Thread by @RachelMGibsonNE

I have too much rage to tweet today, especially listening to Senator Linehan and her attempt to "debunk" the factual information on LB753. I really, REALLY hope that our supports of public education in the #NELeg call her out on every single one. Here, let me share some:

While not currently being taken from the current public school fund, this removes $25M next year and roughly $96M over the next 3 years out of the state budget. It will impact public school funding in the years to come.
nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/108/…
openskypolicy.org/webinar-paneli…

10% of donations can be kept by the "scholarship granting organizations," which certainly isn't directly helping children in need.

Even more concerning, organizations in this area like the American Federation for Children (NE AFC) have SIGNIFICANT personal & financial ties to the Nebraska legislators leading this effort.
nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/02/27/bet…

Rural schools will be significantly impacted, emphasized by the fact that 48 Nebraska counties have no private schools. nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/02/22/opp…

The benefactors of this bill are wealthy donors, individuals or organizations who may not even live in the state, receiving a dollar for dollar tax benefit.

Public funds going to private schools is directly prohibited by the state constitution. This is a creative work around that benefits wealthy donors. nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/articles.…

Based on data from other states, programs like these do not translate to the students most in need being able to access private schools but rather going to families who are already enrolled in private schools. kjzz.org/content/180630…

They also don't translate to increase in academic achievement for the most vulnerable students who they claim these programs are for. hechingerreport.org/opinion-after-…

Private schools these work-around funds go to are not subject to the same oversight, accountability, or anti-discrimination protections meaning that, unlike public schools, these funds will not be accessible to any and all students. forbes.com/sites/petergre…

I will keep adding resources and data under the respective point. You can't just yell louder and sound madder, claiming the other side has no data. We have data. A lot of data. Think it through and look at the big picture. It's pretty clear. No to #LB753

"When students participate in (vouchers), the rights they have in public school do not automatically transfer w/ them to private school...they may expel or deny admission to certain students w/o repercussion & w/ limited recourse for the aggrieved student."files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED596…

"Students who won scholarships to attend private schools were not significantly more or less likely to enroll in college than students who did not." journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.310…

I'll also say, be thoughtful about sources. Journals like "Journal of School Choice" tell you right there what they believe and what their research will find.

Case and point: "This report, while not taking any problematic leaps or making hugely problematic assump- tions, falls flat in terms of being useful for guiding policy, practice, or research." on a report from EdChoice greatlakescenter.org/wp-content/upl…"

Senator Linehan being rude to Senator Cavanaugh and calling their point about the constitutionality of this ("it's so embarrassing!")only strengths my resolve to fact check the unholy hell about this debate

This should really tell you all you need to know. If you didn't already know, the culture war has come for public schools, which in Nebraska, educate 90% of our students. Vote for students, teachers, communities, not political bumper stickers. (P.S. Wokeism is not a word)

Senator Wayne says "look in the camera and tell my parents why they don't get a choice."

Sen Wayne: "Did you apply for scholarships?"
Parent: "They were all full"
Were they full? How would this bill make more space? Did they not have funding for scholarships? $25M could just send those directly to those private schools for scholarships. Let's take out the middle man.

"It would be different if we hold public schools accountable...but we can't because of local control?"

Not being sassy, but can you point me to those bills/hearings, @JustinTWayne?

Senator Wayne encourages an "honest conversation" during this debate. I think that is a worthwhile point. Let's ask some questions. How would this support the kids who need it most? Point me to data. Where did the money coming to support these policies come from? Cite the source.

"...charter school penetration and growth played a role in increasing socioeconomic segregation within districts...segregation is more pervasive in the charter sector. So, continued growth of charter schools could exacerbate socioeconomic segregation."
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.310…

"Geospatial analysis is used to identify “school choice deserts” lacking multi-sector schooling options in various communities. These deserts tend to exist wholly or mostly in rural areas..."
tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.108…

"On average, students that use vouchers to attend private schools do less well on tests than similar students that do not attend private schools" brookings.edu/research/more-…

"Today, more than half of all voucher students in the state have no record of attending a public school."

npr.org/sections/ed/20…

Sen Linehan's impassion speech about the parents of these students being "the people who clean our hotel rooms, who make our meals, etc."

I want to believe you truly care about these folks, but I can't because you have time after time after time voted against supporting them...

...last session you led the effort to cut taxes for the highest individual earners & corps (some not even in NE) but refused to include the lower brackets because "they already had enough help through other programs" & you were "present not voting" on expanding SNAP benefits.

Senator MCav brings up an excellent point about the amendment - why is there opposition to the amendment that formalizes what proponents say that this bill does.

"How about we address the issue that public schools discriminate against black kids? Let's work on that!"

Thank you, @senatormachaela

"Discrimination is illegal in private schools - permissible maybe, but there's legal recourse. Catholic schools? No. They're allowed to discriminate...& they have told us that" - @senatormachaela

Senator DeBoer eloquently walks through the difference between a tax credit and tax deduction. Tax credits are dollar for dollar. Deductions are not.

This bill offers tax credits to donors.

"This is directing your taxes - up to half your tax liability"

Senator DeBoer emphasizes the role of poverty

"If a kid goes to school, public or private, and they haven't eaten in 12 hours, they don't have stable housing...so let's not direct all of our attention at one aspect"

Sen @JohnforNE says education was one of the things he heard about knocking on doors (can confirm) and doing his thing again and reading messages from his constituents about this bill. Shares the story of a person whose student private school refused a student with disablities

Another email says that a mother was a told that "her daughter's test scores were dragging the school average down" and that she should transfer to a public school.

Reads another about the concern of tax deduction v credit. Also emphasized their choice to send their child to Rockbrook instead of a Catholic school because they felt they would be more included as someone who has Downs Syndrome. (Love our, Rockbrook 🐶)

Finally possess the question: is there any other program/policy like this that gets a full tax credit instead of a tax deduction?

Senator Dorn asks some questions about what these "Scholarship Granting Organizations" are. Linehan commits to their being "at least 10" across the state. Cannot be for one school. They have to accept all applications.

Wait. If there are going to be 10 scholarship granting orgs and they can take 10% for admin costs, wouldn't that mean that $2.5 million of the $25 million these funds are going directly to these orgs instead of to kids?

Senator Hansen is quoting some studies. Anyone have those citations?

Seriously, does any one have the summary of 175 articles that breaks things into different areas of effectiveness? @BenWHansen would you be willing to share a link?

A few years old but a good primer on these orgs: ecs.org/wp-content/upl…

"Choice advocates might embrace efforts to identify school choice as a mechanism that allows families to find learning options that reflect their values, enabling them to reject curriculum they do not like, such as Critical Race Theory & 1619 Project"👀

educationnext.org/rethinking-old…

It's right here in black and white. The strategy is to turn communities against their community schools, especially in communities (such as rural) that will be hit the hardest. Who is "school choice" really helping here? heritage.org/education/comm…

LoL remember when I was like "I'm too mad to tweet!" and then I spent the entire morning linking to research? Send help #NELeg

Also, in case anyone is wondering, I've also emailed Senator Hansen's office to ask for the document or link to the studies he referenced. I'll share as I know more.

Wrapping up morning debate and one of the announcements was Senator von Gillern's designation of LB805 as his priority bill. nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bil…