At a Tuesday press conference Governor Jim Pillen signed a repeal of education requirement Title 92, Chapter 23: Basic Skills Competency Testing, simply referred to as Rule 23.
Rule 23 required teachers in training to take and pass a series of basic skills and competency tests.
Pillen was joined by state senators, Board of Education members, representatives from the Nebraska Department of Education, and teachers at the conference.
“I call it getting government out of the way,” said Pillen. “I think that it’s a key example of maybe somebody created something good years ago that really isn’t practical and having an impact. So it’s proven that the test isn’t having an impact on the quality of teachers because teaching skills are assessed in so many ways with hand on applications.”
Pillen added that the repeal of Rule 23, “Eliminates the need for teachers to take the practice exam. It eliminates the obstacle of attracting teachers. It alleviates the fees associated with taking the test of $150 combined with the $90 for each test…I think those are things that are really, really important.”