Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 22

NEBRASKA Lincoln Journal Star Sunday, June 6, 2004 Plight 4 5 close these schools." The numbers are confusing, Swidler says, but they are there. II mU-m. -w 1 i ir the Legislature that looks toward getting rid of all of them?" a LB 1048 was not aimed at closing particular schools, says its sponsor, Raikes. But it did aim to, where possible, combine schools to make more efficient, lower-cost districts by allowing locally elected school boards to aterrnine what benefits area taxpayers. In Elsmere, that means a board in Valentine would set the school calendar, decide when snow days should be called and determine whether and which rural schools should be consolidated, if any.

"Howwouldaboardmemberor the superintendent have time to administer the day-to-day activities in Valentine and the day-to-day activities 60 miles away? That's a pretty big job," said Scheer, whose husband and three children attended the school where she now teaches. McQuistan, her principal, put it more bluntly: "People like to be provided the opportunity to make that choice rather than have that choice inflicted upon them" But giving people choice is exactly what LB1048 was intended to do, Raikes said. His bill was meant to take control away from the state and put it in the hands of locally elected school boards. "I know that some people are fearful that this is some sort of conspiracy or there's ill intent and, yes, you're trying to force the hand. There's those kinds of concerns.

We've tried to address the concerns that have been brought to us." Swidler, an opponent of LB1048 who lives in Lincoln but sends his own son to a Class I school outside the city limits, says the bill is essentially a school closure bill. "There's no difference between a bill that closes schools and a bill that creates conditions under which the closure will become inevitable. Under LB 1048, there are numerous incentives for districts to materials for science experiments. The Arts Are Basic program gave Amanda and her sister a chance to try dance for the first time last yean this year, the younger sister is preparing to perform a dramatic monologue she wrote herselt A school board that can forgo spring break and allow children to help put up hay before summer eases into fall can also approve earlier Friday dismissals, allowing Amanda to make afternoon piano lessons in Ainsworth. The sixth-grader gets outside interaction, too, with summer camps, 4-H and monthly activities arranged with schools in Blaine and Brown counties.

What she's missing is a classmate, someone to twirl the double-dutch rope at recess. But she also never has to wait in line to ask a question. She gets to decorate the bulletin boards. Without distractions, she can work straight through and finish early, giving her time to work on computer programs or read more about the subjects she's studying. And the numbers seem to suggest she's not missing out, academically.

An Omaha World-Herald study published last fall examined which UNL freshmen recently earned less than a average to end up on academic probation and what Nebraska high schools they attended. The 10 schools whose graduates were labeled "most likely to struggle" were in or near relatively urban areas: Omaha, Lincoln, Scottsbluff and York. The 10 that produced students "most likely to succeed" were mostly smaller: North Bend, Beatrice, Aurora, Firth, Norris, Columbus, Seward, Scotus Central Catholic (Columbus), North Platte, Norfolk and Centenni-al (Utica). "Small schools do a better job on all sorts of indicators," said Stephen Swidler, assistant professor in UNLis College of Education and Human Sciences. "And if that is good, then why are we considering this idea in Continued from Page 1C two months and are serviced by a snowplow 30 miles away, said Amanda's father, one of the other two school board members.

"Until they come up with a way for Scotty to beam us up to wherever we go, miles will just kill you," said the rancher whose weekly grocery runs involve driving a two-hour round trip. "(Situated near Kansas City in Lincoln) you could get just about anything the world offers in an hour and a half. We have to go an hour and a half just to get flour, milk, bread, butter." As the population declines, less will be spent on road maintenance, he said, forcing the community where his family has lived for more than a century to need the school even more. Economically, even schools with one or two students affect the community, said sociologist Allen. "Generally when we look at smaller schools, even when they have one teacher, when they close those schools, that teacher leaves town," he said, stripping the population of a middle-class resident likely to be active in the community.

"You're putting them at a disadvantage in a competitive world, because they'll have one less asset to draw from." And less money to compete. That teacher's salary will be spent elsewhere, and so will students' money, Allen said. Those left behind will also have more difficulty earning money. Without a local school, ranchers near Elsmere would have more difficulty hiring workers to maintain their herds. Elsmere teacher and Ainsworth the bill is passea, K-i aamirustra-tors will face an opportunity to increase their funding thus: Now, centralized K-12 districts often operate with a higher per-pupil cost than Class I elementary-only schools.

Those figures are used to compute state funding, which is received and then distributed by the K-12 district If LB 1048 passes, K-12 districts would have the authority to close the Class I schools under their jurisdiction, transferring the students to the larger district With this new arrangement, funding for each student would be computed with the higher per-pupil cost, giving the district more state aid. "You would be irresponsible not to close it You have an obligation to fund your district," Swidler said. With this factored in, he said, the million in pstimatpri savincrc the biU hoped to procure already lowereu oy i luuuun ui uonspui m-tion costs to bus students across newly consolidated districts would probably be lost Kerry Keys understands the tug-of-war between the state's economics and his town's needs. But it's difficult, he said, because although the two ideas come from the same state, they're spawned by dillerent cultures. "It isn't a matter of fairness in that sense any more than my kids will never have the chance to go to the Henry Doorly Zoo on any regular basis or the Lied Center or whatever," Keys said.

"People can't seem to grasp the fact that (with two different cultures in the state) you're probably going to end up with two different forms of education." Patti Vannoy wrote this story for a class at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications. in and PATTI VANNOYFor the Lincoln Journal Star only student, Amanda Keys, work at a She's heard her father's stories of attending high school in Ainsworth and corning home only on weekends to dinner table conversations that seemed oddly unfamiliar. "When you come back, it's sort of like you've been away forever," she said. "You're like a stranger in your own house." Kerry Keys doesn't want that for either of his daughters. He wasnt ready to send Stacy to live in town and experience what he says is essentially college life at age 14.

"When it got all boiled down to it, I wasnt ready to say, 'You're on your Some may question whether Amanda is getting a good education, but Anita Keys doesn't A library of 3,100 books is at her daughter's disposal. An online Spanish course helps her prepare for the consequences of globalization. Valentine High School, more than 60 miles away, helps supply the Log on to journalstar.webosphere.com or call 402-473-7297 Want to Advance Your Career? All Signs Point to Peru State College Lincoln Center at Energy Square! You don't have to drive to our beautiful main campus in Peru to attend Nebraska's first college, just come to Energy Square in Downtown Lincoln where Peru offers a wide variety of career-enhancing courses. Our degree completion and Low-cost Certificate programs are ideal for working adults. This Fall our Human Services Certificate will be added along side our popular business degree right riAcr why Peru State's Right Now for you! (402)471-8538 completion program.

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402-467-4361 Suite No. 311 800-659-1147 Schedule your summer skin check-up today! 7t v- Elsmere teacher Pam Scheer and her computer at the school. native Pam Scheer says even she experienced culture shock when she married her high school sweetheart and moved to his family's ranch 24 years ago. "Some people say that we'll lose our identity, but we feel that we'll lose our lifestyle, really." Because something perhaps more important than money is at stake: culture. "We would never think of pulling the Capitol out of Lincoln," said Allen, but that's essentially what happens when a town loses its school, the repository for trophies, yearbooks and other memorabilia of local history.

And such things are vital in stemming the flow of people from rural areas to urban, he said. Kids who go to smaller schools have better odds at landing leadership positions and becoming engaged in their community. That commitment makes them more likely to settle nearby, whether that hometown is Chicago, Lincoln or Callaway. Amanda understands that idea. Oltat gnod ouIy at J.

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