Liz Davids

I’m a Husker who earned my Bachelor’s degree in 2002 at UNL in Piano Performance, married my husband shortly thereafter, and began our family here in Lincoln - a wonderful place to raise children.

I have educated children up to age 18 in a variety of settings, volunteered weekly at my local elementary school, and have advocated and fundraised for educational philanthropic school and community projects.

My interest in the State Board of Education began 3 years ago when I started attending SBOE and LPS meetings, listening to the concerns that were presented by community members and educational staff, learning about the systems and processes that are in place, and occasionally speaking at those meetings.

And because I was investing in the learning process, I’ve been contacted by parents, staff members, and teachers alike who shared their expertise and experiences with me and often felt like their administrators, district leaders, or SBOE representatives weren’t listening to them. My experience also confirmed that often, board members were so entrenched in their political ideology that they didn’t care what their constituents wanted. So I felt called last fall to run for this public service position in order to bring to light the experiences and concerns of hundreds of teachers, parents, school staff, and community members that I have talked to over the past 3 years.

• The State Board of Education doesn’t have the jurisdiction to micromanage school districts or taxpaying entities to directly influence compensation packages, but it can influence individual public school districts: to provide the most attractive compensation packages they can and make budget cuts as far from direct student involvement as possible, to remove unnecessary burdens from teachers and paras whose primary focus should be to teach academics and life skills, to make available online resources statewide for exceptional professional enrichment and development, and to regularly celebrate teachers and staff who are doing excellent work as well as publicly promote the incredible and rewarding opportunities to serve the next generation.
• Helping every student succeed is a challenge achieved through a combination of many factors: supportive collaboration with school staff, feeling safe and welcome at school, having access to the resources and services necessary for their unique stage and in their unique circumstances, etc. The State Board of Education can be the channel for innovative resources like the new Dyslexico app recently created at UNL. The board can also provide funding to help with safe and healthy school buildings.
• The SBOE doesn’t have taxing authority or other financial regulatory jurisdiction, and its purpose is not to micromanage school districts or their taxpayers, but one of its primary roles should be in influencing school districts to use their financial resources as efficiently as possible. Over the past 20 years, the rate of student and teacher growth has been around 8% while the rate of staff growth has been 33% and administrator growth has soared to a record 88%. That is unsustainable. As a taxpayer, parent, educator, and involved community member, I would encourage every school program to focus their budget on those with direct student involvement and make budget cuts as far from direct student interaction as possible.

Advocating for the most vulnerable youth in our communities, which is why I have spoken - and listened to - those in the Sudanese and Ukranian communities as well as attending - and hosting - many community events.

Integrity, humility, willingness to learn and listen.

Willingness to listen and learn from a variety of sources, integrity, responsibility, capability.

Maintain excellent standards for our schools and ensure efficient and effective budgeting.

Thriving of students and teachers.

9/11 happened during my college years and the sense of national unity afterwards greatly impacted me.

The SBOE regulates not only our stat's public schools, but also private schools and home-schooled students as well.