Law that directed state funds to private school scholarships appears headed for repeal
Voters Tuesday appeared to be on track to repeal the state law passed in April that directed state funds to private school scholarships.
The votes to repeal Legislative Bill 1402 were leading by about 16 percentage points Tuesday night in unofficial results, which would mark a major victory for the state's teachers union and a setback to advocates of the scholarship program.
Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, said state lawmakers should take the results to heart.
"We're really hoping that they'll listen to their constituents, who are sending a pretty clear message tonight. They don't want this. And if they don't listen, I think we've demonstrated over this multiyear effort that we won't back down. And if we have to do this fight again, we will do this fight again."
The law allocated $10 million a year in state money for scholarships to help qualifying students attend private and parochial K-12 schools.
State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of the Omaha area, who introduced both LB 1402 and a prior bill since repealed, LB 753, aimed at creating scholarship tax credits for private school tuition, said she's not giving up on school choice for Nebraska.
She said younger generations of parents believe in having choices, and advocates of school choice must convince doubters that they can have both strong public schools and choice.
"What we have to do going forward is convince people, convince Nebraskans, that we can do both," she said. "We can help all kids."
A year from now, Linehan said, thousands of children who received scholarships under the two bills, and their parents, could help sell choice by testifying to its value.
The repeal won't cause them to lose their scholarships this school year, she said.
Supporters of the law had argued that it empowered families, particularly those of modest means, to choose the school that is the best fit for their child.
Teachers unions from Nebraska and across the country poured money into the repeal campaign, while a national school-choice group helped fund the effort to retain the law.
Opponents argued the law diverts money to private and parochial schools that otherwise could support public schools.
The law would, they said, drain millions in funding from public schools and other public services. Costs would "balloon" over time, school funding would be cut and property taxes would go up.
In addition, they said private and religious schools are not held to the same transparency and accountability standards as public schools when it comes to how the money is spent or who gets to attend.
A group called Support Our Schools Nebraska, spearheaded by the Nebraska state teachers union, collected signatures that put the LB 1402 repeal on the ballot.
As of Oct. 28, the group had spent the past year and a half and almost $5 million fighting separate legislative attempts to introduce school choice in Nebraska.
The group emerged in 2023 to oppose LB 753, which established dollar-for-dollar tax credits to individuals and entities making donations to scholarship funds intended to help students attend private or parochial schools.
Support Our Schools launched a petition drive to repeal that law, but before that could go on the ballot, lawmakers passed the newer LB 1402, with a different approach to scholarships, in its place.
Lawmakers passed the LB 1402 appropriation 32-14 on the last day of the 2024 legislative session. It was signed into law April 25 and went into effect July 18.
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