NSEA Press Release
Public school supporters to continue the fight against using public funds to pay for private schools.
April 18, 2024, Lincoln – Legislation that imposes a costly private school voucher scheme on taxpayers and denies Nebraskans the right to vote on the issue will be challenged, according to public school advocates.
Lawmakers today passed LB1402, a voucher scheme proposed by Sen. Lou Ann Linehan that she admitted is an “end-run” around the successful petition drive that let voters decide whether they support using public funds to pay for private schools.
“Passage of this new voucher scheme is a slap in the face to voters,” said Jenni Benson, a Support Our Schools Nebraska member and the president of the NSEA. “More than 117,000 Nebraskans signed the successful referendum petition to have voters decide the issue on the November ballot.
“We will continue the fight to ensure voters’ wishes on this issue are heard and respected. That could include launching another petition effort as well as challenging the constitutionality of this bill.
“Instead of sending public dollars to private schools, which are under no obligation to serve all children, state funds should be used to support the public schools that 9 out of 10 Nebraska students attend,” said Benson.
LB1402 would provide a direct appropriation of public dollars to fund private schools. While the initial cost to Nebraska taxpayers is $10 million, in other states with similar voucher schemes the costs to taxpayers have grown exponentially and public schools have suffered severe funding and program cuts as a result.
Voucher opponents say the policy will harm students, families, and public schools by diverting would-be public education funding to private and religious schools that can discriminate against kids and that are not held accountable to taxpayers.
Today’s action means that for the first time in history, Nebraska lawmakers passed a bill to deny citizens their right to vote on an issue that was put on the ballot through a successful referendum petition by the people.
The Nebraska State Education Association is a member-directed professional employee organization representing 25,000 public school teachers and other educational professionals across Nebraska.
For more information, contact Karen.Kilgarin@nsea.org 402-432-7776
