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Conservatives could win control of Kansas and Nebraska state school boards

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Conservatives could win control of Kansas and Nebraska state school boards


TOPEKA, Kan. — Conservatives could capture majorities on the Kansas and Nebraska state school boards in this year’s elections, making it easier for them to shape what’s taught in classrooms.

At issue are familiar efforts by conservative Republicans and groups to limit what public K-12 schools can teach about racism, diversity, sexuality and gender. But also up for debate are skill-building lessons that conservatives reject as social engineering.

An effort to teach soft skills — such as persistence, tolerance for others and managing emotions — came after surveys in recent years suggested that businesses see them as crucial for future employees. But some parents, state lawmakers and groups see what’s sometimes called social and emotional learning, or SEL, as promoting liberal values.

“We want to turn the direction away from social engineering and back towards education,” said Fred Postlewait, a retired computer systems manager and a Republican candidate for a Kansas City-area seat on the Kansas board.

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Conservative parents, groups on the right and Republican officials across the U.S. who’ve wanted to ban some books and other materials are increasingly including SEL among the “woke” concepts or programs they want removed from the classroom. SEL has joined DEI — for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives — and CRT for critical race theory, which centers on the idea that racism is systemic in U.S. institutions.

Both states lean Republican, helping conservative candidates down the ballot in the Nov. 5 election. In Nebraska, state board races are officially nonpartisan, but in Kansas, they’re partisan and party affiliation could prove decisive.

“I am worried that people don’t have this on their radar,” said Judith Deedy, executive director of the pro-public education Game On for Kansas Schools. “If the board flips, there will be a lot of unhappy people.”

The Kansas State Board of Education is perhaps best known for debates two decades ago over whether evolution should be taught in school. The state had five sets of science standards for its K-12 schools between 1999 and 2007, as the board’s majority repeatedly changed hands.

Conservatives last won control in 2004 and rewrote standards about teaching evolution in schools to reflect doubt about the well-established scientific theory — and to leave room for arguments that the universe’s complexity points to an intelligent design. In 2006, the moderate bloc recaptured control and quickly returned to standards grounded in science. The latest standards were adopted last year.

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“That kind of topic could come back,” said Kansas state board Chair Melanie Haas, a Democrat facing Postlewait for a second term. “I don’t know that the board would have tremendous success getting it through as policy, but I think it can be really disruptive to education in Kansas.”

Besides Kansas and Nebraska, only Alabama, Colorado, Michigan, Texas and Utah elect all their board members, but those states’ current majorities appear unlikely to lose power. In a majority of states, governors appoint most or all state school board members, according to the Education Commission of the States.

Nebraska’s State Board of Education is split 4-3 against hard-right Republicans, with one vacancy. Half the seats are on the ballot, including the vacant one, and in the other three districts, members of the board’s majority, all longtime educators, aren’t running again. Members serve four-year terms.

If conservatives flip two seats for a 5-3 majority, they can pursue GOP-led policies such as banning some books and materials from schools, and ending social and emotional learning programs.

Board member Kirk Penner, a conservative Republican who’s denounced “woke culture,” described social and emotional learning in a social media post last year as “the TROJAN HORSE for all the gender and CRT lessons being brought into schools.”

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“After ’24 elections we should have the majority to have it removed,” he predicted.

Kansas board members also serve four-year terms, and five of the board’s 10 seats are on the ballot this year. A coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans holds six, but three of those members are not seeking reelection.

The push to focus more on social and emotional learning in Kansas began in 2015, and state Education Commissioner Randy Watson said SEL addresses what business and community leaders want from public schools. In past surveys, Watson said, they’ve told the state board that students are doing “pretty well” academically but need to develop soft skills.

One controversy surrounds questionnaires for parents who enroll their kids in kindergarten or preschool programs. One for parents of 5-year-olds poses 39 questions, including whether their children can go to the bathroom by themselves, like playing with other children, have long tantrums, and, “Does your child seem happy?”

The aim, officials told the board at its October monthly meeting, is to help teachers address individual children’s needs and better manage their classrooms.

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But Republican state board member Danny Zeck, a retired northeast Kansas automobile dealer who was elected to the state board in 2022, said he worries that schools are telling parents how to treat their children and “want all kids to react the same way to everything.”

“That’s not what our great country is founded on — it’s founded on you and me being different,” Zeck, who also served on his local school board, said during a break in the October meeting. “I’m concerned about indoctrinating kids.”

In challenging Haas for her seat, Postlewait argues that “social engineering” initiatives takes too much classroom time. As evidence, he points to Kansas students’ scores on annual standardized reading and math tests overseen by the state.

The State Department of Education reported earlier this month that two-thirds of Kansas students taking this spring’s state tests had the basic knowledge and skills to be ready for life after high school. It reported slight improvements in the percentages of students scoring at “effective” or “excellent” levels.

