State educators unite to create better learning environment for students

Posted By: Rachael Miner

rminer@klkntv.com

Educators from across Nebraska came together Wednesday morning at the state capitol to share their commitment to creating a better learning environment for students.

"We’ve incidents where our students have been bullied sometimes based on race sometimes based on abilities and I would tell you this is really a challenge for us across the state and across the country," said Nebraska Department of Education commissioner Matthew Blomstedt.

From city and rural schools to athletic department leaders, they put together a statement of principle. It details the rights of each student to learn in an environment free of bullying and that includes outside the classroom to sports practices to the library.

"I actually think we have great environments in a lot of our schools so it’s not that everything’s amiss, it’s just how can we do all the better and I think that’s really part of our effort here," Blomstedt said. 

The group plans on providing more support to teachers and school administrators by building response teams that can help out when a problem arises.

Instead of tackling incidents case by case, Blomstedt says they plan on resolving them so every school in the state can benefit from the solution, "What types of things can we message to schools that would help where we see persistent problems how do we address that and make sure it’s addressed for everyone and not just randomly have them pop up in different areas."

Blomstedt says creating solutions that work for everyone won’t be easy, but students deserve better, "It will take a lot of work, it’s a big push for us, but I think it’s a responsibility of the education system to do so.