April 20, 2022

To Whom it May Concern,

I am a write-in candidate for Legislature in District 24 (York, Seward, Polk, and the western part of Butler counties). I am running on a wide platform, but one of the chief issues I care about is school choice. I plan to fight hard to oppose the crazy health standards and the indoctrination of students with Marxist ideologies.

Frankly, I believe parents know best what their children need in education. I want to bring real choice to Nebraskan parents in how they educate their kids. With that said, I’d like to give you a short list of 3 actionable steps I plan to take in the Nebraska Legislature for school choice and improving the schools in our state. 

1. I plan to write a bill giving parents control over whether money would go directly to a school board, a private school, or to funding homeschooling. Additionally, if a parent decided to not accept the funds, they would need only deny it. I think this could come in the form of a tax credit or payments sent directly to the school that parents choose. We would also in the same bill eliminate requirements for homeschooling (make Nebraska essentially “no notice”) and requirements for standardizing certain educational goals for private schools (Nebraska Revised Statute 79-1601 is the one that I think needs to be changed.)

 

1. Public schools should be reformed as well. Any additional curriculum standards would be patriotic, truthful, and honest education that is meant to better students in critical thinking, and is not simply indoctrination.

 

1. Another step for procuring and reframing how the taxes are collected and distributed will be to adopt substantial reforms to the tax structure such as the EPIC tax plan. (https://epicconsumptiontax.org/) This can reshape how the money flows. Instead of taxing parents and having their money sent to schools they won’t send their kids to, let’s leave that money in the parent’s hands to use as they see fit.

 
I would appreciate your help in making these goals a reality. So, if you live in my district, please take a look at my platform at www.joshuaramsey.org. Then, go vote in the primary election and support the school choice candidates in your own district. If you live in District 24 I would appreciate it if you would write- in “Joshua Ramsey” for Legislature on May 10th, 2022.
 
Thank you for your time and consideration,
 
 
Joshua Ramsey
Facebook
Website

The monopoly strikes again.

From the 6-hour state board of education meeting to the 9,000-member Facebook group "Nebraskans against 2021 Nebraska Health Education Standards," people are talking. The monopoly has plans for your children, whether or not you're interested in those plans.

But you're interested.

What should parents do about the proposed Nebraska health curriculum standards?

In this video, Rachel talks about three things:

1. "Values" discussion from the April 2, 2021 Nebraska Board of Education meeting
2. The long-term solution for such problems (macro solution for the state)
3. The short-term solution for your kids (micro solution for your family right now)

We have a small window to take action on LB364, which could change K-12 education in Nebraska forever. The teachers' unions and monopoly are fighting this legislation hard. Why? Because it would dilute their power. If LB364 passes, low-income families will be able to send their children to the private school of their choice. Public schools will have to start listening to parents or the parents will leave.

You can help!

Call, email, or write your state senator (and any other state senators) and ask them to vote in favor of LB364, Opportunity Scholarships.

Find your senator's contact information here:  https://nebraskalegislature.gov/senators/senator_find.php

Read the bill yourself here:  https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=44311

Learn more about school choice through the podcast, YouTube channel, Instagram, and Facebook.

The Nebraska Legislature's Education Committee wanted to learn more about the state of K-12 education during COVID, so they held a hearing on October 27, 2020.

Several people, including parents, testified at the hearing. Since parents and guardians are the most important influences in children's, their voices are absolutely essential in any conversation about K-12 education. Sadly, some of the senators seemed disinterested in what the parents had to say. One state board of education member even complained on social media that she wanted to hear from parents but none testified.

​We post these videos and written testimony not only for her benefit, but also for other parents. It's been an incredibly challenging year for families. Parents, you're not alone if you feel you're not getting the support you need to properly educate your child. Hopefully, in the coming legislative session, the people we elect to represent us will do their jobs and advocate for our children. It's true that our children don't donate to their campaigns like the teachers unions do; that's why parents must be staunch defenders of their children. The public schools think they're entitled to your child's education funding, even if they can't or won't provide a solid education for her.

Watch the testimony of several of these courageous parents.

