Other states have made similar moves, but the Nebraska effort is remarkably wide-ranging, with the potential to permanently alter the fundamentals of education in the state's 244 school districts. That includes shifting selection of the Nebraska Education Commissioner and members of state Board of Education — who are currently elected — to appointment by the governor in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat as governor since 1994. The move is reminiscent of actions in Florida, where a constitutional change 20 years ago gave the governor the power to appoint that state's education commissioner and board of education. In Nebraska, the effort started with a contentious fight in the opening days of the legislative session over committee assignments. Some peppered committee members with obscene and sexualized language they said was found in Nebraska school libraries.
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