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    • Lawmakers, public school advocates fight ads against use of state funds for NE private schools • Nebraska Examiner
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    Lawmakers, public school advocates fight ads against use of state funds for NE private schools • Nebraska Examiner

    Online Niel Posted on

    LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers made what was likely a final push Monday before Election Day to save the state’s latest “school choice” program to offset the cost of attending private schools.

    State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, who sponsored the original Legislative projects 753 in 2023 and 1402 this year, she joined about 20 of her fellow lawmakers in criticizing a new ad from the Support the Our Schools campaignwho opposed both of Linehan’s bills. But facing a multimillion-dollar ad campaign, Linehan said opponents are intentionally not matching their spending.

    “I don’t put much stock in a repeal that was funded with $5 million against the opposition,” Linehan said.

    The targeted adposted on campaign social media four days ago, shows three men in suits, which the senators took as caricatures of themselves. The men break into a classroom, steal toy blocks from children, break pencils, knock over dominoes, and smash a Lego house.

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

    A Lego jug sits on a table in the Nebraska State Capitol Rotunda during a news conference in defense of using state dollars to offset the cost of attendance at Nebraska’s non-public K-12 schools. In front of the Lego is a sign that says “500 X 10 million = 5 billion”. October 28, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

    Linehan herself used Legos at a news conference Monday to demonstrate the problem, placing her left hand on a roughly foot-tall Lego pitcher filled with hundreds of blocks while holding a small cup of about 10 Legos in the right hand.

    She said the first is $5 billion in funding that public schools spend annually from the state, while the other is the $10 million given to private schools under its legislation.

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

    “An Existential Threat”

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

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

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

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

    As of the most recent campaign filings, through Oct. 21, the campaign opposing LB 1402 “educational grants” has raised $4.6 million and spent $4.1 million. LB 1402 provided $10 million directly to the State Treasurer’s Office to distribute “scholarships” to students attending non-public K-12 schools.

    “No place in public discourse”

    Much of the press conference focused on the allegations in the ad, which MPs sought to discredit as “prejudicial”, “in poor taste”, “insulting”, “disgusting” and “disrespectful”. Together, they asked voters to vote to keep LB 1402, as part of the 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. “That 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 of Columbus said “by any measure” state funding is high for public schools. He said the ad was meant to drive voters crazy. He questioned 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’re going to have to work with your state senators to try to do everything you can for your schools and your students,” Moser said. “The Legislature is interested in working with you, but that ad is overblown.”

    Royers said in response: “I thought it was a pretty entertaining ad. My kids thought it was a pretty entertaining commercial. And frankly, I could find a bunch of emails and other ads that I think are much, much worse than an ad with kids in the classroom.”

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

    “If you’re a dues-paying teacher’s union member, your money is being wasted on this kind of advertising,” Slama said.

    Investments in public education

    State Sens. Rob Clements of Elmwood, Rita Sanders of Bellevue and Dave Murman of Glenvil pointed to the legislation of the past three years as significant investments in public education.

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

    State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, at the podium, leads a press conference with about 20 of her colleagues in defense of her legislation to use state funds to offset some costs of attendance at Nebraska’s non-public K-12 schools. Not pictured: State Senators Ray Aguilar and Justin Wayne. October 28, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

    Sanders noted legislation to increase state reimbursement for special education to 80 percent of costs and $1,500 in “foundation aid” for all public school students.

    Murman, the Education Committee chairman, reviewed recent legislation to provide $5,000 in grants to first-year educators for each of five years if they remain in state, as well as $5,000 in funds if educators add endorsements in special education, science, math or technology.

    Murman also mentioned rural schools, with at least 140 non-public schools partnering with the nation’s largest scholarship organization, Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska.

    Public option registration

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

    “Break this old belief that we’re destroying public education and embrace the idea that we’re giving parents and students a chance for a better future,” Wayne said last week. “If we get it wrong, how much worse are we now than what’s happening in my district, where people aren’t graduating and we’re filling prisons with fourth-grade education requirements?”

    Wayne has often said his Northeast Omaha district can’t wait for public school improvements.

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

    Some advocates of public schools have pointed out “registration option,” which allows families to choose a different public school district for their children. The state spends at least 124 million dollars for the current school year.

    But Wayne criticized these arguments, pointed out a the new state report indicating hundreds of applications for the option were rejected, some due to special educational needs.

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

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

    Royers said there is always room for improvement in terms of writing options and said he looks forward to a upcoming Education Committee hearing on the subject.

    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)

    Emphasis is on “one foot in the door”

    Benson, who has been president of the teachers union for the past three years, said she has watched what happens in other states “once you get your foot in the door” and criticized the goals of billionaires who fund efforts that she said are waiting looking forward to “decimation of public schools”.

    “They let the horse out of the barn and now everybody’s trying to get it back in,” Benson told the Nebraska Examiner. “… If you’ve made the decision not to have accountability, then you’ve made the decision that you shouldn’t have public funding for it.”

    Linehan and Royers said if voters reject the legislation on Nov. 5, it will likely come back in the future.

    “I would be surprised if you don’t see more legislation,” Linehan told reporters.

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

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