02/14/2020
Please read, share and take action.
Lincoln just voted to support our incredible public school system, so let’s keep the momentum going!
CALL TO ACTION: We need your help to stop the attacks on Nebraska's public schools.
In recent days, elected officials and national privatization organizations have ramped up their efforts to dismantle public education in Nebraska. We expect this to continue until LB 1202 has its hearing next Wednesday, February 19, at 1:30 PM.
- LB 1202 is a scholarship tax credit bill that would cost $10 million annually. Those dollars will benefit wealthy corporate and individual donors at the expense of our state's general fund and the critical programs and services, like education, it funds. Furthermore, LB 1202 ties eligibility to the receipt of SNAP benefits and therefore effectively includes a work requirement for parents.
- In addition, LB 1202 doesn't protect students from discrimination based on religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or any criteria other than race. Unlike public schools, whose doors are open to all, private and parochial schools are also not required to provide transportation or special education services and can cherry-pick which students receive scholarships and admission. We don't believe taxpayer dollars should be used to support educational models that do not serve all children.
- Despite the privatizers' claims, the research is very clear: Other states with these scholarship tax credit programs do not see any savings or improved academic outcomes, and the majority of scholarship recipients are not students "trapped in failing government schools," as President Trump suggested, but rather students who were already attending (or planning to attend) private school without state aid.
HOW TO HELP: Email the Senators on the Revenue Committee and urge them to oppose LB 1202. Copy and paste their addresses here:
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