LINCOLN- Lawmakers advanced a measure designed to increase parental involvement in K-12 learning and expand access to certain educational materials. LB71, from State Sen. Rita Sanders, would update a 30-year law about what rights parents, guardians and educational decision-makers have in K-12 schools. A public school district would need to adopt a new policy by July 1 and state how the district seeks to involve parents in their children’s education.

The policy would also need to include how districts would allow access to certain testing and curriculum information or request that their child be excused from specific instruction or activities. The district would need to prominently post the policy online by Aug. 1. Lawmakers gave LB 71 first-round approval 43-0. If passed, the bill would not take effect until three months after the Legislature adjourns.

Sanders said LB 71’s focus is parental rights, but it doesn’t tell schools what or how to teach, just that they need to be transparent and ensure that parents have proper access to materials. LB 71 would be a “reasonable, common sense update,” Sanders said, and address what former Commissioner of Education Matthew Blomstedt described as a “crisis of confidence” in system leadership.

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