Nearly 4,000 scholarships already awarded under Nebraska's 'school choice' law targeted

Nearly 4,000 scholarships have already been awarded to Nebraska students through Legislative Bill 1402, the state's education-scholarship law that is targeted in this year's election.

Supporters of the law, which took effect in July, provided the number at a press event Thursday. The event at Holy Name School in Omaha was designed to celebrate the awards and shine a light on the impact the scholarships are having.

Voters in this year's election will decide whether to keep or repeal the law, which opponents say diverts money to private and parochial schools that otherwise could support public schools.

The referendum seeks to repeal the first section of LB 1402, removing the program and funding mechanism. On the ballot, voters are being asked to either retain or repeal the section.

The law allocates $10 million a year for scholarships to help qualifying students attend private and parochial K-12 schools. The current awards were made in October.

"As we know, these scholarships are potentially at risk because of Referendum 435," said Lauren Gage, director of marketing and outreach for Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska. "And we just wanted to show people that this is worth it."

Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association board of directors, said the union's position has remained consistent — it opposes using public dollars to pay for private schools, he said.

LB 1402 will drain millions in funding from public schools and other public services, costs will "balloon" over time, school funding will be cut, and property taxes will go up, he 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, he said.

The event included testimony from a single mom, who said her daughter received a scholarship that made it possible for the girl to attend Duchesne Academy in Omaha.

Christina Chvala, who is a paralegal in Omaha, said her daughter Olu, 14, qualified for a partial academic scholarship to Duchesne, and the school offered some financial aid, but the state scholarship was crucial.

The all-girls school was the right fit for her daughter, who is thriving there as a freshman, she said.

"To our family," Chvala said, "this scholarship is synonymous with hope."

She said she doesn't have to take a second or third job to make Olu's dreams possible.

Olu said attending Duchesne "means everything to me."

Her mother said she wasn't sure what would happen if the law were repealed.

"If this gets taken away, we don't know what we're gonna do, but we'll figure it out," she said.

LB 1402 was signed into law April 25 and went into effect July 18.

The Nebraska State Treasurer partnered with Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska and Odyssey to implement the Nebraska Education Scholarships program.

According to the law's supporters, more than 5,500 scholarship applications have been received. Scholarships were awarded to Nebraska students attending 132 nonpublic schools statewide. Of those schools, slightly more than half — 68 — are outside of the Omaha and Lincoln metro areas.

The average scholarship was valued at $2,325.