Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — The Nebraska State Education Association sought to rally support Tuesday for a package of legislation designed after a survey of nearly 10,000 teachers statewide.
Tim Royers, president of the state teacher’s union, joined with seven lawmakers to unveil the top 2025 priorities for the NSEA. The proposals generally seek to increase state support for teachers, such as retention bonuses, stipends for student teachers, reimbursements for school supplies and paid family and medical leave.
“One of the things that we know in Nebraska is that without our teachers, Nebraska has no future,” State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha said at a morning news conference.
The eight bills presented Tuesday were introduced by State Sens. Margo Juarez of Omaha, Jason Prokop of Lincoln, George Dungan of Lincoln, Ashlei Spivey of Omaha and Danielle Conrad of Lincoln. All are Democrats in the officially nonpartisan Legislature.
Statewide teacher survey results
Royers said the legislation is part of NSEA’s goal to ensure all Nebraska children get to receive a great public education, which he said often depends on highly qualified teachers.
In the fall, the NSEA received written comments from thousands of teachers, whose feedback ranged from workplace conditions to compensation and teachers’ plans for the future.
Royers said only 8% of respondents reported feeling that the Legislature takes them into account when crafting education policy, and about 11% said the state currently incentivizes them to stay in the profession.
More than a quarter of educators, Royers continued, are unsure if they want to continue teaching after this school year “unless something meaningfully changes.”
“Candidly, educators don’t really feel like they have folks in their corner right now,” Royers said.
Paid family and medical leave
One of the “boldest” 2025 ideas, Royers said, comes from Spivey’s Legislative Bill 440. It would establish an additional 0.35% payroll tax on teachers, matched by local school districts, to offer teachers six weeks of paid family and medical leave by funding long-term substitute teachers.
For a teacher making $60,000, that would amount to a monthly fee of $17.50.
“For less than $20 a month out of a teacher’s paycheck, they would get access to a profound benefit,” Royers said.
The focus of the Spivey legislation started on young women in teaching sometimes being forced to leave the profession after taking one or two months of unpaid leave because they had a child early in their career.
But the NSEA began to see other needs, too, Royers said, such as teachers who faced cancer diagnoses or teachers who waited seven years to even attempt having kids, trying to save up enough days off “so they wouldn’t take that hit.”
“No person should have to make family decisions based on when their paid leave is sufficient for them to do that,” Royers said.
Student teachers and paraeducators
Juarez, a former school board member for Omaha Public Schools and former paraeducator, is seeking to create retention bonuses for paraeducators through LB 524, $1,000 for a para working an average of 28 hours per week, or proportional for a paraeducator working less.
Her LB 523 would establish a statewide student teacher stipend program, paying them $4,000 per teaching semester.
Juarez said the underpaid and unpaid labor that teachers are expected to offer when training for the job is “extreme,” which begins with student teaching.
Quality educators, she said, are sometimes turned away because the financial burden.
Another Juarez bill, LB 161, would increase how much the state pays school districts for full-time early childhood students. The bill does not yet have a cost estimate from the Legislature.
Currently, all school districts get about $1,500 in state aid for each K-12 student, but districts receive roughly 60% of that amount, or $900, for each early childhood student. Juarez’s bill would raise that to 100% for the foundation aid.
“Education is more likely for early childhood students to earn higher wages later on, live healthier lives and avoid incarceration, raise strong families and contribute to society,” Juarez said.
Acknowledgement of teacher dedication
Prokop’s LB 282 would similarly seek to support teachers who “pour their hearts and souls” into their classrooms and students as well as their wallets, with one study indicating teachers annually pay average out-of-pocket costs on school supplies of about $860.
His bill would establish up to $300 in reimbursements through the State Board of Education for qualified teaching supplies. If all of Nebraska’s approximate 27,000 teachers applied for the reimbursement, the Nebraska Department of Education estimates it would cost $8.1 million annually.
The Legislature’s fiscal office estimated that 60% of teachers might use the funds, which would also gain $300,000 to $400,000 in additional state revenue through increased teacher income.
“While it’s about acknowledging that financial commitment they’ve made to the students, it’s really more about the acknowledgment that they just really care about their kids and the students that they are teaching,” Prokop said.
LB 411, from State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, would establish baseline retention grants for all teachers, beginning at $2,500 for teachers in years one through six of service and increasing to $4,000 for teachers in their 16th or later.
“One of the things that we know in Nebraska is that without our teachers, Nebraska has no future.”
– State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha
Excluding high-need retention grants, Dungan’s program could annually cost between $66 million (if all teachers were in their first to sixth year of teaching) and $106 million (if all teachers were in their 16th year of teaching or beyond).
If all teachers received one high-need retention grant before 2028, as allowed under the bill for certain subject area endorsements, that would cost an additional $132 million.
‘A world of difference’
DeBoer’s LB 598 would increase state funding for school districts that provide teachers at least 60 minutes of non-instructional planning time daily.
The bill would also allow school districts to apply for additional limited English proficiency program funding, based on need, and get additional funds based on the number of students with disabilities who are on Section 504 support plans.
The last bill, LB 589, from State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, would allow school districts to be reimbursed for the costs of substitute teachers who cover special education teachers if they take a “paperwork day” to complete documentation, reporting and compliance requirements. The bill does not yet have a cost estimate from the Legislature. Four such days could be reimbursed annually.
“Making small changes like that, that don’t come with a big price tag to state taxpayers, can make a world of difference for the teachers and the children that they are serving,” Conrad said.
Conrad and Royers indicated the proposed legislation is in direct response to legislation that they said would undermine teachers’ ability to serve kids. That includes continued efforts to divert state funds for private schools, which Conrad described as a “slap in the face” to voters.
“Let’s be clear: We’re not content to just play defense when it comes to standing up for our schools and our kids and our teachers and our incredible public education system,” she said.
‘Already making a difference’
Royers said the NSEA will also partner with State Sens. Kathleen Kauth and John Fredrickson, both of Omaha, on studies that could inform possible future legislation around alternate certification pathways for high school teachers and for high behavioral needs care facilities.
A third planned interim study would examine how to improve higher education compensation.
Royers said even with a projected budget shortfall for the state, he and senators are confident they’ll find the support for proposals that are “perfectly in line” with the Education Future Fund that Gov. Jim Pillen carved out in 2023 to ensure continued state support for education.
“Some of these bills that you just heard about today aren’t going to get over the finish line this year,” Royers said. “It might take us a few tries, but I can tell you that by simply introducing all of these proposals, it’s already making a difference in how educators feel in this state.”