Board Member Sherry Jones proposed a revised process for selecting the 16 teacher representatives to the Nebraska Council of Teacher Education (NCTE), recommending an 11/5 split: 11 selected by the Nebraska State Education Association (NSEA) and 5 selected by the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) for teachers unaffiliated with NSEA or affiliated with other organizations.

Under Jones’ proposal, the 16 teacher representatives would include one NSEA representative from each of the board’s eight districts, with three additional at-large NSEA members; NDE-selected representatives would come from the state at large and be reviewed by the board’s executive committee before full-board approval. Jones said she derived allocation percentages from available membership estimates and proposed the 11/5 split as a fair allocation to increase representation for non-NSEA teachers.

Board members raised three recurring concerns: whether NSEA members who also apply independently would be excluded from the NDE pool, how to ensure NSEA’s internal selection process is open to all its members, and whether NDE currently has the capacity to solicit and vet the five statewide candidates. Board Member Kristen Christiansen endorsed geographic distribution so each board district has teacher representation. Board Member Liz Renner and others suggested simplifying language so the five NDE-selected positions remain open to any teacher, regardless of union membership, to avoid inadvertently disqualifying applicants.

The planning-and-evaluation committee had reviewed the item in advance. Members asked NDE and NSEA to clarify selection mechanics, candidate outreach, and alternate allocations; the proposal will return for further review at the April meeting after committee follow-up and additional stakeholder conversations.