This bill amends section 79-1054 of the Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska to update the provisions related to grants funded from the State Department of Education Improvement Grant Fund. It establishes a new improvement grant program that will focus on areas such as teacher recruitment and retention, school improvement, and enhancing student performance in reading and mathematics, with funding sourced from lottery funds. The bill also introduces a new definition for "learning platform" and assigns the Department of Economic Development the responsibility for establishing a grant program to procure annual licenses for preexisting learning platforms aimed at engaging students in STEM education.

Additionally, the bill eliminates several obsolete provisions and modifies the reporting requirements for the State Board of Education, which will now submit annual reports on grant programs to the Clerk of the Legislature. The new legal language specifies that grant funds can only be used for procuring licenses and not for research and development, and it outlines the criteria for grant applications, including compliance with data security standards and the requirement for developers to provide access to their platforms to all Nebraska school districts. The original section 79-1054 is repealed as part of this legislative update.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 79-1054