FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rhonda Porter: 402-391-2273, Dave Nabity: 402-618-6759

NABITY: GOVERNOR SHOWING NO
LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATON ISSUES

(August 25, 2005—Omaha, NE) Republican candidate for governor Dave Nabity said today that Dave Heineman is running for political cover by hiding behind the Legislature and showing a complete lack of leadership in education in Nebraska. In addition, pointing to the failed talks between Omaha’s major school districts, Nabity said that the solution to Nebraska’s education challenge is not consolidation, but a total revamping of the education system in the state.

“Mr. Heineman has shown no leadership for a long-term solution that both provides quality education for our children and provides property tax relief,” Nabity said, saying also that Nebraska taxpayers cannot continue supporting a system that allows out-of-control spending.

“We must come to grips with the fact that we cannot continue funding education the way we have been doing it,” Nabity stated. “Status quo will lead us into bankruptcy, because many citizens will leave the state for other lower-taxed places to live.”

Nabity said none of Nebraska’s leaders are talking about improving education and relieving property taxes, two issues he believes are critical—the real issues. He also stated that no other candidate has offered any real solutions to Nebraska’s education challenges.

“Asking the Legislature to tinker with an 1891 law to fix a boundary dispute in Omaha won’t solve the critical long-term problems facing education in our state,” he said.

“The governor should have known it would never be possible to broker a deal between the districts,” Nabity said. “The bottom line is that some school districts are property tax hungry and they are looking for ways to feed their own appetites, regardless of what other districts think. That’s why we need an immediate moratorium on any forced consolidation actions. We need to take a broader view to find truly effective, long-term methods to meet the education challenge.”

Nabity suggested that the governor’s recent move to hand over this responsibility to the Legislature demonstrates that the Governor’s office is unlikely to provide the kind of leadership in education that Nebraska needs.

“The Governor’s office has accused me of playing politics and not offering solutions, when I’ve offered a five-point plan to start the debate,” Nabity said. “In light of Mr. Heineman’s recent actions, I think that’s pretty hypocritical.”

Nabity called for a new education agenda in the governor’s office. He said a passive, reactive approach to managing what he believes is an education crisis is not what’s needed.

“Nebraska needs a governor that will lead this issue with ideas, innovations and new strategies to deliver an excellent education product and bring property tax relief,” Nabity said. “I believe a wholesale revamping of Nebraska’s education system is one of the things that can make us the ‘Jewel of the Midwest.’ We can forge an education system that is envied—the pride of Nebraskans and the hope of our future.”

“If there was ever a time for new ideas and leadership to help us deal with the education chaos occurring in this state, it is now,” Nabity said. “I am talking about introducing a new way of managing education in Nebraska that solves the current conflicts, as well as providing a solid foundation for the future of education in our state—a 21st Century solution for educating our children from east to west.”

Nabity offered the following goals for education in Nebraska:

• Shrink the bureaucracy. If we can shrink education administration and bureaucracy and make it more efficient, we will free up money for schools. That will help us ensure the best possible education for our students, as well as bring property tax relief to taxpayers. The problem is not that there are too many small schools and too many teachers; it is the incredible duplication of administration that serves the wants of a few, instead of the real needs of the state.
• Increase purchasing power for small schools. Merge business functions of various school districts, so purchasing, accounting, human resource management, employee benefits and administration provide services to small and large schools combined, at a substantially lower cost.
• Give parents control. Let parents decide where their child attends school, and find ways to make sure the money follows the child, wherever that may be.
• Let teachers teach. Eliminate the burdensome requirements for compliance to modern-day education regulations that overwhelm teachers and keep them from helping our kids learn. Many of our teachers have become compliance officers for the federal and state government—something they didn't expect when they were hired to teach.
• Partner with non-profits. Partner public education with non-profit organizations committed to serving the at-risk student population that has no education reinforcement in the home.

Mr. Nabity is available for interviews today at campaign headquarters, 402-391-2273.

Dave Nabity for Governor
9140 West Dodge, Suite 100
Omaha, NE 68114
(402) 391-2273
www.davenabity.com