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Lawmakers and public school advocates oppose ads against using state funds for private schools in NE • Nebraska Examiner

Posted on by Gerres
Lawmakers and public school advocates oppose ads against using state funds for private schools in NE • Nebraska Examiner

LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers took what could be a final step Monday before Election Day to save the state’s newest “school choice” program intended to offset the cost of attending private schools.

State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, who sponsored the original Legislative projects 753 in 2023 i 1402 this year, she joined about 20 of her legislative colleagues in criticizing the new ad from Support the “Our School” campaign.who opposed both Linehan bills. But in the face of a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign, Linehan said opponents were deliberately under-matching the spending.

“I don’t put much stock in the repeal, which was funded with $5 million without opposition,” Linehan said.

The targeted advertisingposted four days ago on the campaign’s social media, it shows three men in suits whom senators have deemed caricatures of themselves. Men enter the classroom, steal children’s blocks, break pencils, knock over dominoes and destroy a Lego house.

“The Legislature’s school voucher bill is failing our children,” says a voiceover.

A jug of Lego bricks sits on a table in the Nebraska State Capitol Rotunda during a news conference defending the use of state dollars to cover the cost of attending K-12 non-public schools in Nebraska. In front of the Lego bricks is a sign that reads “500 x 10 million = 5 billion.” October 28, 2024 (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

Linehan herself used Lego bricks at Monday’s press conference to demonstrate the point, placing her left hand on a about-foot-high Lego jug filled with hundreds of bricks while in her right hand she held a small cup containing about 10 Lego bricks.

She said the former represents $5 billion in funds that public schools spend each year from the state, while the latter represents the $10 million given to private schools under her legislation.

“The ads are ridiculous and insulting to the Legislature,” Linehan said.

“Existential Threat”

Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, and Jenni Benson, chairwoman of the Support Our Schools campaign, criticized opponents, repeating arguments from when the bills were moving through the Legislature.

Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association. October 28, 2024 (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

Royers, who attended Monday’s news conference, said the decision rests in the hands of Nebraska voters. He said the decision constitutes a “fundamental attack on the integrity of public education in the state.”

“We see this as an existential threat to our ability to fund our schools in the future,” Royers said. “That’s why we’re putting all the resources we have into this.”

As of Oct. 21, the campaign opposing LB 1402’s “education stipends” had raised $4.6 million and spent $4.1 million, according to its latest filings. LB 1402 directly provided $10 million to the Office of the State Treasurer to distribute “education scholarships” to students attending private elementary and secondary schools.

“It has no place in public discourse”

Much of the press conference focused on the ad’s allegations, which lawmakers sought to discredit as “harmful,” “poor taste,” “offensive,” “distasteful” and “disrespectful.” Together, they urged voters to vote to keep LB 1402 in the frame Referendum Measure 435.

“Whoever came up with this idea, I’ll be honest, as my mother used to say, they should be ashamed of themselves,” said state Sen. Fred Meyer of St. Paul, former member of the State Board of Education. “It has no place in public discourse in Nebraska.”

State Sen. Mike Moser of Columbus. October 28, 2024 (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

State Sen. Mike Moser, R-Columbus, said that “for all intents and purposes” state funding for public schools has ended. He said the ad was intended to anger voters. He asked whether opponents would spend millions of dollars again if similar legislation were reintroduced, rather than spending such funds on teacher retirement programs or improving test scores.

“You will need to work with your state senators to do everything you can for your schools and students in the future,” Moser said. “The Legislature is interested in working with you, but this ad is exaggerated.”

Royers said in response: “I thought it was a pretty funny ad. My kids thought it was a pretty funny ad. And honestly, I could put out a lot of mailers and other ads that I think are much, much worse than ads with kids in the classroom.”

Multiple speakers, including state Sens. Julie Slama of Dunbar and Justin Wayne of Omaha, criticized Royers on Monday.

“If you are a dues-paying member of a teachers union, your money is wasted on these types of ads,” Slama said.

Investments in public education

State Sens. Rob Clements of Elmwood, Rita Sanders of Bellevue and Dave Murman of Glenvil pointed out that legislation introduced over the past three years represented significant investments in public education.

Clements, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, pointed to the “Future of Education Fund,” an initial $1 billion investment expected to be implemented in 2023.

State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, R-Elkhorn, holds a news conference with about 20 of her colleagues at the podium to defend her legislation to mandate the use of state funds to offset some of the cost of attending nonpublic K-12 schools in Nebraska. Not pictured: State Senator Ray Aguilar and Justin Wayne. October 28, 2024 (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

Sanders pointed to legislation that would increase the state’s special education reimbursement to 80% of the cost and $1,500 in “foundation aid” for all public school students.

Murman, chairwoman of the Education Committee, looked at the latest legislation to provide $5,000 in stipends to first-year teachers for each five-year period if they remain in the state, as well as $5,000 in funds if teachers add support in special education, science science, math or technology.

Murman also pointed to rural schools where at least 140 nonpublic schools partner with the largest scholarship organization, Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska.

Registration of a public option

Wayne, an initial critic of Linehan’s legislation eight years ago, has become a key ally. A former Omaha Public Schools board member said he is not “pro-school choice” but is a pro-“I have no other alternative.”

“Break this ancient belief that we are destroying public education and embrace the idea that we are giving parents and students a chance for a better future,” Wayne said last week. “If we get it wrong, how much worse is it now than what’s going on in my district, where people don’t graduate from college and we fill our prisons with fourth-grade education requirements?”

Wayne often said his northeastern Omaha district was looking forward to improving its public schools.

State Senator Justin Wayne of Omaha. October 28, 2024 (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

Some public school advocates pointed to “option registration”, which allows families to choose a different public school district for their children. At least the state spends it $124 million for the current school year.

Wayne, however, criticized these arguments, pointing out: new status report pointing out that hundreds of applications for registration under the option have been rejected, some on the basis of special educational needs.

He and other lawmakers also noted that the state already provides funds to nonpublic schools, such as textbook loan programs, transportation, teacher stipends and school safety funds.

Wayne said every family deserves a quality education “not by accident, but by right.”

Royers said there is always room for improvement in option registration and he looks forward to it upcoming meeting of the Education Committee on this topic.

Jenni Benson, then-president of the Nebraska State Education Association and sponsor of the Support Our Schools Ballot referendum, helps supporters deliver over 86,000 signatures to the Nebraska Secretary of State. July 17, 2024 (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

We focus on “foot in the door”

Benson, who has served as president of the teachers union for the past three years, said she watches what happens in other states “once you get your foot in the door” and criticized the goals of the billionaires funding their efforts, who she said they look forward to the “decimation of public schools.”

“They let the horse out of the barn and now everyone is trying to get it back,” Benson told the Nebraska Examiner. “…If you have made the decision not to be accountable, you have made the decision that you should not have public funds for this.”

Linehan and Royers said that if voters reject the bill on Nov. 5, it would likely return in the future.

“I would be surprised if there weren’t more regulations,” Linehan told reporters.

“For us, this is a fundamental issue,” Royers said. “Red line in the sand.”

SEE THE MORNING HEADLINES.