Nebraska Department of Education voted against scraping the proposed sex education standards

The vote was 7 to 1

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN)-The motion to permanently reject the State Department of Education from drafting health education standards, including sex education, gender identity, and sexual orientation failed with a 7 to 1 vote.  For now, they are still up for debate.

Before the vote, many voiced their opinions on Friday that the board should focus on reading, writing, math, and social studies only.

“I did the best that I could, and am still trying to do the best that I can and I’m tired of having to come up here and talk to you all about what you all are doing in these school systems. These children do not belong to the Nebraska Department of Education, they belong to the parents and if they need help, we should be the ones giving them that help,” said Gwen Easter a Nebraska preschool teacher.

Jason Martinez read a passage from a book he checked out at his local school library.  The passage used sexually explicit language channel 8 was unable to show on tv.  After reading the passage he was asked by committee member Maureen Nickles if he took the time to read the whole book.

“Answer my question,” said Nickles.

“Did I read the entire book?” Said Martinez.

“Yes,” said Nickles.

“No, because I stopped about page 90. I’d like to make another point while we talk about this. In the same book, this happened on page number 90 in the book, at page number 20 we talk about the smell of,” said Martinez.

“You answered my question,” said Nickles.

“Semen that the teenagers had in their vehicle,” said Martinez.

While there was nobody present at the hearing who spoke in favor of the standards, board member Deborah Neary said she knows there is support out there.

“Not everyone has the flexibility with their job, has a car to get here, has all of the things that are you know anybody who is here.  That’s why I’m saying, there are a lot of parents out there that are telling me something different than what I am hearing in this room.”

Nebraskans will have a chance to make public comments at the next meeting, on Friday, March 4th.