts. It would be easy to say, "Leave us out of this. We have our own lives to live." They mumbled that, but when the push came on the floor they said we are all in this together and their senators voted that way. Wow.

The pressure was on OPS to back off, but consider the pressure we placed on every one of the eleven. Any district which does not come to the table can be dissolved by those at the table. In summary, the only point of LB 1024 is to improve integration of schools in the Metro area. We do it with three prods. All 11 schools must join in several years of planning on how to improve integration. Two, lest they become distracted with other agenda they develop, we require them to create a Task Force on Integration, which must report to the legislature. Three, we took boundary disputes off the table -- also a strategy to force them to stay on the subject of integration.

Much of the distracting heat along the way came from rhetoric. I have had quite enough of shouts that other districts or the legislature do not care about children. Or do not want multicultural education. Or are disinterested in quality education. Or that OPS teachers do not do a good job. Or that low income schools are being shorted in funds. That is not only baloney, it contains flat out lies. Some of it was scripted by attorneys, in preparation for lawsuits. I have stacks of it on my desk, have listened to it read into our proceedings, and have heard it on TV.

I tour schools, talk with teachers and students, check stats. Quality is excellent. I grind my teeth when I hear good teachers trashed by persons promoting an agenda. Negative talk cannot be wiped out and causes long term harm. The legislature is pro-children, big time. It is our major subject. We are for multicultural education, big time. That is the point of this bill. Every district centers on these concerns. We have a bright future.

In other action, the best debate was on campaign spending limits. The noisiest with the least importance was concealed carry. The easiest to pass was sexual predators. The most political hype came with the tax cuts. The biggest expense with no debate was fixing up our campus buildings. Greatest gains were for children's health and education. The most huffing and puffing with no action was on workers' Comp and Minimum Wage.

Minimum Wage is the silliest debate I witnessed. A few business folk (not all!) act like the end of the world comes immediately after raising minimum wage. I am pro-business, through and through. We must have healthy entrepreneurs and old timers to prosper as a state. However, in the mind of some, all my votes for business are wiped out by one vote on minimum wage. Our proposal exempts kids and small businesses. No major business is paying near minimum wage. We have a few families with two parents working full time, who still need welfare to pay their basic bills. That is demeaning, and it is bad for your taxes. But there is near panic when we talk about raising the minimum.

The most breathless moment was passing instate tuition for immigrant youth, over the governor's veto. Term limits caused the passage. It was the right thing to do, but it is so hard for the public to understand. Those who are up for election were hesitant to vote for it. This was the last vote for 21 senators. The bill treats all our kids the same, which the constitution requires. These kids, our kids, who in ten years will be our adults, have a better chance to become trained for a productive job.

It was the wildest week of my legislative life, but it reflected months of study on most of the issues. I am proud of my colleagues and our shared work.

Several intriguing subjects stir in the inquisitive corners of my mind as we do our work. I will produce and send essays on them during the interim. This is really hard work. I want to be interesting to those who have not thought about it, concise yet accurate. Five of the essays have names and a bit of structure:

1. Entitlements. We growl about them, but the public (!) keeps creating them. Omaha in 1854 had one entitlement. Now we have at least 50. Why?
2. Taxes. Opening line: "Taxes are a blessing."
3. Right wing religion and politics. Opinion divorced from scripture is on the move.
4. Children Economics. How children help us, how they hurt us -- economically.
5. Health care costs - would be a guest editorial.

Cheers

Lowen