Energy and Enthusiasm at Large Rally for School Choice

Details: 01 April 2011

Did a representative of the public-school teachers’ union in Nebraska really say this: "We believe that every student would do well in a public school and we would like to have them at those schools. If parents decide to send them somewhere else, we’re O.K. with that, as long as they are not taking the tax dollars with them, because we’re struggling in Nebraska as it is for financing for the public schools"?

Of course he did. A response like that can be expected when the Nebraska State Education Association has an opportunity to comment about parents choosing other-than-public schools.

This particular comment was part of a television news reporter’s effort to include "the other side’s" reaction to a major event. That event was the "Educational Freedom Rally" that took place March 22 at the State Capitol in Lincoln.

Planned, organized and facilitated by the Nebraska Catholic Conference through its affiliate program, the Nebraska Federation of Catholic School Parents, the rally drew more than 2,500 Nebraskans—parents, grandparents, students and educators—to the north-side steps of the Capitol and much of the surrounding area. From there, with a high level of energy and enthusiasm, they heard and cheered several speakers, including state Senators Bob Krist of Omaha and Tony Fulton of Lincoln and the Speaker of the Legislature, Senator Mike Flood of Norfolk.

The purposes of the rally were to honor and emphasize parental choice in elementary and secondary education generally and, in a more specific context, to draw attention to, and encourage support for, Legislative Bill 50 from the current Nebraska Unicameral. This legislation proposes to create a tailored state-income-tax credit as a means of stimulating voluntary contributions to scholarship-granting organizations.

Contrary to what the NSEA might want Nebraskans to think, LB 50 is not about vouchers, the infamous "V" word. Tax dollars wouldn’t "follow" any Nebraska students. The Legislature and local school boards would not lose any of their authority to make independent judgments about financing public schools.

The tax benefit would be realized by individual and corporate taxpayers for monetary contributions to nonprofit organizations specifically established to award private-school scholarships to students from low and moderate-income families. As introduced, the credit against tax liability would be 65 percent of annual contributions.

Each scholarship-granting organization would be required to distribute at least 95 percent of its revenue as scholarships for children entering kindergarten or ninth grade, or transferring at any grade from a public to a non-governmental school.

Several other states, including Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Iowa, already have tax-credit-supported scholarship laws and are showing noteworthy policy results, not only in terms of enabling more families to have a choice in K-12 education, but also in terms of governmental cost savings and tax relief for all taxpayers. "Why not Nebraska?" was one of the rally themes.

The Legislature’s Revenue Committee holds LB 50. For information about this matter, including a link to the bill, visit: nebcathcon.org/education_issues.htm.

Archbishop George Lucas from Omaha was among those who addressed the large crowd at the rally. "It is a privilege to join so many adults and students from all across Nebraska at our State Capitol," he said. "We hope to highlight the God-given right of parents to choose the best educational setting possible for their children. We believe that LB 50 can help Nebraska parents secure that right."

Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln and Bishop William Dendinger of Grand Island also participated in the program.

Omaha businessman Jim Stolze, who serves as president of the Nebraska Federation of Catholic School Parents, spoke at the rally. He said, in part: "We need real change in our state’s educational system, which begins by allowing parents the freedom to participate in the selection of their children’s school, including tools such as tax-credit-supported scholarships."

One other comment about the Educational Freedom Rally: while most of the television stations in the Omaha and Lincoln markets covered the event, neither of the state’s two major daily newspapers—the Omaha World Herald and the Lincoln Journal-Star—did. Apparently, a two-hour rally of more than 2,500 Catholic-school supporters at the State Capitol, with legislators and the Diocesan Bishops and attention on a substantive public-policy issue, was not deemed newsworthy. Shame on them.

And finally…….

On another topic: kudos to the six members of the Judiciary Committee who voted to advance LB 276 to the full Legislature. The bill proposes to repeal the death penalty and replace it with imprisonment for life without parole and order of mandatory restitution. LB 276 is not prioritized legislation for this session, but will carry over to 2012 for a first round of floor debate. The six legislators who made this appropriate decision were Senators Brad Ashford, Brenda Council, Colby Coash, Steve Lathrop, Amanda McGill and Burke Harr.