But almost a third of the students showed only “limited” knowledge and skills. That strikes Postlewait and other conservatives as far too high, especially when the figures are worse in individual districts and schools.

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“To me it’s important that the State Board of Education is assuring that we have rigor in the classroom,” said state Senate Education Committee Chair Molly Baumgardner, another Kansas City-area Republican.

Baumgardner said that while the Legislature tackles education issues, it can’t move as quickly as the school board can, so she sees lawmakers taking action as “the last resort.”

“The workforce needs that we have in our state are: folks need to be able to read. They need to have strong math skills as well,” she added.

Haas, the current board chair, said social and emotional learning programs help ensure that students are prepared both academically and socially so they can thrive in their post-graduation jobs.

Considering the election, she said, “It potentially puts the way that we handle social-emotional learning at risk.”

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Associated Press writer Margery A. Beck contributed to this report from Omaha, Nebraska.



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No. 24 Nebraska wins slugfest over Indiana

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No. 24 Nebraska wins slugfest over Indiana


A windy day led to a wild slugfest at Hawks Field Saturday, but No. 24 Nebraska baseball knocked off Indiana, 12-7, clinching the conference series for the Cornhuskers while running Nebraska’s home record to 11-0.

The Huskers scored three runs in the first and two in the fourth to build a 5-0 lead. The Hoosiers answered with three in the sixth and one in the seventh to cut the NU lead to 5-4. Nebraska took control of the game with seven runs in the bottom of the seventh to grow the lead to 12-4. IU scored one in the eighth, but drew no closer.

Drew Grego was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Dylan Carey drove in five runs and hit a home run, while always drawing a pair of walks. Case Sanderson was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a pair of walks. Jeter Worthley added a 2-for-4 showing with an RBI and a walk. Carson Jasa (5-1) earned the win, throwing 5.2 innings for NU. He allowed four hits while striking out 10 and walking five. For Indiana, Owen ten Oever was 1-for-3 with three RBI. Cooper Malamazian was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

The Huskers aim for the sweep Sunday at Hawks Field against Indiana. First pitch is slated for noon with pregame coverage at 11:30 a.m. on KLIN.

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No Kings protests return to Nebraska, draw hundreds and thousands

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No Kings protests return to Nebraska, draw hundreds and thousands


LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) – Hundreds of Nebraskans protested against the Trump administration Saturday along Nebraska Parkway in Lincoln, and thousands protested near Northwest Radial Highway in Omaha as part of No Kings demonstrations statewide.

Protesters along Nebraska Parkway in Lincoln on March 28, 2026. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner)(Nebraska Examiner)

The third iteration of No Kings protests organized border to border gatherings to vent displeasure at President Donald Trump and his administration’s policy decisions. The Lincoln protest was held on the Helen Boosalis Trail between North 27th Street and North 56th Street.

“I don’t like what’s going on … I know it’s not the world I want to live in,” said Ford Kloepper, a 17-year-old Lincoln resident.

Kloepper said people his age are going to take the “brunt” of Trump’s “mistakes.” He pointed to the recent U.S. conflict in Iran as a motivator to protest for him, as he doesn’t want to get “drafted into a war in the Middle East for no reason at all.”

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Many of the protesters, much like previous demonstrations, held anti-Trump signs with slogans like, “Trump lies” and “Stop Trump, save democracy.” Others held American flags and wore costumes. Volunteers from different groups gathered signatures for ballot initiatives and at least one candidate. One of the petitions sought to let voters decide on a state constitutional amendment requiring larger majorities to repeal or change any law passed by voters. Volunteers for nonpartisan U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn collected signatures to get him on the November ballot. 

People gather at the Omaha No Kings protest. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)
People gather at the Omaha No Kings protest. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)(Nebraska Examiner)

Organizers planned 18 protests across Nebraska. In Omaha, the rally was held at Gallagher Park, with thousands of protesters filling the sidewalks and grassy areas near the intersection of Maple Street and the Northwest Radial. 

Organizers said the spot let protesters draw attention to historic Benson and all of the restaurants, galleries and coffee shops that have made the neighborhood a cultural destination since 1887.  Among the crowd filled with a variety of ages and races was Lorin and Elwin Moseman, waving signs that said, “End Wars Before Wars End Us” and “No Kings No ICE.”

It was the Mosemans’ third anti-Kings rally, and despite the chill of the day, they said they wouldn’t have missed it. 

“It could have been an ice storm,” said Elwin, who was motivated in particular by “the Epstein files and Trump being in them, this stupid war we’ve got involved with Iran.”

His wife, Lorin, said she came to “stand up for democracy.”

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“I want to show up, stand up and speak out about our country,” she said, decrying “leadership incompetency from the very beginning.”

