close
close

Association-anemone

Bite-sized brilliance in every update

    • National Educators in Iowa, Wisconsin urge Nebraskans to end state aid to private schools • Nebraska Examiner
    asane

    National Educators in Iowa, Wisconsin urge Nebraskans to end state aid to private schools • Nebraska Examiner

    Online Niel Posted on

    LINCOLN — Educators from Iowa, Wisconsin and the National Education Association are joining educators in the Cornhusker State to urge Nebraskans to repeal a law that funds “education grants” for K-12 private schools.

    Public school advocates said Nebraskans should vote for “repeal.” Referendum measure 435 on The November 5 ballot to remove the main section a Legislative project 1402which was adopted in April. The law appropriates $10 million annually so the State Treasurer’s Office can provide “scholarships” to Nebraska families to attend private schools.

    The Treasurer’s Office will join Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska Thursday in announcing that 4,000 students will receive all of $10 million in scholarships regardless of the partial referendum on the general election ballot.

    Ron Duff Martin, a member-at-large of the National Education Association. (Courtesy of the National Education Association)

    Ron Duff Martin, a Wisconsin educator who serves as an at-large member of the National Education Association, told the Nebraska Examiner that Milwaukee was truly the “birthplace of the voucher program” in the early 1990s.

    “It just grew from there,” Martin said. “It’s grown not only in Wisconsin, but we’ve seen other states pass similar legislation.”

    Stability of funding

    Peggy Wirtz-Olsen, president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, said that Wisconsin law led to funding for two systems, one of which included $568.5 million in taxpayer dollars in the 2022-23 school year going toward a “web of private voucher systems.”

    “That maze, that web, is entirely, funding-wise, unsustainable,” Wirtz-Olsen said.

    Martin said that in Wisconsin, lawmakers set the state budget for public education and then “cut from the top” for private school vouchers.

    “Our local school districts need to go to referendum to keep the doors open and the lights on,” Wirtz-Olsen said.

    In Nebraska, the vast majority of public school funding comes from property taxes, which are assessed at the local level. The state provides $1,500 in foundation aid per public school student, and public school advocates have expressed concern about losing students needed to help stabilize funding that changes from year to year.

    Parents, educators, school leaders and members of the public flood the steps of the Nebraska State Capitol in support of public schools and against the Opportunity Scholarship measure on April 29, 2023, in Lincoln. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

    Lawmakers have continually updated Nebraksa’s major state funding distribution model since it was enacted in the 1990s, and advocates and lawmakers have agreed that major changes are needed, but have not yet agreed on what form.

    Public funding aid for private schools in Nebraska could not increase without future approval. The lead lawmaker backing such a program, state Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, has repeatedly said the state is in good financial shape and can afford to extend a small portion of “hope” to families. Linehan is in his last year in the Legislature because of term limits.

    “Nebraskans: Don’t Be Wisconsin”

    Martin joined the Cornhusker State teachers union and visited the state to oppose its newest laws at least four times. He warned, “Nebraskans: don’t be Wisconsin.”

    “Nebraska: Don’t go down that road,” Martin said. “You are a state that has rejected this and you have done a very good job. Keep going down the road you’ve been on for over 100 years with public schools.”

    Martin attended a campaign fundraiser on July 11 with Jenni Benson, former president of the Nebraska teachers union and current chair of the Support Our Nebraska Schools campaign, which opposed the current ballot measure.

    At that event, Benson pointed to a quote displayed in her office that reads, “There is a special place in Hell for those who remain neutral in a crisis.” Benson told those at the July event that the current school funding battle is one such crisis.

    Jenni Benson, then president of the Nebraska State Education Association and sponsor of the Support Our Schools ballot referendum, leads supporters in carrying more than 86,000 signatures to the Nebraska Secretary of State. July 17, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

    Nebraska became the 49th state nationwide to enact school choice legislation in 2023, with LB 753THE Law on Opportunity Scholarships. In 2024, facing a public referendum on the fall ballot for that program, lawmakers replaced it with LB 1402, leading to a second referendum.

