Law Breaking Up OPS Causes Fireworks, Talk Of More Discussions

No issue facing Nebraska is more interesting, or explosive, than the breakup of the Omaha Public Schools.

Lawmakers enacted a law Thursday – dividing OPS into three new districts – amid arguments that it codifies existing racial attendance patterns.

The bill, passed on a 31-16 vote, drew instant and intense interest from the national media.  It also set the stage for what could be a lengthy court battle - maybe. The law also is seen as subject to revision, if the perpetually quarrelsome OPS board will negotiate in good faith for some other plan.

Proponents said breaking OPS into three districts, each with a local school board, would bring local control to the schools. Board members would have a better understanding and greater concern for their students, they argued.

However, the bill also would allow any student in any of the high schools to attend any other high school in the other two districts. It also provides for a panel to develop a plan for further integrating the schools.

Senator Ernie Chambers of Omaha, chief sponsor of the plan and the only black member of the Legislature, said there was nothing improper or illegal about it.

“OPS is already segregated,” Chambers noted during debate.

Not one child would be required to attend any school other than the one he or she now attends, he said, noting the new districts reflect lines created by OPS.

By any measure, Chambers said, the OPS board has failed minority and poor students, whose best interests would be served by the smaller districts and local school board membership.

Opponents said such an argument amounted to a justification of state sanctioned de facto segregation. They said the bill was unconstitutional.

The three districts, reflecting current attendance patterns, would be composed of one which would be predominantly white, one predominantly black, and one predominantly Hispanic. Any student in any of the districts’ high schools could attend any other high school in the other districts or so-called “learning community.”

The measure had the support of the chairman of the Legislature’s Education Committee, Senator Ron Raikes of Lincoln.

The issue of dissolving the OPS district began after its quarrelsome board announced plans to takeover several suburban school districts. It virtually refused to negotiate any compromise. Many supporters of the new law said it could force the OPS board to negotiate in good faith for a compromise with the suburban schools.

Suburban districts praised the law.

OPS officials criticized it on several fronts.

"The proposal endorsed today is by no means a perfect solution," said Governor Dave Heineman after signing the measure into law. "But it provides a roadmap to begin discussions upon what the final solution should look like."

The perception of the board as arrogant and intransigent was heightened Thursday when Heineman said he was threatened by an OPS attorney. The lawyer called him, Heineman said, and suggested that the governor could be sued personally if he signed the measure.

New talks raise possibility of changes in OPS boundary law.

Law’s supporters didn’t flinch when faced with segregation arguments.

Dining Guide

• Lincoln
• Omaha
• Greater NE

Calendar

• Lincoln
• Omaha
• Greater NE