Voters should have chance to scrutinize LB 753

Dear Editor,

I am writing to respond to the recent article by State Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon in support of LB 753, the “school choice” law passed last session by the Legislature.

The law provides dollar-for-dollar tax credits for donations to “scholarship granting organizations” that take a cut, then provide scholarships for private-school students. Critics, myself included, question the size and scope of the tax benefit.

I have questions about some of Brewer’s claims.

In the first paragraph, he says, “Many of us may disagree on many other issues, but we came together on this.” The law’s sponsor, State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, has worked for seven years to get a choice measure passed, so why did they all come together this year?

The $710,000 that a national school choice group led by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos spent on 2022 legislative races may have had something to do with it. Several of the 30 Republicans who voted for the bill got more than $50,000, either in donations to them or against their opponents, or both, according to a Feb. 27, 2023, article in the Nebraska Examiner. (1). Two of the three Democrats who voted for the bill, State Sens. Justin Wayne and Mike McDonnell of Omaha, also received donations from the DeVos group.

Brewer also says the Nebraska State Education Association is lying when it says this program would take money away from public schools.

The minor problem with that is: The state pays some school aid on a $1,500 per-student basis. So if students transfer from public schools to private schools, the public schools would lose $1,500 per student. Note that their enrollment could still grow for other reasons.

The major problem: The money allocated to pay for tax credits in the law ($25 million a year to start) will take away from tax revenues available for public investments. Exactly which ones are unknown for the time being, but it’s premature at best to flat-out state that none of the money will come from public schools. (2)

The Legislature, with its budget and the state economy boosted by COVID relief funds, did increase state aid for schools by $305 million in the last session, with more promised for future years. Whether that level of funding is sustainable for Nebraska remains to be seen.

Brewer uses Florida as an example of the success of choice programs in rural counties. It is curious that with 48 other states having some sort of choice law, he didn’t use one somewhat similar to Nebraska. Florida has less land mass than Nebraska but 10 times the population, so it seems to be a stretch to imply that its rural schools face the same issues as ours.

There are few private high schools in the western one-third of the state, including Brewer’s district. Brewer says that this law can “help entrepreneurs create new schools” in rural communities.

He adds that he anticipates “many untold opportunities arising for students” once the law takes hold in his rural district. His district has more area than nine U.S. states but has no private high school. So those opportunities are certainly “untold” for now.

And even if some entrepreneurs do step forward, would they put profit or education first? Would they willingly cut into their bottom line to serve one student’s special needs? They would be competing with tax-funded schools but wouldn’t have to accept all students or face the same accountability.

Is it fair or wise to make taxpayers shell out for both sides of a multimillion-dollar competition for students? The state constitution makes it clear that public funds should not be used for private schools. This law gets around that by creating a middleman that would get the donation money, take a slice off the top, then dole it out for scholarships. Why else would a middleman be needed now when private schools have raised money in this state for decades?

Brewer also says “support for empowering parents is higher than ever as confidence in the one-size-fits-all government education system reaches historic lows.”

“Confidence … reaches historic lows” is not backed up. I think “loudness of critics reaches a historic high” is closer to the truth.

He casts public schools as the “government education system” in a derogatory sense. It’s disheartening, to say the least, to see a state senator put down the “government education system” when he’s part of the government.

In his conclusion, Brewer says the petition would repeal the law. It would not. It would put the question on the November 2024 ballot, giving people more than a year to look into the issue.

A skeptic might think that LB 753’s supporters are worried about more time for scrutiny of the plan and about letting the people decide.

Frank Hassler,

Omaha, Neb.

MHS Class of ‘75

(1) https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/02/27/betsy-devos-two-others-spent-big-on-nebr...

(2) https://www.openskypolicy.org/voucher-bill-passed-by-legislature-risks-funding-t...