In this last video, notice the lines of questioning that come from Senator Pansing-Brooks, a teachers union-endorsed politician. Instead of focusing on children, she tries to find ways to attack the alternative school described by Zach Harsin. Does the school have oversight from the public schools? Do the teachers have to hold certain religious tenets? If she was listening to the testimony, she would have already heard how this method of education differs extensively from traditional public schools, but she asks, "What is it that you think you could provide that LPS is not doing or that the public schools are not doing?" It's pretty incredible that a politician would ask this of a father who has created his own school to meet the needs of his children.

Harsin politely explains to Pansing-Brooks that he sees Acton Academy as a disruptor. We need all the disruptors we can get if the rising generation is to have a chance at becoming educated and self-sufficient.

Below, you'll find a copy of the letter Zach Harsin gave to the senators on the Education Committee. Many thanks to Zach for allowing us to publish it here.

I come from a line of public school educators. My grandfather, father were both 40+ year teachers, I have 3 aunts and 3 cousins currently teaching in Nebraska and Colorado public schools with over 100 years of experience between them. I am not here today to talk down on public school teachers, administrators, coaches, etc.

I am the product of a public school system here in Nebraska. I played sports, was student council president, national honor society and graduated with a 4.0. 

I am here today because the system is broken. I’m here today because our world has changed. It’s NOT 1950 or even 1990 anymore. The world is leaving us behind and our schools continue to cost more and more and return less and less.

I’m in real estate and in my world that is a poor return on your investment and the reason I chose to seek a different route for my family.

I did all the right things, I got the good grades to get into the good school to get the good job. The problem, it’s not 1990. It’s not 1950. This notion is broken and it’s time change.

I graduated from my good school right here in Lincoln with over $65,000 in student loan debt, my wife was lucky, she only had $50,000.

This is not a good return on investment.

My wife and I knew we needed to do something different for our kids. We knew it would only be far worse when our children headed through the system.

But I’m not here to talk about the ills of higher education, I’m here to talk about K-12 education and school choice.

When we looked at school options we really didn’t know where to begin. We started where most families do, we looked at the small towns around Lincoln and moving to one of them. The problem, it was the same broken system, just smaller. The same was true of private schools in town.

Loads of homework starting in elementary school, teaching to the tests, students learning to memorize for said tests, not learning to truly learn. Sitting in desks for hours, trying to get each student to learn in the same way, to fit in the same box, to sit quietly while the teacher talks at them, usually reading or doing what they are told exactly to say or do. I don’t even have time to begin to talk about the changes that were forced upon my dad over his career, but let’s just say; he along with thousands of other amazing teachers in our public schools are no longer the ones making the decisions on how to best teach or to discuss in their own class rooms.

I also won’t even begin to get into the hot button topics of various curriculum being forced on families either. Needless to say, we were simply left with a pit in our stomachs. We didn’t want our children spending the next 13 years of their lives in a system with such a poor return on their time. We knew this broken and outdated system that robs the joy of learning from our children and the love of learning from our amazing teachers wasn’t for our family, but we didn’t know where to turn, knowing homeschooling wasn’t an option for our family either.

Then we found Acton. We knew in an instant this was what we had been looking for. The children are put in the driver’s seat of their education. Each child works to create and develop their own learning path, we have guides who are their to ask the questions of the child, not to answer questions, there are no tests, no homework and no grades, only mastery of subjects. It turns out students not only LOVE to learn, they can actually learn to become lifelong learners.

These 250 Microschools all around the world are maxing out standardized tests, they are completing 15+ internships before graduating high school, they are starting businesses, and even mastering calculus all without a formal instructor at the front of the room AND they are doing it all at a tuition rate that is HALF the nearly $14,000 the state of Nebraska spends per student.

Now that is a good return on your time invested and money invested.

​

My wife and I originally were set to open our exempt school here in Lincoln next fall, but when Covid hit we had families who simply couldn't afford to wait. So we did what all entrepreneurs do, we adapted. And that’s the beauty of having choice, having options, you can be flexible and adapt in ways a large system simply cannot.

