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Nebraska school board elections, 2017

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School boards • Municipal • Recalls • How to run for office
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Elections

One Nebraska school district among America's largest school districts by enrollment held elections in 2017 for four seats. A primary election was scheduled on April 4, 2017. The general election was scheduled on May 2, 2017.

Lincoln Public Schools served 39,034 K-12 students in the 2014-2015 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.[1] Click on the district name for more information on its school board election.

2017 Nebraska School Board Elections
District Primary Election General Election Runoff Election Regular term length Seats up for election Total board seats 2014-15 enrollment
Lincoln Public Schools 4/4/2017 5/2/2017 N/A 4 4 7 39,034

Academic performance

See also: Public education in Nebraska

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Education terms
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For more information on education policy terms, see this article.

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NAEP scores

See also: NAEP scores by state

The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The table below presents the percentage of fourth and eighth grade students that scored at or above proficient in reading and math during school year 2012-2013. Compared to three neighboring states (Iowa, Kansas, and South Dakota), Nebraska had a greater percentage of fourth grade students score at or above proficient in math and reading than South Dakota, but a lower percentage compared to Iowa and Kansas. The best scores in the state were earned by fourth graders in math, with 45 percent scoring at or above proficient.[2]

Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013
Math - Grade 4 Math - Grade 8 Reading - Grade 4 Reading - Grade 8
Nebraska 45% 36% 37% 37%
Iowa 48% 36% 38% 37%
Kansas 48% 40% 38% 36%
South Dakota 40% 38% 32% 36%
United States 41% 34% 34% 34%
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables"

Graduation, ACT and SAT scores

See also: Graduation rates by groups in state and ACT and SAT scores in the United States

The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for Nebraska and surrounding states during the 2012-2013 school year. All statements made in this section refer to that school year.[2][3][4]

In the United States, public schools reported graduation rates that averaged to about 81.4 percent. About 54 percent of all students in the country took the ACT, while 50 percent reported taking the SAT. The average national composite scores for those tests were 20.9 out of a possible 36 for the ACT, and 1498 out of a possible 2400 for the SAT.[5]

Nebraska schools reported a graduation rate of 88.5 percent during the 2012-2013 school year, second highest in the country.

In Nebraska, more students took the ACT than the SAT in 2013, earning an average ACT score of 21.5.

Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores, 2012-2013
State Graduation rate, 2013 Average ACT composite, 2013 Average SAT composite, 2013
Percent Quintile ranking** Score Participation rate Score Participation rate
Nebraska 88.5% First 21.5 84% 1734 4%
Iowa 89.7% First 22.1 66% 1763 3%
Kansas 85.7% Second 21.8 75% 1752 6%
South Dakota 82.7% Third 21.9 78% 1760 3%
United States 81.4% 20.9 54% 1498 50%
**Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally.
Sources: United States Department of Education, "ED Data Express"
ACT.org, "2013 ACT National and State Scores"
The Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT scores by state, 2013"

Dropout rate

See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states

The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades nine through 12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for Nebraska was lower than the national average at 2.1 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 2.2 percent in the 2011-2012 school year..[6]

State profile

State profile

Demographic data for Nebraska
 NebraskaU.S.
Total population:1,893,765316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):76,8243,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:88.1%73.6%
Black/African American:4.7%12.6%
Asian:2%5.1%
Native American:0.9%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0.1%0.2%
Two or more:2.2%3%
Hispanic/Latino:10%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:90.7%86.7%
College graduation rate:29.3%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$52,997$53,889
Persons below poverty level:14.6%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Nebraska.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Nebraska

Nebraska voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, one is located in Nebraska, accounting for 0.5 percent of the total pivot counties.[7]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nebraska had one Retained Pivot County, 0.55 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.

More Nebraska coverage on Ballotpedia

See also

Nebraska School Boards News and Analysis
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Footnotes