NE Board of Education race airing ‘battle of ideas’

The race for the Dist. 5 seat on the Nebraska State Board of Education features two people with polar opposite views, not only on the political spectrum, but also in how and if political debate should even be part of the election year narrative regarding statewide education.
Aurora native Kirk Penner is the Dist. 5 incumbent, having been appointed by Gov. Pete Ricketts in December to fill the vacant seat. Helen Raikes of Ashland is the challenger, with the winner to be determined by majority vote in the Nov. 8 election.
Both candidates shared their personal profiles, reasons for running and goals if elected in a Q&A published in the News-Register Oct. 12, though follow-up interviews revealed in more detail the drastic difference of their views.
“Traditionally, and actually in statute, the State Board of Education is nonpartisan and it needs to stay that way,” Raikes began in a phone interview. “It was set up in a nonpartisan context for a good reason, so that the State Board of Education systems themselves would not be subject to the whims of some political change. So that sets the context and I do have concerns with the conversation.
“The tone of the election has become politicized in many ways, but I want to say that there are legitimate concerns as well,” she added. “It’s not a black and white world.”
Penner’s campaign touts the exact opposite view.
“I am the lone conservative on that board, so the other seven would have liberal leanings,” he said. “On votes of consequence, it’s always going to be seven to one because their thought processes are different. And that’s fine. That’s America, but I’m going to come at it like a District 5 representative who has conservative views and Nebraska-type values.”
Penner said the state board’s views on social issues became a statewide topic after the board proposed sex education standards suggesting that gender identity should be taught and discussed at the elementary grade level. That proposal was eventually withdrawn, though he said it brought to light the board’s political leanings and implications that could have on Nebraska schools.
“We’ve got good public schools and what I’m trying to do is keep outside influences from coming into our public schools,” Penner explained. “That’s what happened with the health standards, which taught that doctors take a guess when the baby is born and you get to choose your gender in the fourth grade. That was the original set of health standards. That has kind of quieted down, but I put a motion on the table to permanently reject those health standards and that was shot down seven to one because that’s the way it’s going to go on that board.”
Raikes said she sees this election in a very different light, explaining that many of Penner’s claims are politically motivated. She noted that school funding in Nebraska is “out of whack,” with too much of the burden falling on the shoulders of local taxpayers, which creates a populace that is growing more uneasy, thus being pulled into a political discussion that says schools are not really doing what they’re supposed to be doing.
“For example, ‘The Mind Polluters’ film that has been circulated portrays our public school teachers as mind polluters, as groomers and pedophiles,” she said. “I’ve had teachers who have somehow gotten in to see that film (which has not been shown publicly) and they leave in the middle because it makes them so sick to be portrayed in that way. That is stirring hate and that is definitely stirring the pot when it comes to political mobilization of this election.
“I think other areas come from more East Coast discussions,” she continued, referring to the Critical Race Theory issue. “It certainly is valid for people to have an opinion about how race is portrayed in our schools … but I think that’s part of something that’s coming from elsewhere. Nobody in Nebraska is even using Critical Race Theory in any of our public schools, or parochial schools either, as far as I know. But even if it were, it’s not a State Board of Education matter, it’s actually something that belongs in the domain of local control.
“When I talk to Nebraskans, they say, ‘Well, I really don’t want this,”’ she continued on the CRT issue. “And then I’ll say, Well, I don’t think Nebraskans want any child to suffer in school, period, and they don’t want them to suffer because of their race. They don’t want, for example, a minority child, an African American child, to be singled out or in any way not allowed to feel welcome in school. And by the same token, they don’t want a third grade majority white child to feel a sense of guilt, that they were responsible for slavery. You know, I think our schools are mindful of those things. What they’re focused on is having a welcoming environment for every child and the learning of every child. I think the Critical Race Theory has been politicized, when in fact it’s being handled quite sensitively in the schools.”
Penner argues that issues like CRT, sex ed standards and Title IX are in fact relevant to this election because of the danger he sees in blurring the lines of what is right and wrong.
“Title IX gave women’s sports and athletics, specifically, equal treatment monetarily,” he said, explaining why he is concerned with developments he views as threats to Title IX. “What we have happening now is we have guys playing volleyball,” citing a game he witnessed recently between Wayne State and Northern State University. “If I’m a guy and I’m at a basketball game and I’m identifying as a female I can go straight into that women’s restroom and hang out there for a while, or if I’m in high school and I identify that day as a male I can go hang out in the girl’s PE locker room. It just blows up society if this is allowed to happen. We’re really going to be much worse off and I don’t know if we can come back from blurring the lines of male versus female.
“My belief, and basic biology tells you, you have males and females and your sex is determined at conception,” he continued. “That’s basic biology and we’ve lived with that for hundreds and thousands of years. Now we’re trying to blur the lines here and putting some thoughts into some kids heads at a young age that you’re able to choose your gender. That’s very scary.
“We’re following the narrative because it’s going to affect public schools,” he added. “The private schools have been exempted from this, but I want to talk about it at the State Board of Education level.”

