In 2023, the Legislature approved LB753, the so-called Opportunity Scholarships Act that entitles individuals and entities to receive tax credits by donating to the scholarship funds for private and parochial schools in Nebraska.
Opponents of the measure — school boards, teachers unions, education policy organizations, advocates for students with disabilities — who argued that the tax credits of up to $25 million would divert public funds for private schools and undermine public education — banded together and mounted a successful petition drive, gathering 117,000 signatures to put repeal of the tax credits on the 2024 general election ballot.
With polling indicating that an overwhelming majority of Nebraskans oppose diverting public funds to private schools, the Legislature this spring made what the private school funding chief sponsor Sen. LouAnn Linehan admitted was “an end run around a very mischievous, unfortunate, dishonest (initiative) campaign” by passing LB402.
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That measure, approved on the final day of the legislative session, would appropriate $10 million directly to private school scholarships, eliminating the tax credits and, thereby, removing the referendum from the ballot and taking away the voice of the people on the issue.
Opponents again successfully mounted a petition drive, gathering more than 60,000 signatures this summer to put repeal of LB1402 on the November ballot, only to see that referendum challenged in court.
The Nebraska Supreme Court, however, ruled that the repeal petition did not violate a constitutional provision that voters cannot repeal laws that “make appropriations for the expense of the state government” clearing the way for the repeal to be put to the voters.
The initiative, on the ballot as Referendum Measure 435, would eliminate the funding and scholarship provisions of LB1402 and is clearly marked with a choice for “retain” or “repeal.”
The Journal Star editorial board has opposed public funding for private schools in each of the iterations brought before the Legislature since 2018, arguing that using state funds via vouchers, tax credits or direct appropriations for private and parochial schools would undermine the state’s exemplary public school system.
Supporters have argued, in essence, that the $25 million, and, this year, the $10 million that would go to private schools, is a drop in the $5.4 billion state budget and would not affect public school funding.
That, however, is no guarantee against future legislatures increasing the appropriation well beyond the $10 million mark and taking that cash from public school allotments.
Philosophically, the measure is more troubling because it forces taxpayers to not only fund public schools, but private entities that have long survived on private funding and tuition paid for students who choose to attend those schools.
To be clear, the editorial board supports private and parochial schools and believes that school choice has been functioning well in Nebraska. Charitable donations to private schools have been tax deductible and remain an effective way to support school choice.
For that reason, and to support public education, we urge Nebraskans to cast their ballots to repeal LB1402.
About our endorsements
As with all of our editorial board opinions, our election endorsements don’t necessarily reflect the unanimous opinions of our members but rather a consensus. We arrive at them after reviewing news stories and research. While we consider the board an advocate for the community, our endorsements, and all our opinions, are intended to initiate discussion.
