Round 9: Governor's Address
Dave HeinemanI am really excited to be here because this is an issue that I care more about and is something that my family also cares more about. We have first hand experience as my wife was an elementary school principal and would have liked to be here with me today.
I want to first thank you for doing this work. I know from first hand experience the kind of dedication you have. You get some great rewards for that. I know when I go out with my wife, every trip takes longer because every student wants to give her a hug or say hello. I’m sure you all experience that too.
Education is the greatest equalizer we have. It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white or rich or poor. A great education gives every kid an opportunity to succeed. Luckily no two kids want to do the same thing.
We’re trying to broaden the discussions. We need to talk about early childhood all the way through. There is a link between education and the economic vitality of our state. Far too often, we’ve exported our sons and daughters to Denver, New York or Los Angeles. These are fine cities, but we want to keep our kids here. Let’s create opportunities for them. I want to make sure that people understand that the business communities need to get involved in helping, either with financial support or in other ways.
I can tell you in this year’s budget, we fully funded state education, special education and higher education. We live in a different environment than we ever have before. It’s more technological and globally competitive than ever before.Our communities are affected more by global events than ever before.
Not long ago I went to Cuba. I thought when I was there I would not have any access to what was happening in Nebraska much less the world. But it wasn’t true. I could see everything that’s going on. The globe is very connected now.
We’re no longer competing between towns in Nebraska. We’re competing against China and India. They’re generating more scientists and engineers than we are. We need to reverse that trend.
What do we need to do relative to the high school experience? We are doing an incredible job, but we want to take a great system and make it even better. Whether we’re talking today or 50 years from now or behind us, there are two things that won’t change. You give me good teachers and involved parents, we will have good education.
How do we get parents more involved? We have to do that. I have made a commitment to be at my son’s parent teacher conferences no matter what. I’ve not attended various state functions because that is my priority. No community has ever come up to me and said I shouldn’t do that.
We have to find a way to make this a priority for all parents. This has to be possible for single parents and find a way to take care of even those who have no parents. We have to think outside the box to make this happen. We need to take advantage of the internet where we can.
Parents are still the best teachers we have. How do we make sure the kids who go to kindergarten are prepared for it? Any disparity they have when they come in then will only grow through the years.
We want to make sure throughout the state level that we have good partnerships. We need to involve business community more than ever before. Let’s look at all the kids who take the ACTs. Nebraska is number one in this.Right now high school education is not enough to get by with in this world. We need more kids who go on to get advanced degrees. I’m interested in hearing your reactions.
We need to count on you to make these changes. You are the experts. Athletics are important and are part of what we need to do, but the state trophy is not the reason I am governor now. I was also on the Dean’s list.When every high school I go to in the state, we’re very proud of the kids who have the trophies, but what about the kids who get 100% on the ACTs. We need to find ways to recognize the kids who excel in academic excellence.
This is going to be a challenge but I believe we can do that. I want to hear your thoughts and concerns.
Questions
Q: Are other states doing what we’re doing here?
A: Other states are in a different place than we are but we don’t want to rest on our laurels. Some of the other states need complete overhauls. The world is catching up to us and we need to be ready.
Q: I have a concern about the latest summit and it’s requirement of exit exams. Some of them are not educationally sound. We need to collaborate to come up with those.
A: I agree. We need to make sure kids are learning. One of the things that I’ve heard is that they’re thinking of relocating to Nebraska. They want to see how we can demonstrate our educational excellence. We’re going to be announcing some partnerships.
Q: What do you see as the life of No Child Left Behind now that President Bush is in his last term?A: I think that program was focused more on the needs of inner city and urban areas and doesn’t reflect Nebraska. Like anything else, the public is demanding more accountability. The reason more parents want to be able to compare schools is not because they’re moving from one community to another. They want to know the success that each school makes in any subject. I do think there will be modifications to the NCLB program.
Q: Some of the things we’re talking about today is actually less accountability in terms of measurement. From our point of view, we’re heading a different way. The accountability we have right now doesn’t fit every student’s need.
A: That’s a good point.
Q: Are they looking for high achievers or learners?
A: Some students are going to want to go down a certain path. I don’t think education should be focused on one segment of society. I may be wrong, but I’m not sure kids read as well as they used to nor write as well as they used to.
Q: When we look at our statistics against the rest of the states, we’re doing well. But what about the rest of the world? We’re still sitting at 175 days that we had since World War 2. The rest of the world is past us there.
A: If we don’t have our kids in school long enough, the directive to do that isn’t going to come from the governor’s office of the president of ConAgra. It’s going to have to come from you. We need you to lead this effort. This is where you want to partner with business because they’ll help you. We need you to take a larger leadership role.
Q: Our job was to ask a broader question: What do we do to make our children excited about learning?
A: I know what part of the answer is: good teachers. We just honored teacher of the year, Patricia Cook. We need to find that passion. That really helps. The kids learn a lot differently than we did. The technology is just part of it.
Q: When you spoke about innovation and doing things differently and the funding associated with that, I hope that you and the state looks at that to help make this happen.
A: Let me give you the high level budget situation. The top three items are state funded special education, Medicaid and the Nebraska University. These three make up 70% of the budget. We need to prioritize our spending. These expenditures in these areas are growing. In another 5 years, if we don’t address Medicaid, K-12 education will go down hill.
Thank you for what you do. You get the chance to make the difference in kids lives every single day. They may not thank you every day but you are making a difference. I bet 99% of the citizens of this state appreciate what you do.
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