It was with great interest that I read the recent article in the Omaha World-Herald regarding Legislative Bill 295. This bill, as you might recall, offers income tax credits for donating to private and parochial school scholarships. Despite our state’s massive revenue shortfall, this proposed legislation somehow made its way out of the Revenue Committee last spring and could possibly be up for debate this winter.
A couple of quotes really caught my attention.
Senator Jim Smith of Papillion said the bill would “help curb education costs by reducing the number of public school students. He also argued that it would bring competition into education, which he said would improve outcomes and lower costs.”
I don’t agree. Let’s say York Public Schools, which has approximately 1,400 students, loses 50 children through LB-295. Let’s say those 50 kids are somewhat evenly distributed throughout our K-12 structure with 3-4 per grade level moving on to private/parochial schools due to these “scholarships.” What costs are we going to “save?” We will not be able to reduce the number of bus routes we have. We will need the same amount of teachers. Our facilities will have the same square footage to heat and cool. What exactly do we save with 3-4 fewer students per grade level?
His comment infers that there is not already intense competition within education. Do you think York is not already trying to do everything we can to be the best? Do you think we are sitting by while Seward, Aurora, Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney, and Crete are improving and we are going to accept the status quo? Educators compete every single day. We often “do more with less” as York hasn’t had a spending increase since 2014-15 and averages just a 1.3% annual spending increase since 2008-09. Yet, our student achievement scores on local, state, and national assessments are at an all-time high. We compete with option enrollment, (which most states don’t offer), virtual schools, home schools, parochial and private schools every day. I assure you competition is alive and well.
Senator LouAnn Linehan, who I am proud to say has visited York Public Schools twice already this school year, was credited with saying, “that tax credit scholarships would provide students with an education for less than the average cost per student of a public school education, meaning the money would stretch further.”
“I promise you, in the long run we save money and the kids get a better education,” she said.
These quotes are “bulletin board material,” which I thought I was done with after I hung up my college football cleats and helmet back in 1993. I’d love to see the data that shows the education that these chosen students would receive that cost so much less but is so much better.
According to a March 22, 2017 article in the World-Herald, the NGL Academy in Bellevue, a specialized school that could possibly receive some students on “scholarship” if LB-295 advances, opened up this fall with an annual tuition of $14,500; which is over $2,500 MORE than our public school per-pupil spending average throughout the entire state. Most Class A and B school districts in our state have a cost-per-pupil closer to $11,000.
I will make my own promise. York Public Schools will put the education we provide our children up against anybody and we’re not afraid to say that we’re always a work in progress that strives to get better every single day; just like our amazing public school colleagues all across the state in small, medium, and urban-sized districts. We open our doors for “every student every day” and we “find a way” to create opportunities so all of our students can achieve success and hope for the future. Public education is alive and well in Nebraska and thriving.
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