Nebraska Catholic Conference                                    

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Focus on public policy from a Gospel mandate, from the Catholic Church's moral and social teaching and from Her concern for the common good.

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LEGISLATIVE ISSUES IN EDUCATION

2009

  • LB 67  the Elementary and Secondary Educational Opportunities Act, would allow Nebraska individuals, married couples, and businesses to receive a state income tax credit  for contributions to School Tuition Organizations (or Scholarship Tuition Organizations) to assist children in enrolling at  private elementary and secondary schools in Nebraska.  An income tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in tax liability, as opposed to the treatment of a tax deduction, which only reduces tax liability by a percentage of the amount contributed. ACTION ALERT   

 

  • LB 20 Post Secondary Scholarship
  • LB 72 Allergy School Policy
  • LB 73 Ed-Military Children
  • LB 138 Income Tax credit for Teachers
  • LB 240 Public School Expend
  • LB 255 School Bus Seat Belts
  • LB 448 Schools for Vaccinations
  • LB 548 Student Discipline Records
  • LB 546 Education Innovation Fund

For further information Nebraska Legislature website: http://nebraskalegislature.gov

Nebraska Textbook Loan Program

 Under Nebraska law, section 79-734(2), local school districts purchase and loan academic textbooks to resident children attending private elementary and secondary schools, but only to the extent that funds are appropriated in advance by the Legislature.  Therefore, the appropriation is crucial and meaningful.  If the amount needed to accommodate textbook loan requests for any given year exceeds the amount pre-determined by the Legislature, the number of textbook loan requests fulfilled is reduced accordingly.

  • The textbook loan program is the only state aid to education program available to parents who satisfy the state’s compulsory education requirements by enrolling their children in private elementary and secondary schools. These parents save the state and local school district taxpayers more than $299,000,000 each year in public education costs [40,000 private-school students x $7,476 average public-school per pupil costs = $299,040,000]. 

  • In the 2005-07 state budget, state aid to local public school districts is anticipated to exceed $684 million dollars for the first fiscal year, a $65 million increase!  The current textbook loan program appropriation of $420,000 represents less than .05% (five one-hundredths of one percent) of the amount spent on K-12 education by the state even though 12.5% (1 out of every 8) of the children in Nebraska receive their compulsory education in private schools.

  •  The Nebraska families who benefit from this program pay taxes and contribute to the common good of the state no less than the families that benefit from state aid to education programs in the public schools.  It is only fair that parents who satisfy the state’s compulsory education laws by enrolling their children in private school systems have a share of their tax dollars appropriated for assisting in the education of their children.

  • The textbook loan program, which has been declared constitutional in all respects by the Nebraska Supreme Court [Cunningham v. Lutjeharms, 231 Neb. 756 (1989)], is a most effective way for the state to direct resources directly into the classroom and help educate Nebraska children in math, science and other state-mandated, core-curriculum subjects.

  • The current textbook loan appropriation of $420,000 divided amongst 40,000 private elementary and secondary school students amounts to less than $10 per student.  Compare this to the state aid appropriation of $2,440 per public school student ($684 million/280,000 students).

  • Parents are limited in their textbook loan requests to textbooks approved for use in the local public school district.  Thus, these parents are being loaned the same math, science and history textbooks their children would be provided if they were enrolled in their local public school.

  • The education provided to each individual student enrolled in a private elementary or secondary school is just as important to the state’s future as is the education provided to a student in a public school.  Please support this worthwhile, cost-efficient and effective education program.

Catholic Church Public Policy and Parental Choice in Education

The foundation for the Catholic Church’s public policy position on parental choice in education is set out in Paragraph 2229 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catechism provides as follows:

"As those first responsible for the education of their children, parents have the right to choose a school for them which corresponds to their own convictions. This right is fundamental. As far as possible parents have the duty of choosing schools that will best help them in their task as Christian educators. Public authorities have the duty of guaranteeing this parental right and of ensuring the concrete conditions for its exercise."

Nebraska is blessed with an abundance of quality Catholic elementary and secondary schools to help parents fulfill their duty as Christian educators. Unfortunately, in Nebraska as in most other states, parental choice in education is often limited to those families with the financial means to pay tuition on top of the taxes that they pay to support the government-operated school system. The parental choice programs discussed below, if enacted into law, would help parents choose a non-government-run school for their children’s education without incurring a disproportionate and unjust financial burden.

Why should parental choice legislation be enacted in Nebraska?

State-approved and accredited independent and religiously-affiliated schools provide quality education in State mandated core curriculum subjects such as math, science, physical education, music, social studies and language arts for the children enrolled in such schools by their parents to comply with the State’s compulsory education laws. In effect, these so-called "nonpublic" schools are performing a public function for more than 40,000 school-age children in Nebraska while saving taxpayers more than $250 million dollars each year by reducing the number of students enrolled in the government-operated school systems.

The government requires all of its adult citizens to pay taxes to support the public school system regardless of whether they have any children attending school. The premise for justifying this system of tax-funded K-12 education is that all of society benefits from having an educated citizenry and therefore, every child should receive a free basic education provided at taxpayer expense. Presumably, if that is the basis upon which taxes are levied and spent, then it should not matter which school the child is educated in so long as the school meets the basic requirements for legal operation as a K-12 school in Nebraska. Equality in educational spending per school-age child should be the rule. Instead, the State of Nebraska currently strives for equality in educational resources for the 87% of children enrolled in the government-operated K-12 school systems, while providing essentially no educational funding support for the 13% of children enrolled in non-government-operated K-12 schools.