She said the nation needs a presidential job description and interview, and she was not short on words to describe her disgust and disappointment about current leadership: “Shameful, disgusting, exhausting.” 

“We’re in a broken world,” she said.

Nearby, a bundled up woman in a wheelchair held onto a sign that said, “I’m mad about everything.”

Lorin and Elwin Moseman of Omaha were among the thousands of protesters who participated in...
Lorin and Elwin Moseman of Omaha were among the thousands of protesters who participated in the Omaha demonstration on Saturday. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)(Nebraska Examiner)

Sara Peterson led buses carrying about 75 protesters from First United Methodist Church of Omaha. She said people felt a sense of unity and joy seeing the chanting crowd, which she said reflected her group’s makeup — diverse in age, ethnicity and political party.

“We’re not alone,” she said “It’s an exciting day to be a part of.”

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Peterson called the rally a “tangible sign of people coming together … for democracy.” Her group included church members and their friends — some of whom never participated in such a protest or rally before but felt the urge and were nudged “out of their comfort zone to take back our country and democracy.

Since the return of Trump for a second term, the anti-Trump group has organized national protests. Nebraska, much like the rest of the nation, saw multiple demonstrations throughout 2025. 

The group also bought ads in local newspapers ahead of the Saturday protests. Nebraska Republican Party chair Mary Jane Truemper had no immediate comment on the protests.

As Election Day gets closer, political observers have wondered how organizers might harness the political energy, whether the demonstrations might signal a coming wave of change at the polls, or whether momentum will fizzle after the crowds go home. Some have argued Democrats and progressives are good at mobilizing people for large-scale protests but have lagged conservatives in building local infrastructure to affect sweeping policy changes.

Back in Lincoln, Erik Betts, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln student, said the political winds are in Democrats’ favor, and he feels the possibilities are endless, even in a reliably red state. He said he thinks Osborn could beat Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, and he hopes the “blue” wave might be large enough to beat Nebraska 1st Congressional District Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, a former speaker of the Legislature. 

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“We need to really show up this time …We’ve got to take this motivation … and make a difference,” Betts said. 

Betts said events like these help him stay hopeful because it reminds him that he is not alone.

“When you are in your own house and just scrolling on social media, it’s easy to feel just defeated,” Betts said. “So I come out as much to show support for everyone else, to feel that maybe a bunch of people agree with [me] and things can change.”

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Aaron Sanderford for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com.

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Omaha woman fighting for medical debt relief in Nebraska

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Omaha woman fighting for medical debt relief in Nebraska


OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – For many families, beating a cancer diagnosis isn’t just about physical recovery. One Omaha cancer survivor is now using her voice to fight for medical debt relief across Nebraska.

Diana Gleisberg Meredith thought she had an upper respiratory infection in January 2024.

“In January of 2024, I felt like I had some kind of upper respiratory – maybe Pneumonia, RSV…” Meredith said.

She was sent from her primary care doctor to the emergency room to a hospital by ambulance in a five-hour span.

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“The ER doctor identified that it was cancer, likely lymphoma,” Meredith said.

Diagnosis came as new mother started treatment

The diagnosis came as Meredith became a new mom. She knew she had to immediately start treatment.

“It’s life changing. You go from not having a care in the world to thinking you’re going to die and how is that going to affect my baby. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through emotionally, physically and mentally,” Meredith said.

Meredith said there’s an invisible burden that comes with the diagnosis.

“Not everybody is lucky to have the financial support or the human support to help them,” Meredith said.

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Treatment costs could add up to millions

Meredith had 12 chemo treatments. Each used four medications, with one of those costing more than $130,000. For one family, this could add up to millions.

After Meredith entered remission, she began fighting for medical debt relief for other Nebraskans.

“Nebraskans all throughout the state and right here in Omaha – they’re having to make those decisions about should they save their life, or how do they care for their family,” Meredith said.

Advocacy group plans Washington trip

She works with Blood Cancer United alongside other Omaha mothers whose children are cancer survivors. They hold fundraisers like “Light the Night,” collecting thousands of dollars and supporters.

In May, they’ll travel to Washington, D.C., for training on how to push for change at the federal level.

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“Our office of public policy gets together to help train these volunteers, help them get to know each other better and develop familiarity with what it means to go to a lawmakers office in Washington DC,” said Dana Bacon, senior director of government affairs for Blood Cancer United.

Meredith is fighting for lower interest rates on medical debt, no foreclosures on homes over medical debt and paused interest rates.

“It’s probably the most stressful thing that you’re going to go through, and then having to add medical debt on top of it? To be honest it’s hell,” Meredith said.

Other states are already protecting families from medical debt. Meredith said Nebraska should be next. Iowa is one of the states that limits liens and foreclosures when a family is drowning in medical debt.

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