#parent | #kids | Nebraska Board of Education hiring consultant to review standards-writing process | Education | #Education

But when the board floated optional health education standards last year that included sex education, they ignited such overwhelming public opposition that the board pulled the plug on them.

Board members voted 8-0 to authorize Education Commissioner Matt Blomstedt to contract with American Institutes for Research, an Arlington, Virginia, nonprofit.

Hiring a consultant was among several recommendations of an ad hoc board committee appointed last November after the board indefinitely postponed development of the health education standards in September.

Standards are what state officials believe children should know and be able to do in each grade.

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In the past, proposed Nebraska standards for social studies and science provoked a few minor skirmishes over content. But those debates paled next to the firestorm that erupted when the board proposed what it described as inclusive standards that included teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation.

The initial draft called for teaching children as young as 6 years old about gender identity and gender stereotypes.

Supporters said the standards would stem bullying, prevent suicides and make schools a welcoming place for all students regardless of their gender identity or nontraditional family structure.

Opponents said the standards amounted to political advocacy that didn’t reflect the values of most Nebraska parents. They said the standards would rob kids of their innocence and sexualize children.

Several board members have suggested that the failure of the standards was due, in part, to problems with the process.

Critics say the Nebraska Department of Education did not invite conservative voices to be involved in the writing process.

Board member Patti Gubbels said the review will be “almost like an external evaluation.”

The consultant will “come in and look at the standards-development processes and procedures to really do a thorough kind of evaluation with suggestions for improvements,” Gubbels said.

The consultant will look at how other states develop standards. The review will include focus group interviews with school leaders, teachers, policy makers, parents, families and caregivers.

Board member Kirk Penner voted in favor but said he doubts the review will do much good. He said the process wasn’t the reason the standards failed.

“It was the content, and they’re not going to get that from this consultant,” Penner said.