I’m here today to implore you to look at school choice. To look at our future and strongly consider the ways school choice can have a positive impact on the state of Education in Nebraska.

I leave you with this thought. It’s not about public verse private, it’s about bringing change to an industry that badly needs it and frankly isn’t forced to change because it has that nice word “public” in it. You see, I see Acton Academy, the DRASTIC rise in homeschooling, Micro Schools, pods, online learning all as disruptors.

Disruption paired with options in any industry is better for the end consumer. Case in point, Uber vs Taxis, Airbnb vs Tradition Hotels. When a disruptor enters an industry, the consumer now has choices and this forces both parties to innovate and provide a better product. Hotels have had to modernize how they do business, and whether or not you personally have ever or will ever use Airbnb, you have benefited from Airbnb and having the choice. Hotels are more flexible than ever on cancellations, offer better amenities, better pricing, and better customer service, all leading to a better consumer experience. Why? Two words. Consumer Choice.

Education needs choice and it needs it now more than ever. To quote my dad, a three time teacher of the year award winner at Blair High School, head football, boys track, girls track, boys cross country and girls cross country coach - “If you care about the child, truly care about their future, then you don’t care where they are learning, you simply want them to be in the best education environment possible.”

That is school choice and that is why we need it in Nebraska.


​

Read more about the hearing in the piece published in the Lincoln Journal Star.

The answer to the systemic racism in our public school system is not prescriptive, top-down measures pronounced by administrators and politicians.

To address our system's racism, parents need the freedom to find educational resources and schools that meet their children's needs.

Denisha Merriweather knows firsthand the importance of having the freedom to choose your school. 

She has recently started a new organization, Black Minds Matter, to address the systemic racism in our public education system. Propped up by teachers unions, this system keeps children trapped in schools that often can't meet their needs. 

Learn all about what you can do to end the injustice.

The following resources are referenced in this episode.

Voices For Choice
Black Minds Matter
Black Minds Matter Podcast
Denisha's Real Clear Education piece on Black Minds Matter
Black Minds Matter Project Facebook Page
Black Minds Matter Instagram

Nebraska is still in the embryonic phase of school choice. The elements are there, but it hasn't been launched. Our latency explains why, year after year, we have one of the highest achievement gaps in the nation.

To improve our odds of future success, we can look to states that have blazed school choice trails. These early adopters (Minnesota, Colorado, Wisconsin) are fine-tuning their programs and learning about the long-term effects of providing equal opportunity.

At the same time, the entire country is dealing with novel challenges unique to 2020. Parents in every state are grappling with how to keep children on productive trajectories while schools flounder in the wake of government mandates concerning COVID-19.

In this podcast, we hear from Kevin Nicholson, CEO of No Better Friend Corp. His Wisconsin-based experiences provide insight about the state of K-12 education in America and why school choice is critical for the future.

Learn more about No Better Friend and Kevin Nicholson at the following locations:

Real Clear Politics piece (August 2020)

Kevin Nicholson Facebook
Kevin Nicholson Twitter

No Better Friend Corp. Facebook
No Better Friend Twitter

Disruptive innovation has finally come to K-12 education, and in this podcast episode, we learn all about Acton Academy, a growing Socratic-based learning option.

Listen to Zach Harsin from Acton Academy Lincoln as he describes his journey in starting a school here in Nebraska. Zach and his wife Heidi have three young children, and in their search for the best fit, they came across this unique education environment, which didn't exist in Lincoln. Thankfully, their Acton Academy will be opening in January 2021.

If you want to learn more about Acton Academy, visit one of these links:

YouTube Intro Video
Find an Acton Academy
Acton Academy Lincoln
Facebook

What would we have done without the bold charter school advocates of 1990?

Without them, America may not have had R&D for K-12 schools? Without them, we may not have a movement that puts children ahead of systems. Without them, we might not have a flourishing edtech industry producing low-cost, easy-access educational resources that everyone has been using during COVID-19.

In this podcast episode, Rachel talks about the possibility that Nebraska might just skip the charter school phase of development. We're far behind other states. Instead of doing the hard work of development ourselves, we may just leapfrog over some steps and advance to more nimble, less infrastructure-based ways of educating K-12 students.

