The Nebraska State Board of Education deadlocked 4-4 along party lines on a vote to approve revised social studies standards, leaving the 2019 standards in effect for schools across the state. The vote, which required a majority to pass, failed, according to the Lincoln Journal Star.
The proposed revisions would have removed terms such as 'underrepresented' and 'marginalized' from multiple standards, replacing them with phrases like 'varying perspectives' and 'multiple perspectives,' Nebraska Public Media reported. For example, a fourth-grade standard that required students to analyze multiple perspectives of events in Nebraska including historically marginalized and underrepresented groups would have been changed to simply 'explain multiple perspectives of events in Nebraska.' A high school standard calling for examination of events from the perspectives of marginalized and underrepresented groups would have become 'examine historical events from the varying perspectives of relevant groups.'
Partisan split
The board is officially nonpartisan but after the November 2024 election it split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. The division was evident earlier in 2025 when the board needed more than 50 votes to elect a president before reaching a power-sharing deal, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. On the social studies standards, Republican board member Sherry Jones said she recommended removing the terms, arguing that the word 'marginalized' lacks a clear definition and could have negative emotional effects on students, according to Nebraska Public Media. Democratic board member Liz Renner responded that the replacement terms do not carry the same meaning as the original words and that the changes could result in students receiving an incomplete view of history.
Research on current standards
The 2019 Nebraska social studies standards that remain in place received a D- grade from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, which has reviewed state standards for over two decades, according to a report cited by the advocacy group Forward Nebraska. The review described Nebraska's standards as rigidly thematic and said they stress analysis over memorization but do little to help teachers and districts identify the actual history to be analyzed. The review recommended a complete revision of the standards. The finding is contested; the brief does not provide other evaluations.
What districts can do
School districts are not required to use the state standards as written. Under Nebraska law, districts may adopt their own content standards if they are as rigorous or more rigorous than the state-approved versions, according to the Lincoln Journal Star. The Nebraska Department of Education's deputy commissioner said districts are responsible for writing curriculum, implementing standards into instruction, and selecting materials.
The revision process for the failed standards began in February 2025 and was on a timeline to adopt in fall 2026. A 21-person team of educators developed the draft, which went through public surveys before reaching the board, the Nebraska Department of Education said. The proposed 2026 draft is available on the department's website.