LEXINGTON — The President of the Nebraska State Education Association read to Lexington elementary students as part of Read Across America on Wednesday, March 1.
Jenni Benson, NSEA President, read “Be You!” by Peter H. Reynolds, a Canadian author and illustrator of children’s books and is the founder of the educational media company FableVision.
She started by reading to four and fifth grade classes at Pershing, followed by Morton, Bryan and Sandoz. The book told students to be unique, to be kind, find friendship and enjoy being themselves.
Read Across America is an annual event celebrated on or near March 2, which is the birthday of children’s author Dr. Seuss.
It is a nationwide reading celebration that was created by the National Education Association (NEA) in 1997 to promote literacy and encourage a love of reading among children.
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This year-round program focuses on motivating children and teens to read through events, partnerships, and reading resources that are about everyone, for everyone.
Benson said during Read Across America, she tries to, “Read across Nebraska,” and picks different schools across the state to visit. She said she visited Lexington several years back before the schools were split into the different grade levels and was anxious to see the change.
“We want to promote reading and it’s great for me because I love kids,” Benson said, who is a former teacher.
The NSEA also advocates public schools, teachers, faculty and education support professionals so Benson is often at the State Capitol when the Legislature is in session.
This session the NSEA’s biggest concern is LB 753, or the Opportunity Scholarship Act, which was introduced by Senator Lou Ann Linehan of Omaha. Nebraska is one of only two states that doesn’t allow “school choice” by extending public state funds to private schools.
Gov. Jim Pillen has made the bill part of his priorities.
Opponents said the bill creates a more generous tax break for donors to such scholarships than for other causes and that about 70 percent of such aid benefits current and not additional, private school students.
“We really need to look closely at what (the bill) is doing and how it will multiply into more money than just $2.5 million,” Benson said, “People need to really look at what this tax credit is, versus a tax deduction. The bottom line: it will affect our public education, where nine out of ten kids go.”
Benson said there are 93 counties in Nebraska and 48 don’t have private or parochial schools, she said this bill is looking for interest. It is her opinion that if someone has the desire to donate to a private school’s scholarship fund, they are free to do so while taking the tax deduction.
“No one is stopping you from doing that.” she said.
There are great private and parochial schools in the state, Benson said, but if you start with a scholarship fund, it could lead to trying to open more private schools across the state, which she does not feel will be beneficial.
Benson said the NSEA is constantly working to show that students in Nebraska deserve the same opportunity. She said the priority of the state should be investing in children, as they should be the number one priority.
Benson was raised in Sutherland and later North Platte, graduating from North Platte High School in 1980. For many summers as a teen and young adult she worked at a camp for children with disabilities, an experience that developed her interest in helping others.
Benson earned an Associate of Arts degree at Mid-Plains Community College and worked in the private sector before taking a job as an early childhood paraprofessional. She soon earned a degree in elementary education and special education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She has taught at the elementary, middle and high school levels.
Benson took her first teaching job in Austin, Texas, where her husband had a job opportunity. That first teaching job was in a self-contained middle school classroom working with children with disabilities. Benson then taught at Harlingen and later Edinburg, Texas, working in high-poverty schools and neighborhoods along the southern border of Texas.
She returned to Lincoln in 1994 to be closer to family and began work with Lincoln Public Schools (LPS). She has taught at Huntington, Hawthorne and Maxey Elementary Schools and, most recently, served as a Resource Teacher at the LPS Career Academy.
Benson has served as a member of the LPS Strategic Planning, Facilities Advisory, and School Bond, and Curriculum committees. She served as a building representative for the Lincoln Education Association (LEA), as a member of the LEA negotiations team, the LEA Board of Directors, and was LEA vice president and president.
Benson has also served as vice president on the NSEA Board of Directors. She was elected to a three-year term as NSEA president in April 2017 and re-elected for a second term in April 2020.
The NSEA is a member-directed union representing 26,000 public school teachers and other education professionals across Nebraska. It was founded in October 1867 and is Nebraska’s oldest professional association.
