106B LB1202 LPS Testimony
Revenue Committee
- Senator Lou Ann Linehan (Chairperson)
- Senator Tom Briese
- Senator Sue Crawford
- Senator Curt Friesen
- Senator Mike Groene
- Senator Mark Kolterman
- Senator Brett Lindstrom
- Senator John McCollister
Dear Revenue Committee Members:
I love serving on the board of education because I am passionate about the mission of public schools – preparing all students to be college, career and civic life ready at graduation. Our community and the state of Nebraska holds us responsible for accomplishing that mission through transparent systems of academic and financial oversight. We not only accept that mission, we embrace the calling of serving all students and being accountable to our community.
In reading through LB1202, it appears to work in opposition to the goal of equitable opportunities and sound financial and academic oversight. LB1202 would provide state funding through tax credits and scholarships to provide financial assistance to private schools, but it would not require private schools to serve all students.
Section two, subsection four indicates that private schools would be allowed to receive these state-created funds while continuing discriminatory enrollment practices. LB1202 only requires that students not be discriminated on the basis of race, but permits private schools to discriminate against students for other reasons such as a child’s physical disability, or a child’s religion, or even if a child has an IEP. This means that these State of Nebraska-created public dollars are not meant to serve all Nebraska students.
Regarding accountability, through LB1202, the state of Nebraska would provide access to millions of dollars to private schools without requiring the private school be accountable for how the money is spent or report the academics outcomes reached. Section ten includes some reporting by the scholarship organizations, but it does not require reporting on how money is spent, demographic break downs of the students who receive scholarships, nor descriptions of any academic outcomes for those students.
This is in stark contrast to the transparent financial and academic accountability systems required of public schools.
The bill goes so far as to reinforce in section eleven that the receipt of these public dollars does not create any additional state oversight, implying that the state has no interest in knowing the impact of this funding.
As a general policy, state-created funding would usually be connected to requirements for equity and accountability, especially when serving children. LB1202 appears to lack even minimal levels of financial and academic oversight and guarantees for equity.
For these two reasons, I ask the Revenue Committee to not advance LB1202 to general file and to continue focusing on funding public education, which embraces the mission of providing transparent and accountable educational opportunities to all students.
Sincerely,
Connie Duncan
Board Member, Lincoln Board of Education
Member, Nebraska Association of School Boards