Different campaigns
Defining her efforts in this election as a grassroots campaign, Raikes said she prides herself on being a good listener with parents, teachers and anybody who wants to discuss educational issues.
“I have a lot of support from educators, current and past, and I think there is a concern about the tone, which is quite prevalent,” she said. “I have heard from people who are themselves concerned about the things that my opponent is lifting up. Picture this. You’re walking along in a parade and you hand somebody a flier and say, ‘What do you think about Critical Race Theory? That’s the most important thing here.’”
She also points out what she sees as conflicting views touted by her opponent when it comes to the issue of local control.
“It’s not up to the (state) board to prohibit a particular curriculum or approach,” she said. “Standards are the purview of the board, but curriculum is not. So, you know, it’s kind of like talking out of both sides of his mouth when he says these were local control, but then he wants all these restrictions imposed at the state level. I just believe in local control, you know, backing off and letting the schools figure it out.”
Another key aspect of Raikes’ campaign, she said, is showing support for Nebraska teachers.
“I feel like we have to be supporting our dedicated teachers in Nebraska and not calling them horrid names,” she said. “Number two, I will put my emphasis on the teacher pool and enlarging it. There are things that we can do with our certification system and also with our recruitment and retention, and holding up teachers as the wonderful and honorable profession that it is.”
Penner said he has ideas on how to broaden the state’s workforce through education.
“Right now we are funding career and technical education on the backs of farmers and ranchers and homeowners, because nobody out west here is getting state aid,” he said. “To me, this is a statewide workforce development issue and it should be a line item coming from the legislature. I’m currently working with large business and ag associations. I have support from many senators to get this done because really, why are we taxing these local farmers and ranchers for workforce development, when really it’s a statewide issue?”
Penner also has ideas on how to make the challenge of filling vacant teaching positions easier by allowing established teachers to test in other content areas, in effect providing more flexibility.
“The suggestion I’m getting from superintendents is once a teacher has already gained their endorsement and gone four years to a university or college, they’ve been taught how to teach,” he said. “Let these teachers take a practical test in another area. That would make a huge difference, and this is coming from superintendents. This is coming from boots on the ground. I’ve talked to 10-plus superintendents and they’re on board with this.”
During his 10 months on the state board, Penner said he has spoken out on various topics, citing for example when he read what he considered to be obscene language from a book found on the shelves of some Nebraska schools.
“I flat out read porn at the State Board of Education meeting,” he recalled of references to gender education. “I said every dirty word you could ever think of. It was posted online and everything, but they couldn’t stop me because these books are in school libraries and public libraries. They are not in every school library, but they’re there and there’s no need for them to be there. So I mean there’s a lot of black and white issues and we’re blurring the line, whether it’s gender, whether it’s obscenities or seeing books in school and public libraries. The line is being blurred and we need to get back to right and wrong.”

Final thoughts
With the general election now just weeks away, Raikes and Penner agree that their campaigns are vastly different, thus giving voters a clear choice.
“There are many people who support me who want to see democracy function the way it has,” Raikes said. “They want to see Nebraska’s nonpartisan tradition be maintained. They like our public schools system and for good reason. They’re  also confused, you know, by what’s going on in Nebraska. We’ve always had good schools. What’s the problem? Why is this happening?”
Raikes said her calm demeanor and ability to listen is what makes her the best candidate in this election.
“My campaign maintains that I’m the best candidate for this position, that I’m the best because of my qualifications, that I’m the best because of my temperament, which is calm and not inclined to try to rile people, but to bring people to unity,” she said. “I think I’m best for Nebraska, too, because I just want to have a good dialogue about these issues, you know, and bring people to the table and have lots of communication so we can solve the problems.”
Penner said he views this campaign as an important opportunity to air the battle of ideas.
“There’s not a day that I’m on the road speaking to some group that education doesn’t come up,” he said. “People understand that the State Board of Education election might be the most important election this cycle, other than the governor’s race. I mean, what we teach our kids is what we’re going to have in the future and some of the stuff that has been taught in some schools, not all schools, we just need to stop. It is a very fiery political climate right now. I like the battle of ideas, so it’s good to have a discussion. Maybe we don’t all agree on some things, but I like to have the discussion and right now education is at the top of a lot of people’s minds.”