February 22, 2025
Sen. Dave Murman, Chairperson
Sen. Margo Juarez
Sen. Jana Hughes, Vice Chairperson
Sen. Dan Lonowski
Sen. Danielle Conrad
Sen. Glen Meyer
Sen. Megan Hunt
Sen. Rita Sanders
Chair Murman and members of the Education Committee:
Lincoln Public Schools respectfully submits this statement in opposition to LB213 proposed by Senator Holdcroft, which would require the State Board Of Education to adopt academic content standards on human embryology under the science education standards.
It appears the model for this bill is the Carnegie stages of embryonic development originally published in 1914. In addition, 4D visual recordings shall show the development of the brain, heart, sex organs, and other 29 vital organs throughout fetal development. The bill also calls for instruction on human development that accurately portrays the biological science of human embryology, including the Carnegie Stages of Human Embryonic Development, in the curriculum of elementary, middle school, and high school students. The high degree of content specificity included in the bill is an intrusion on local control in curricular matters as is the stipulation regarding levels at which the content must be taught. Adding an additional curricular strand as this bill calls for would require substantial additional staff training and modifications to the existing science curriculum in schools.
This bill would erode local control as it would prescribe and impose a significant addition to our curriculum in both elementary and middle school levels. Our Board adopted Legislative Guidelines for the Lincoln Public Schools affirm that locally elected School Boards should have authority over local public schools. We assert that local school districts should retain the authority to make curricular determinations and in the Lincoln Public Schools, we do so in accordance with locally adopted curricula that meet or exceed the rigor of Nebraska state
academic content standards.
It is also noteworthy to add that our Nebraska state science standards were just revised and adopted in 2024. Educators who wrote these standards intentionally designated content related to embryologic development at the high school level. This is in part so that students have built the knowledge to understand the different scales of organization in multicellular organisms. This includes cells, tissues, organs and systems, which are first introduced in 6th grade, but not in the context of embryos.
For the aforementioned reasons, the Lincoln Public Schools strongly opposes the advancement of LB213.
Sincerely,
Dr. John Skretta
Interim Superintendent
Lincoln Public Schools
402-440-9092
