LB 1208 Ron Raikes District 25 Nebraska Unicameral

General Principles • The Distance Education Improvement Plan is centered on three general principles: • 1 st - Recognition of local responsibility for making distance education decisions • 2 nd - Encouragement of the exchange of distance education courses using a statewide network, known as Network Nebraska • 3 rd - Statewide coordination through a new Distance Education Council

The Plan • The State C. I. O. will provide the opportunity for all public education institutions to join Network Nebraska • Private schools will also be allowed to participate at cost • The C. I. O. will bid for equipment (hardware and software) for public education institutions who want to participate in statewide leasing and/or purchasing contracts • School districts and E. S. U. ’s will be eligible for up to $20, 000 for equipment if participating in Network Nebraska and agreeing to send or receive the equivalent of 2 semester courses each year for 4 years

From Consortia to E. S. U. ’s • The assets and liabilities of the distance education consortia will be transferred to E. S. U. ’s as of July 1, 2007 • A one time budget exception will accommodate distance education charges that would no longer be exempt from the budget lid • E. S. U. ’s could continue to contract with other E. S. U. ’s to fulfill their distance education responsibilities

The Distance Education Council • The Distance Education Council is composed of E. S. U. administrators, or their representatives • The Council will provide statewide coordination for K-12 distance education courses and dual enrollment courses, including: Ø Access to lists of distance education course offerings; Ø Access to school schedules for participating school districts; Ø Facilitation of distance education course scheduling; Ø Scheduling and prioritization for access to Network Nebraska; Ø Brokering of courses to be purchased (with pricing determined by provider); Ø Assessment of distance education needs; and Ø Compliance with technical and academic standards

Effects on the State Aid Formula • A distance education and telecommunications allowance will be added to the finance formula for access and transport charges equal to 85% of the local system costs • Federal reimbursements from the E-rate program will also be included as accountable receipts in the formula to more accurately reflect net costs • Receipts for courses shared through the Distance Education Council will be excluded from accountable receipts in the state aid formula

Distance Education Incentives • Incentives for school districts and E. S. U. 's will be available through 2015 -16 for courses coordinated through the Distance Education Council • 1 unit will be given for sending a semester course for high school credit that is either two-way interactive video or internet based; • 1 unit will be given for receiving a two-way interactive video course; and • 1 additional unit would be given for sending a twoway interactive video course to at least one sparse or very sparse local system • Available lottery funding would be divided by the number of units to determine the incentives per unit, up to $1, 000 per unit