Today, Tuesday, October 22, the Nebraska Secretary of State will host a public hearing in Ogallala on Ballot Measure 435 to partially repeal the Opportunity Scholarships established by the Legislature in LB1402. The Support Our Schools referendum campaign and the interests that stand behind it—funding it to the tune of $4-5 million—have inundated Nebraskans with distortions and misinformation about LB1402 and the Opportunity Scholarship program.
The Support Our Schools campaign has claimed repeatedly that funding scholarships for Nebraska children to attend private schools to access the educational opportunities they need detracts from funding for public schools. This is absurd. Consider the following facts:
- In 2023, the Legislature set aside $1 billion for the newly-created Education Future Fund.
- The state now pays public school districts $1500 in foundation aid for every student.
- In 2023, the Legislature increased special education funding by 100% and now covers 80% of all special education costs.
- The Legislature has established programs to provide grants and bonuses ranging from $2,500-$5000 for individual teachers to promote teacher retention, amounting to millions in new funding provided by the state to teachers.
Furthermore, in 2023, the Legislature and the Governor appropriated an additional $327 million for public education and set aside $1 billion for future public education spending. This is in addition to the $1.1 billion in TEEOSA funding and $1 billion in school district property tax relief. Nebraskans spend $5 billion annually on public education, about 55% of which comes from the state.
In contrast, LB1402 appropriates an annual $10 million to provide scholarships to families to pursue the educational opportunities their children need—a mere 0.2% of what Nebraskans spend on K-12 public education. All of these facts clearly illustrate the absurdity of the claim that Nebraska cannot fund scholarships for children to pursue private educational opportunities without taking funds from our public schools.
Opponents of school choice also claim that private schools don’t accept all students. The reality is neither do public schools. According to a recent rejection report prepared by the Nebraska Department of Education, over 300 students with IEPs (Individualized Education Program) were denied option enrollment to a public school by public schools.
We now know petitions circulated by supporters of cannabis petitions are under investigation. Several of the same individuals under investigation for those petitions also participated in the petition effort to repeal Opportunity Scholarships, including by circulating petitions. This raises serious concerns about whether Measure 435 should even be on the ballot this November. There are also documented instances of individuals misleading citizens while circulating petitions. The entire process around 435 has been, on the whole, a sloppy and unregulated process that does not represent the best of Nebraska.
According to records from the Nebraska Accountability & Disclosure Commission, when all is said and done, Support Our Schools will have spent $4-5 million to repeal a $10 million program—with no funded opposition. Many of these funds will be devoted to further efforts to mislead Nebraskans through media advertising.
Nevertheless, we urge all Nebraskans to vote ‘NO’ on Measure 435 this November, and to say ‘YES’ to educational opportunities for all Nebraskans.