A Citizen Deliberation on Education Policy

On Monday, October 24th, 2005, 130 Central Nebraskans gathered at the University of Nebraska at Kearney to participate in the MacNeil/Lehrer Productions’ By the People citizen deliberation project (see http://www.pbs.org/newshour/btp/). By the People, an effort to bring the opinions of informed citizens into debates on public policy, was launched in 2002 and has supported more than 100 citizen deliberations around the country. The October 2005 By the People included citizen deliberations in 15 cities, from San Diego, California, to New Haven, Connecticut, focusing on either healthcare or education policy issues. The Nebraska By the People focused on K-12 education policy issues, including a discussion of adequate educational services, standards and testing, and education finance in Nebraska. The Kearney event was a collaborative effort of Nebraska Educational Telecommunications, the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center