The Occupational Board Reform Act (OBRA) was passed in 2018 and became effective in 2019. It requires legislative committees of jurisdiction to review all occupational licenses in the state, roughly 20% per year, on a five-year rotation. These reviews examine whether the licensing requirements are adequate or excessive by current standards. The committees then submit reports to the Clerk of the Legislature, where they are available for public review.
By way of reminder, almost all licensing regulations are created to protect the “health and safety” of the public. Occasionally, that purpose becomes protecting the “health, safety, and welfare” of the public. One of the things that OBRA reports are supposed to do is determine whether the regulations are fulfilling those purposes.
Each committee handles these reports slightly differently, and the way an individual committee reviews different licenses may vary. Most committees submit interim studies to provide notice that they will be looking at specific licenses. Then, they decide whether to hold hearings or conduct an internal study by staff.
This is the third in a series of articles discussing the work of the various committees, now that they’ve completed their first five-year cycle and have started on their second.
For more context, see this post.
Education Committee 2019-2024
The Education Committee of the Nebraska Legislature plays an essential role in shaping the framework for K-12 and postsecondary education in the state. Although the State Board of Education and the Department of Education are responsible for carrying out state statutory requirements, the Legislature creates the framework upon which the State Board builds. One of the responsibilities of the Legislature’s Education Committee is overseeing the certification and permitting requirements for educators, administrators, and specialized personnel working in Nebraska’s schools.
While one might argue that the licensing of educators does not directly affect the health and safety of the public or the consumer, licensing (called certification) requirements have been put into place to ensure that minimal standards of teaching competency and educational quality are met. Likewise, educators are in constant contact with children, and part of the certification requirements for educators calls for criminal background checks to ensure there are no red flags from the past.
It appears that the Education Committee reviewed licenses as required in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. No reviews have been included on the Legislature’s website for 2023 (which could have had no reviews, given that it was the 5th year and they may have covered all of their licenses in the preceding years). In the normal course of events, those reviews which occurred in 2019 should have been included again in 2024, however none appear to have made it onto the website.
Certifications Reviewed
2019–Administrative Professional certificates
2020–State Substitute Teaching Certificate, Local Substitute Teaching Certificates, Career Education Teaching Permits, Postsecondary Teaching Permits
2021–Teaching Certificates
2022–Alternative, Traditional, Provisional, and Military Teaching permits
Administrative Professional certificates are for those serving in school leadership roles, such as principals and superintendents (as well as other administrative positions). Typically, holders of this certificate have held a teaching certificate, and requirements for this certificate include an advanced degree in a related field like Educational Administration or Leadership. While principals often have regular contact with students, a question that is often asked is whether “central office” administrators–like superintendents or business managers–should be required to have special certification for administrative roles. In Nebraska, a business/finance manager does NOT have to have an administrative certificate, as long as they don’t have any supervisory role over education-staff. Superintendents are required to have an Administrative Certificate with a Superintendent endorsement. It does not appear that Nebraska has alternative paths to administrative certification for those who may have leadership experience in business or the military. The committee recommended no changes to this certificate program.
Career Education Permits & Postsecondary Teaching Permits are focused (primarily) on those who might be teaching students in areas that don’t have traditional teacher education programs, and the teacher may be hired by the school to teach in a dual credit (oftentimes through a community college/technical school) situation. Examples might include Hospitality and Tourism, Information Technology, Manufacturing, or Transportation, Distribution and Logistics. The purpose of the permit is (in large part) to assure that non-certificated persons coming into the schools as staff have had the appropriate background checks. The committee recommended some changes to these permits, including expanding the length of the permit from three to five years, and eliminating the Postsecondary Teaching Permit altogether, to be replaced by a written agreement between the post-secondary institution and the school. This recommendation was a good example of the Committee taking seriously the the OBRA “least restrictive regulation” principle, however it doesn’t appear that anyone has taken up the cause to actually eliminate this permit, to date.
Substitute Teaching Permits can be issued either at the local or state level. Substitute teaching permits are often granted at the local level, and require only 48 hours of college coursework. Those substitutes can work up to 90-full-time days per school year in a school system. State Substitute Permits are granted to those who have otherwise completed their educator preparation program through a college or university but may not have the experience (like student teaching) or coursework to get their regular teaching certificate. The committee recommended no changes.
Teaching Certificates include include several categories–initial, standard, professional and temporary. There are several “pathways” to receiving a teachers certificate. “Traditional Pathways” to receiving a teaching certificate (education at a teacher’s college) are undoubtedly the most common in most places in Nebraska. “Alternative Pathways” include military certificates (where a service member or spouse has a valid out-of-state teaching certificate); alternative permits, where the candidate has a BA degree with a plan in place to make up deficiencies in education coursework; and temporary teaching certificate. Some of these permits were reviewed in 2022. No specific recommendations could be found, however the committee (and the Legislature) have expanded the ease of coming to Nebraska to work with the passage of LB16 in 2024.
Final Thoughts
The Education Committee working on reviews from 2019-2022 showed a willingness to recommend pragmatic reforms when existing regulations appeared to be duplicative or unnecessarily restrictive. Unfortunately, the recommendations have yet to be recommended in the form of legislation. The Committee seemed to prioritize student safety, while showing flexibility with respect to workforce needs.
