Nebraska senators introduced nearly 700 bills in the first 10 days of the current legislative session. Of those, we’ve identified six as priority bills and 90 others that have the potential to impact the earliest years of a child’s life.
Category: Legislation
Signs of Dyslexia Are Evident in the Early Years, Are Remediable with Intervention
For over 40 years I have researched the origins and development of dyslexia in children beginning with newborn infants and following them through age 13. Our work has shown the clear impacts of speech discrimination skills at birth on the development of language at ages 3 and 5, and subsequent impacts on reading skills at age 8.
Child Care Provider Rates, School Financing, the Budget Among Our Priority Bills
Earlier this month, members of the Nebraska Legislature once again began their important work at the state Capitol.We have identified several bills with potential to affect early childhood and designated them as priorities this legislative session.
105th Nebraska Legislature, First Session, Convenes
The Nebraska Legislature convened the first session of the 105th Legislature yesterday. Senator Jim Scheer was elected Speaker, replacing Senator Galen Hadley whose term ended in December due to term limits.
A Look Back: Senator Kathy Campbell
Senator Kathy Campbell continues our blog series by term-limited senators looking back over their eight years in the Nebraska Legislature. Thank you for your service to Nebraska Senator Campbell.
First School-Child Care Partnership Grants Awarded
Falls City, Kearney, North Platte, Chadron, Sidney and Gering receive new Sixpence grants to create School-Child Care Partnerships that will serve nearly 600 infants and toddlers, more than half are at risk of arriving at school prepared to learn.
Nebraska U.S. Senator Fischer Introduces Paid Family Leave Bill
Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) has reintroduced the Strong Families Act that would offer employers incentives to voluntarily provide paid family or medical leave to their employees.
Work Begins on Governor’s Education and Workforce Roundtable
LB773 was introduced to create the Early Childhood Workforce Development Task Force. Rather than have the bill advance this session, a strategic decision was made to work collaboratively with Governor Pete Ricketts' new Education and Workforce Roundtable to identify issues and solutions impacting students' in the early childhood-to-workforce pipeline.
Implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Begins
Our nation’s new education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), was signed into law in December 2015. The law, which replaces the No Child Left Behind Act, seeks to improve opportunities and outcomes for students.
Teaching Children About Emotions
Managing emotions in a healthy way is an important skill for children learn during early childhood.
Teacher Quality Matters
Broad consensus exists that teacher quality matters—teacher quality makes a difference in our K-12 system and it makes a difference in our colleges and universities. But nowhere does teacher quality have a greater impact than with our youngest children.
LB773 Will Create an Early Childhood Education Workforce Task Force
Nebraska faces a shortage of high-quality early childhood educators, which impacts the ability of local communities to respond to the needs of young families. LB773 will create a representative panel that will assess the current early childhood workforce and make recommendations for growing it.