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To Sign or Not to Sign: Remove School Choice Funding

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    Private Education Scholarship Partial Referendum

    In the Nebraska Unicameral system, the “second house” consists of the people.  If enough people agree, they can create laws and even amend the Constitution using the Initiative process.  They can also change the laws made by the Legislature using the Referendum process.  The whole system is described here. Initiative and Referendum Process

    A Nebraska non-profit organization named Support our Schools states:

    The object of this Petition is to

    Repeal Section 1 of LB 1402, passed by the 108th Nebraska Legislature in 2024, which directs $10 million dollars annually for financial grants-in-aid for eligible students to attend a qualifying privately operated elementary or secondary school in Nebraska.

    For the exact details of what they want repealed, Click here.

    Near the end of the 2024 Legislative session the Legislature rewrote a measure from 2023 creating a new bill, LB1402.  This bill details how education scholarships can be used by qualified students to be able to attend private schools.  The money set aside is $10 million per year.  Because of the timing of that bill passing, the Support Our Schools group is attempting to acquire enough signatures before July 17 to put the referendum on the ballot so the people can vote "no" if they want to agree with the legislature or vote "yes" to return things almost to how they were before.  The Referendum is specific to just the $10 million provision, leaving the rest of the bill intact.

    Those who support the Referendum want tax dollars to stay in the public schools.
     
    Simplistically, vouchers allow education dollars to follow the child, which means parents can use some tax dollars to pick a school they see as better for their child than the public school in their neighborhood.  (Click here for a variety of suggestions concerning school choice.)
     
    Those who oppose the Referendum say the purpose of those tax dollars is to educate children.  Therefore, if private schools might do a better job, then tax money should be available to allow parents/guardians to make that choice.

     If you want to sign the referendum, contact Support Our Schools Nebraska

     It if makes it on the ballot, more discussion with deeper research will be provided. 

    provided by temporary Blog Writer, Kathy Holkeboer