Education Savings Accounts could be the answer to helping kids make up for the 2-3 month loss of education this spring. Will the state legislature step up and help?

Staying connected during coronavirus shutdowns has not been easy.

But the creative staff and board at the Kearney Area Children's Museum have discovered several innovative ways to stay connected with kids, even while their doors are shut to visitors.

In Episode 15 of the School Choice Nebraska Podcast, you'll get to hear from Traci Winscot, Jennifer Beck, and Jessica Johnson. Whether you're a mom at home with bored kids or an educator looking for ways to stay in touch with students, you'll find something helpful in their remarks.

Check out the museum's daily livestreams on Facebook, and follow them on Instagram. You can also stay abreast of the museum's happenings on their website.

We're fortunate to have so many community-engaged organizations in Nebraska. You can find more of them at our blog post on virtual learning resources for kids.

In the 2017-2018 school year, nearly 3% of Nebraska's K-12 students were registered as homeschoolers with the state.

Now it's April 2020, and 100% of Nebraska's K-12 kids are learning at home. With such severe upheaval and disruption, parents, educators, and students are reeling.

Fortunately, people are pulling together and sharing resources, tips, advice, and solutions. And some days, they're commiserating on Facebook about the challenges we're all facing.

In this podcast interview, Carrie O'Rourke talks about resources Nebraska parents and educators can use to help students continue to #LearnEverywhere, even as we're all sequestered during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Be sure to visit www.learneverywhere.org to access the great resources mentioned in the podcast, and join the Facebook group to join the ongoing conversations about how we can all come out the other side of this stronger than ever.

Ancestry

Using your local library card, you can gain access to the Ancestry Library Edition at home during the COVID-19 crisis. Ancestry has created lesson plans using digitized historical documents, and you can use their family tree and search tools to create your own family tree.

History Nebraska
While the museum is closed, History Nebraska’s staff has been working to expand online resources, including the following:

• Streaming video – Watch hours of History Nebraska content, including past Brown Bag Learning Series programs on a wide variety of topics.
• Online Collections – Look through our digitized archives, including photographs, objects, and documents. For inspiration, start with these themed searches.
• History Nebraska Blog – Read fascinating bite-sized bits of Nebraska history from the History Nebraska blog page.
• Nebraska History Challenge — Participate in a fun social media history challenge perfect for families or history fans stuck at home.
• Online Exhibits – Take a deep dive into featured items from our collection including:
  
  
  
  • Historic Nebraska Mugshots - Mugshot photography revolutionized crime investigations after its adoption in the mid-1800s, replacing the usual drawings and descriptions. Discover some of those stories with this selection of over 30 historic Nebraska mugshots.
  • Robert Merchant’s WWII Photography - This graciously donated collection of over 300 photos allow us to glimpse life in the Army Air Forces during World War II, all from the perspective of a young man from Wayne, Nebraska.
  • Revealing History - Utilizing technology, we have been able to uncover details in historic photos that have not been seen since they were first taken.
  • Solomon Butcher Collection – See selections of this iconic collection of photos taken between 1886-1912.
  • Merci Train – Images from the Nebraska boxcar of the Merci Train of WWII.
  • Saving Memories – Personal memories from the collections of History Nebraska
    

Tour the Nebraska State Capitol
The Nebraska State Capitol building is an architectural wonder and now you can visit it anytime, anywhere. Take a 360-degree virtual tour of the Nebraska State Capitol and Governor’s Mansion to see the beauty of this treasured landmark. Step inside the legislative chamber; see amazing views of the rotunda and the Sower standing majestically on the dome – without ever setting foot in the building. This link also leads to lesson plans for several age groups.

We haven't yet come across any Nebraska-specific math resources for home learning, but we're sure there are some out there. If you know of any, please leave a comment below.

When it comes to math, we love Khan Academy, which is currently serving about 40 million K-12 students.

Do you know of additional at-home learning resources we haven't included? Please drop them in the comments to spread the good news!

Happy learning!