Erdman calls for resignation of entire Nebraska Board of Education

A Nebraska state senator from the panhandle is calling for the entire Nebraska Board of Education to be replaced. 

In his latest weekly column, Steve Erdman of Bayard said it's time to formally call for every member of the board and Nebraska Education Commissioner Matthew Blomstedt to resign. 

He wrote each member has failed to listen to the people of the state, to adequately reform the sex education standards and to educate Nebraska's students. 

"Instead of doing what the vast majority of the people want and what is best for our students, they have insisted upon promoting their own Left-wing ideological agenda," Erdman wrote. 

The state senator criticized the board for consulting the group Sexual Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) while writing each draft. He also expressed concern on the lack of conservative parents, private school administrators and clergy from the writing process. 

Private schools are not required to follow any education standards put forth by the Nebraska Department of Education. Public schools are only required to follow state standards for history, science and math. Others are optional and districts can use them to help form their own curriculums or standards on other subjects. 

Erdman claimed in his column the second draft of the health education standards, "effectively changed nothing." 

The second draft, released by the Nebraska Department of Education in late July, did remove many, but not all, references to sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. 

The first draft of the standards received heavy criticism from parents, schools boards, state senators and even Gov. Pete Ricketts.