LB374 LB374
2023 2023
LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH LEGISLATURE
FIRST SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 374
Introduced by Murman, 38; Albrecht, 17; Brewer, 43; Clements, 2; Erdman,
47; Halloran, 33; Hansen, B., 16; Holdcroft, 36;
Lippincott, 34; Moser, 22.
Read first time January 12, 2023
Committee: Education
1 A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to schools; to adopt the Parents' Bill of
2 Rights and Academic Transparency Act; to eliminate provisions
3 relating to parental involvement in public schools; to provide
4 operative dates; and to outright repeal sections 79-530, 79-531,
5 79-532, and 79-533, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska.
6 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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1 Section 1. Sections 1 to 13 of this act shall be known and may be
2 cited as the Parents' Bill of Rights and Academic Transparency Act.
3 Sec. 2. For purposes of the Parents' Bill of Rights and Academic
4 Transparency Act:
5 (1)(a) Activity means any assembly, guest lecture, presentation, or
6 other educational event that is facilitated by the school or school
7 district and in which participation of the student body is required or a
8 majority of students in a given grade level participate, including those
9 conducted by outside individuals or organizations.
10 (b) Activity does not include a student presentation or a teacher's
11 lesson plan;
12 (2) Inappropriate for minors means that an item of library content:
13 (a)(i) Is designed to appeal or pander to the prurient interest;
14 (ii) depicts, describes or represents, in a manner patently offensive
15 with respect to what is suitable to minors, an actual or simulated sexual
16 act, sexual contact, or a lewd exhibition of the genitals or post-
17 pubescent female breast; and (iii) lacks serious literary, scientific,
18 artistic, or political value for minors;
19 (b) Contains excessive profanity; or
20 (c) Contains excessive violence;
21 (3)(a) Learning materials means any material used for student
22 instruction, regardless of format, including, but not limited to,
23 textbooks, reading materials, curriculum, syllabi, course calendars,
24 teacher manuals, outlines, handouts, presentations, videos, audio
25 materials, digital materials, and websites and other online applications.
26 (b) Learning materials does not include academic assessments or
27 tests, a teacher's individual lesson plans, or plans or materials that
28 are specific to an individual student, such as an individualized
29 education plan, an individual plan of study, or a plan adopted pursuant
30 to the requirements of section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of
31 1973, 29 U.S.C. 794, or Title II of the federal Americans with
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1 Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. 12131 to 12165;
2 (4) Library content or item of library content means any book,
3 magazine, newspaper, pamphlet, poster, print, picture, figure, image,
4 description, motion picture, film, record, video or any other written
5 communication made available to students in the school library;
6 (5) Parent means a natural parent, a stepparent, an adoptive parent,
7 a legal guardian, or another legal custodian of a child;
8 (6) Parent transparency portal means the Internet-based transparency
9 tool provided for in section 6 of this act;
10 (7) Parental Review Recommended means that, for a given item of
11 library content, the average person would find such item to be
12 inappropriate for minors. In making such determination, the item of
13 library content shall be judged:
14 (a) By applying contemporary community standards;
15 (b) By taking the item as a whole; and
16 (c) With respect to the minors that would be reading or consuming
17 such item;
18 (8) School means any public school offering instruction in
19 elementary or high school grades which is supported by public funds and
20 wholly under the control and management of the State of Nebraska or any
21 of its political subdivisions; and
22 (9) Used for student instruction means any material or activity that
23 is assigned, distributed, or otherwise presented to students in any:
24 (a) Course for which students receive academic credit; or
25 (b) Educational capacity in which participation of the student body
26 is promoted or required by the school or in which a majority of students
27 in a given grade level participate.
28 Sec. 3. Every parent of a child in this state shall have a
29 fundamental right to direct the upbringing, education, care, and mental
30 health of the parent's child. The following rights are reserved to each
31 parent of a child in this state:
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1 (1) The right to direct the education and care of such child;
2 (2) The right to direct the upbringing and the moral or religious
3 training of such child;
4 (3) The right to retain the primary role in a child's education, to
5 obtain critical information about what is being taught or provided in the
6 classroom, and to take action when a parent feels that the quality or
7 content of a child's education does not align with the values and
8 expectations the parent expects and deserves;
9 (4) The right to request, access, and inspect all written and
10 electronic records maintained by a school relating to such child;
11 (5) The right to be informed of and inspect the curriculum, learning
12 materials, and any other materials that are made available or taught to
13 such child in the child's school;
14 (6) The right to attend publicly designated meetings of the school
15 board and the right to question and address school officials during
16 designated public comment periods or through letters, electronic
17 communications, or in-person meetings;
18 (7) The right to make healthcare and medical decisions for such
19 child, including the right to make decisions regarding vaccinations and
20 immunizations as provided in section 79-221;
21 (8) The right to expect that no school or school employee will
22 compel a teacher, educator, or student to adopt, affirm, adhere to, or
23 profess ideas in violation of Title IV or Title VI of the federal Civil
24 Rights Act of 1964, as amended. Such ideas include, but are not limited
25 to:
26 (a) That individuals of any race, ethnicity, color, or national
27 origin are inherently superior or inferior;
28 (b) That individuals should be adversely or advantageously treated
29 on the basis of individual race, ethnicity, color, or national origin; or
30 (c) That individuals, by virtue of their race, ethnicity, color, or
31 national origin, bear collective guilt and are inherently responsible for
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1 actions committed in the past by other members of the same race,
2 ethnicity, color, or national origin;
3 (9) The right to expect that no learning materials, course of
4 instruction, activity, or unit of study offered by a school will direct
5 or otherwise compel a student to personally affirm, adopt, or adhere to
6 any of the ideas listed in subdivision (8) of this section;
7 (10) The right to expect that no course of instruction, unit of
8 study, professional development course, or training program will direct
9 or otherwise compel a teacher or educator to personally affirm, adopt, or
10 adhere to any of the ideas listed in subdivision (8) of this section;
11 (11) The right to expect that no school employee, when acting in the
12 course of such employee's official duties, will organize, participate in,
13 or carry out any act or communication prohibited by section 10 of this
14 act;
15 (12) The right to expect that each teacher and educator of such
16 child will endeavor to present facts without distortion, bias, or
17 personal prejudice;
18 (13) The right to expect that each teacher and educator of such
19 child shall work to eliminate coercion that forces teachers and educators
20 to support actions and ideologies that violate individual professional
21 integrity; and
22 (14) The right to assert any other inalienable or constitutional
23 right that is reserved to the parent and the child pursuant to state or
24 federal law.
