Sally Otis

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Sally Otis

Nonpartisan

Prior offices

Learning Community Coordinating Council Achievement Subcouncil 3

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Education

High school

Omaha Central High School

Bachelor's

Drake University, 2002

Graduate

George Washington University, 2007

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

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Sally Otis was a member of the Learning Community Coordinating Council in Nebraska, representing Achievement Subcouncil 3. She assumed office on January 5, 2023. She left office on April 17, 2024.

Otis ran for election to the Learning Community Coordinating Council to represent Achievement Subcouncil 3 in Nebraska. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Otis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Sally Otis earned a high school diploma from Omaha Central High School. Otis earned a bachelor's degree from Drake University in 2002 and a graduate degree from George Washington University in 2007.

Elections

2022

See also: Municipal elections in Douglas County, Nebraska (2022)

General election

General election for Learning Community Coordinating Council Achievement Subcouncil 3 (2 seats)

Sally Otis and incumbent Mark Hoeger defeated Chris Tooker in the general election for Learning Community Coordinating Council Achievement Subcouncil 3 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sally Otis (Nonpartisan)	39.0	14,051
✔	Submit photo	Mark Hoeger (Nonpartisan)	35.6	12,835
		Chris Tooker (Nonpartisan)	24.6	8,875
		Other/Write-in votes	0.8	305

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 36,066
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Learning Community Coordinating Council Achievement Subcouncil 3 (2 seats)

Sally Otis, incumbent Mark Hoeger, and Chris Tooker advanced from the primary for Learning Community Coordinating Council Achievement Subcouncil 3 on May 10, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sally Otis (Nonpartisan)	48.7	10,608
✔	Submit photo	Mark Hoeger (Nonpartisan)	32.9	7,163
✔		Chris Tooker (Nonpartisan)	18.5	4,022

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 21,793
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Sally Otis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Otis' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Education has been my passion and career for the past 20+ years. As someone who grew up in Omaha attending public school before the Learning Community was created, I was curious about the work they do in early childhood education with a focus on equity and support for families living in areas of high poverty and wanted to learn more. I’ve been attending Learning Community public meetings for the past year and have learned a lot and am very supportive of their work with partner organizations to support families, education professionals, and public school administrators.

When I learned that a current council member in my district was not planning to run again, I felt my skills and perspective would benefit the work Learning Council does and I would be able to apply my interest in education and civic engagement in a way that would benefit Douglas and Sarpy county communities.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Throughout Nebraska, early childcare has been under-supported and an ongoing problem for many families. The achievement gap and concern with student and teacher well-being didn’t originate with COVID-19, but these problems were exacerbated and became more visible to those less affected. There are no easy answers, however the Learning Community is well positioned to help communities move in a positive direction. Because partner organizations are already in place in vulnerable communities, they are able to identify, advocate for, and implement solutions. With an ongoing emphasis on social-emotional health, the Learning Community also needs to consider the strengths of current partners or what additional support might be needed.
• Future success can only be achieved by recognizing that while there are some universal truths in supporting positive early childhood development, not all communities have the same needs or challenges. Any efforts made to expand must be responsive to the communities they wish to serve and include community members as equitable stakeholders. Additionally expansion should not be at the expense of current programs. Capacity must be built in step with expansion to ensure sustainability. The current programs are evaluated with results shared publicly and this thoughtful reporting can provide insight into what works and what might need to be reconsidered before expanding.
• During my four-year term, I will approach my responsibilities to the Learning Community with a community-first mindset. I want to ensure that the Learning Community partner organizations are responsive to the families, professionals, and districts they engage with. Partner organizations need to demonstrate active engagement with families and education professionals in the creation of programs. I’m committed to being available and listening to community input about Council decisions and I will actively examine what perspectives may not be represented so that any barriers might be addressed.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about Americans’ equal rights to free, quality education and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to fulfill their best potential. Any public policy related to education is of utmost interest. I seek to serve the District-3 and broader Douglas and Sarpy County communities and hold their best interests at heart when making decisions and any vote that is brought to the Learning Community Coordinating Council.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Candidate

Learning Community Coordinating Council Achievement Subcouncil 3

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