    The National Education Association and the Nebraska State Education Association were the main donors behind the repeal efforts for both pieces of legislation.

    Martin said that’s because of concerns about accountability, transparency and concern about potentially funding two school systems.

    Asked why he’s sure Nebraska will follow the same path, Martin said offering a small upfront investment — currently $10 million in Nebraska — is similar to what happened in states like Arizona, Wisconsin or Florida, but funding the finally grown.

    “I don’t see anything different,” Martin said.

    Kentucky and Colorado have them too school choice questions on their November ballot.

    Nebraska school choice laws

    Linehan is the sponsor behind LB 753 and LB 1402, as well as various versions that failed to pass during his eight-year legislative tenure.

    LB 753, which officially comes off the books on Oct. 31, earmarked $25 million each calendar year as a one-to-one refundable income tax credit for donations to scholarship-giving organizations such as Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska.

    That organization is the largest, receiving 965 tax credit contributions since Jan. 1, when the law began, totaling about $9.53 million. The average loan was $9,800, and loans ranged from $50 to $100,000, according to a spokesman.

    In total, the organization distributed $2.6 million in scholarships this academic year to 1,515 students. The average scholarship was $1,723.

    LB 1402 program ended LB 753 and instead was designed to divert funds through the Nebraska Treasurer’s Office at a level below $10 million that would not grow as the funding in LB would have 753.

    Linehan noted that $10 million represents 0.02 percent of the total cost for Nebraska public schools, which receive more than $5 billion. Linehan said it’s a civil rights issue that families are blocked from attending public schools, especially for low-income families, students of color or children with disabilities.

    “I’ve been lucky all my life, very lucky. I don’t know when people are lucky enough to have a good job, to be stable, why they wouldn’t help those who aren’t so lucky,” Linehan told the Examiner. “I never understood him. I hope I never do.”

    Helping to get the first legislation over the hurdle in 2023 was the American Federation for Children, a national nonprofit that advocates for charter schools, vouchers and other forms of scholarships for K-12 private schools. Linehan’s daughter is a spokeswoman for the organization, which was founded by former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.

    Tim Royers, president of the NSEA, said the problem is not the cost but the overall concept.

    Accountability and transparency

    Josh Brown, president of the Iowa State Education Association, said the appropriation for Iowa’s school choice programs was projected to be hundreds of millions less than it ended up costing and that the state auditor can’t look at how where the funds are spent, because they go to private entities.

    “There’s no tracking how the money is spent,” Brown said of The Iowa System.

    Josh Brown, middle school special education and social studies teacher and president of the Iowa State Education Association. (Courtesy of Josh Brown)

    Wirtz-Olsen, of Wisconsin, said the conversation would be different if taxpayers knew how the money was being spent, what the academic standards and other procedures of private schools were, and whether the state could track student outcomes.

    “I believe very strongly in my heart that if the taxpayers of Wisconsin could see all of this on their own tax bills, it would open their eyes,” Wirtz-Olsen said.

    Private schools serve about 10% of students

    Over the next four years, more than $1 billion will go to Iowa schools, which serve less than 10 percent of students, Brown said. He expects private tuition costs to rise until low-income families can’t afford the programs even with vouchers.

    “They’ve snuck in a program pretending it’s to help the most unfortunate in a way that will ultimately just be publicly funded tuition for those who would have chosen it anyway,” said Brown. .

    Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association. July 17, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

    Nebraska and Wisconsin have a similar 9:1 split of students between public and private schools.

    Linehan said the choice for Nebraskans on Nov. 5 is whether the 10 percent of students who don’t attend public schools are as important as the other 90 percent.

    “I think every child matters, and I’m pretty sure most Nebraskans do,” Linehan said.

    Brown said public schools were designed as a solution to inequality and said lawmakers should invest in public schools instead of finding “ways to divide us and have the haves and the have-nots and putting people in a situation where we are fighting each other for scarce resources. .”

    “At the end of the day, it’s not an all-or-nothing war between public and private schools,” Brown said. “It’s really a conflict between how public money is spent on private services without equal access and without taxpayer accountability.”

    YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.

    Online Niel
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like