25 Sec. 4. On or before July 1, 2024, each public school district in
26 the state shall develop and adopt a policy to guarantee parents' right to
27 be involved in their children's education. Such policy shall state how
28 the district will seek to involve parents in schools and what parents'
29 rights shall be relating to access to schools, testing information, and
30 curriculum matters. The policy required by this section shall include,
31 but need not be limited to, policies and procedures for a parent to:
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1 (1) Be informed through the parent transparency portal or other
2 means of notification and have the ability to inspect any learning
3 materials, activities, curriculum, lessons, syllabi, surveys, tests,
4 questionnaires, examinations, books, magazines, handouts, and
5 professional development and training materials;
6 (2) Inspect and review any educational or health records maintained
7 by the school that pertain to the parent's child;
8 (3) Have an opportunity to object to any learning material or
9 activity on the basis that such material or activity harms the child or
10 impairs the parent's firmly held beliefs, values, or principles and
11 withdraw such child from the activity, class, or program in which the
12 material is used;
13 (4) Have an opportunity to request that the school designate any
14 item of library content as Parental Review Recommended as provided in
15 section 8 of this act. Such policies and procedures shall require
16 consideration of each such request and that if a request is upheld, such
17 item of library content shall be designated in accordance with the
18 provisions of section 8 of this act; and
19 (5) Have an opportunity to challenge the educational benefit of any
20 item of library content. Such policies and procedures shall require
21 consideration of each such challenge and that if a challenge is upheld,
22 item of library content shall be removed from the school.
23 Sec. 5. The policy required by section 4 of this act shall be
24 developed with parental input and shall be the subject of a public
25 hearing before the school board before adoption by the board. On or
26 before July 1, 2025, and on or before each July 1 thereafter, the policy
27 shall be reviewed and either altered and adopted as altered or reaffirmed
28 by the board following a public hearing.
29 Sec. 6. On or before July 1, 2024, each public school district in
30 this state shall establish an Internet-based transparency tool to be
31 known as a parent transparency portal. The portal shall be accessible by
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1 a prominently displayed link on the main website of the school district
2 and the main website of each school in such school district. Each school
3 district's parent transparency portal shall provide the following
4 information to the public:
5 (1) The parents' bill of rights established pursuant to section 3 of
6 this act;
7 (2) A list organized by school, grade level, and area of instruction
8 that includes the learning materials, activities, and curriculum used for
9 student instruction at any school of the school district. Such list shall
10 include the title, author, organization, website address, and any other
11 information that is necessary for the identification of such materials,
12 activities, and curriculum;
13 (3) A list organized by school, grade level, and area of instruction
14 that includes the social and emotional learning materials, activities and
15 curriculum used for student instruction at any school of the school
16 district. Such list shall include the title, author, organization,
17 website address, and any other information that is necessary for the
18 identification of such materials, activities, and curriculum;
19 (4) A link to the academic content standards adopted by the State
20 Board of Education under section 79-760.01, broken down by grade level
21 and subject matter;
22 (5) A list organized by school, grade level, and area of instruction
23 that includes the following information for each attitude or belief
24 examination referred to in section 9 of this act that is administered in
25 any school of the school district:
26 (a) A copy of each examination;
27 (b) The name of the company or entity that produces or provides the
28 examination;
29 (c) An explanation of the purposes of the data collection, how the
30 collected data is intended to be used, and whether the data will remain
31 private or be reported as aggregate data;
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1 (d) An explanation of how such examination benefits student learning
2 and academic achievement; and
3 (e) An explanation of whether the school district will receive or
4 maintain the resulting data and an explanation of how the school intends
5 to use and maintain such data;
6 (6) A list organized by school, grade level, and area of
7 instruction, if applicable, that includes the professional development
8 courses, training materials, and related activities that were provided or
9 offered to any teacher or administrator of the school district. Such list
10 shall include the title, author, organization, website address, and any
11 other information that is necessary for the identification of the
12 courses, materials and activities;
13 (7) A link to the library catalog or a list of the documented
14 inventory of the resources available to students in each school library.
15 Such link or catalog shall clearly provide whether any item of library
16 content is designated as Parental Review Recommended or has been placed
17 on a review list in accordance with section 8 of this act. If an item is
18 designated as Parental Review Recommended, the link or catalogue shall
19 indicate whether such designation is due to sexual content, excessive
20 profanity, or excessive violence and shall provide a sample of the
21 material that necessitates such designation;
22 (8) Information and guidance on how a person may request and be
23 given the opportunity to review and inspect any of the learning
24 materials, activities, and information that is required to be listed or
25 referenced on the parent transparency portal. Such information and
26 guidance shall include a point of contact at the school district and at
27 each school for the purpose of making a request for such review;
28 (9) The school