The Legislature occasionally uses a process called consent calendar to quickly advance those precious few legislative proposals that are not controversial. We are behind, and we are falling farther behind, Raikes said. To keep the gap from widening even more, he said, average salaries would have to increase 4.5 percent a year. Raikes also said the state has a responsibility in the teacher-pay matter. The state created local control when it created local school districts, Raikes said.
Chambers opposes the bill for two reasons.
He doesn t like the proposal to increase the state sales tax a quarter cent, because the sales tax affects poor people most heavily. He doesn t like the rest of the bill because it would benefit Omaha Public Schools, which he says resegregated its schools after court-ordered busing of minority students ended. Omaha Sen. Deb Suttle, a proponent of the bill, expressed her frustration with Chambers objections. This bill is not about OPS, she said. This bill is about teachers in the state of Nebraska.