From the office of Senator Lou Ann Linehan
On Monday, October 28, at 3:00 pm, over a dozen senators will join Senator Linehan at a press conference in the State Capitol Rotunda to address a political advertisement in support of Ballot Measure 435, funded and authorized by the Support Our Schools organization, which recently aired across Nebraska. Senator Linehan, along with the other participants in the press conference (including chairs of the Education and Appropriations committees), have decided to respond to this advertisement because of its particularly disingenuous and offensive character, especially to those of us who have worked tirelessly to expand both public and private educational opportunities for Nebraskans.
The advertisement makes several false and misleading claims about LB1402, the bill Measure 435 seeks to repeal. In spite of the misdirection perpetrated by partisan opponents of school choice, the reality is that the $10 million appropriated by LB1402 to fund scholarships for Nebraska families who choose to send their children to private schools represents less than 0.4% of annual expenditures on public education by the State and approximately 0.2% of what Nebraskans spend on public education in total. Nevertheless, certain monied interests are apparently intent on distorting and misrepresenting these facts to claim that this sum allocated to provide increased educational opportunities and prioritize low-income families will be catastrophic for public education. Such claims are absurd and defy common sense.