Change Address

VOTE411 Voter Guide

Nebraska State Board of Education - District 3

4-year term, $0The State Board of Education is composed of eight voting members that represent one of Nebraska’s eight educational districts. This board is responsible for creating educational standards and directing state dollars and federal programs for Nebraska’s classrooms. The Board of Education also appoints the commissioner for the Department of Education and carries out federal education programs.

Click a candidate icon to find more information about the candidate. To compare two candidates, click the "compare" button. To start over, click a candidate icon.

  • Candidate picture

    Bill McAllister
    (NON)

  • Candidate picture

    Lisa Schonhoff
    (NON)

Biographical Information

Why are you running for the Board of Education? If elected, what will be your priorities?

What are the most important challenges facing our school districts, and how do you propose to address them?

What do you see as the role of the State Board of Education?

Education BA, MA, Specialist Degree (30 plus hours toward PHD)
Current Public Office, dates held None
Past Public Office, dates held None
Military experience None
Volunteer experience Locally - coaching little league, Vice chair of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Mission trips to: Nairobi, Kenya, Guatemala, Rolling Forks MS, Okmulgee OK, and Idaho,
1. To restore trust from our local school districts in the NDE. 2. Address the teacher shortage through the certification process. 3. Support Local Control, to the point that NDE is balanced with service and compliance. 4. Address school district issues, and not create distractions from our core purpose.
The top priority is the teachers' shortage. I visit with seven superintendents today. All of which are concerned about filling their open positions. There is no easy fix, but it begins with certification and ensuring teachers are being processed in an expedient manner. Furthermore, is to address our reciprocity with our boarding states. Lastly, is to create an accountability system that is useful to districts, so that the results are return to the schools in a timely manner so that the results can be used to make academic decisions.
The Boards role is to provide policy and procedures, that will enhance our school systems to excel.
Education University of Wisconsin-Platteville (Bachelor’s Degree in Education 1-9 with a minor in Social Science), Kansas State University (Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction, ELL), University of Missouri-Kansas City (Specialist Degree in Admin.)
Current Public Office, dates held NA
Past Public Office, dates held NA
Military experience NA
Volunteer experience Moms of Preschoolers Service Leader, Wednesday Night Meal Organizer for Inner City Students
As a literacy and math educator of more than 20 years, I look forward to raising literacy and math proficiency rates by minimizing distractions and getting back to the basics.
Our teacher shortage is one of our greatest challenges. We have so many educators that do not feel equipped to teach in today’s classrooms. We need to safeguard our administrators’ time so that they remain in classrooms supporting teachers. We also need to make sure we have adequate university training as well as on the job training for our educators. We need to cut out anything that is not raising proficiency rates and get back to the basics so that teachers have the autonomy to do what they do best which is teach literacy, math, science, and civics.
The most important role is to ensure that state standards are written in a way that meets the needs of all students and are written so that educators can follow them easily. While following federal and state guidelines it is the role of the SBOE to ensure every student in Nebraska has an education that prepares them for their future.