Is public-supported private education constitutional?

Although there are constitutional restrictions on providing tax funds directly to private and religiously-affiliated schools, various court decisions have held that these restrictions generally do not preclude direct aid to, or tax-relief for, the parents of children attending such schools. For example, in upholding a Minnesota education expense tax deduction as constitutional, the United States Supreme Court had this to say about such matters:

"A state’s decision to defray the cost of educational expenses incurred by parents—regardless of the type of schools their children attend—evidences a purpose that is both secular and understandable. An educated populace is essential to the political and economic health of any community, and a state’s efforts to assist parents in meeting the rising cost of educational expenses plainly serves this secular purpose of ensuring that the state’s citizenry is well-educated. Similarly, Minnesota, like other states, could conclude that there is a strong public interest in assuring the continued financial health of private schools, both sectarian and non-sectarian. By educating a substantial number of students such schools relieve public schools of a correspondingly great burden—to the benefit of all taxpayers. In addition, private schools may serve as a benchmark for public schools…. Parochial schools, quite apart from their sectarian purpose, have provided an education alternative for millions of young Americans; they often afford wholesome competition with our public schools; and in some States they relieve substantially the tax burden incident to the operation of public schools. The State has, moreover, a legitimate interest in facilitating education of the highest quality for all children within its boundaries, whatever school their parents have chosen for them." Mueller v. Allen, 1983.

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State Policy Options for Equity in Education

Thus, there are several options available to state policy makers interested in providing equity in educational financing for children attending schools of choice. These options include: 

 vouchers, sometimes called opportunity scholarships, 
 education expense tax deductions or tax credits, 
 scholarship tax credits, and 
 tax-free education savings accounts.

Vouchers (or opportunity scholarships):

Vouchers are simply payments made directly to parents for their children’s proportionate share of the education tax dollar to purchase an education in the open market from any school that has achieved state accreditation or approval. The amount of the voucher typically is based upon a percentage of the average public-school per-pupil costs. Voucher programs established in Milwaukee, Cleveland and Florida have been targeted at children from low-income families or those enrolled in poorly performing public school districts. The Milwaukee and Cleveland voucher programs have been upheld as constitutional by the highest state courts in Wisconsin and Ohio.  The Cleveland program was subsequently upheld as constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2002 (Zelman v. Simmons-Morris).

In Nebraska: Introduced in the 1999 legislative session, LB 483 (the Parent Education Equitable Reimbursement System Act) would have required the state to include nonpublic school students in the calculation of the state aid to education formula as if the students were enrolled in the public schools. One-half of the additional state aid amounts payable to the public school district attributable to such students would then be made available to the students’ parents to use for nonpublic school tuition. The public school district would retain the other one-half of the additional state aid in recognition of the need to maintain a public school infrastructure. The projected fiscal impact of this proposal was estimated to be in excess of $210 million dollars per year. Although, the price tag doomed the proposal to die in the Education Committee, it clearly shows the tax-saving value of the nonpublic school systems to the taxpayers in Nebraska.

 Education Expense Tax Deductions and Tax Credits:

Education Expense Tax Deductions are reductions to a taxpayer’s gross taxable income for amounts spent on education. Education Expense Tax Credits are dollar for dollar reductions in income tax liability for amounts spent on education. This credit may be structured as a refundable credit, meaning that if the child’s education expenses exceed the parent’s tax liability, the parent may receive a refund from the state for the excess. Qualified educational expenses may include tuition, fees, textbooks, transportation, or other expenses. The U.S. Supreme Court in the 1983 case Mueller v. Allen held 5-4 that a Minnesota education expense tax deduction did not violate the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and this case has been relied upon by other courts to uphold various education expense tax deductions and tax credits enacted in Iowa, Illinois and Arizona.

In Nebraska, LB 769 introduced in the 2006 session would have authorized a tax-credit of 8% of educational expenses up to a cap of $250 per child in elementary school and $500 per child in secondary school. This proposal failed to advance from the Revenue Committee. Similar proposals introduced in 1995,1997, and 1999 also failed to advance.

Scholarship Tax Credits:

A scholarship tax credit is a reduction in a business entity’s or individual’s income tax liability for amounts contributed to K-12 tuition scholarship funds. This type of tax credit was found to be constitutional under state and federal constitutions by the Arizona Supreme Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined review.

In Nebraska, LB 271 introduced in 2001 legislative session would authorize a tax credit of up to $500 per year for contributions by businesses and individuals to K-12 tuition scholarship funds.  The Education Committee took no action on the bill, and it died in Committee at the end of the legislative session.

Education Savings Accounts:

Education Savings Accounts or ESA’s are investment accounts that are given preferential tax treatment so long as the funds invested are ultimately used for educational expenses. Variations include accounts that accrue earnings tax-free, allow for tax deductible contributions, taxing distributions at child’s tax rate if used for education expenses, or some combination of these options. 

At the Federal level: ESA’s for K-12 expenses have been passed and signed into law by President Bush.  See Parent Advocate, July 2001.

Nebraska: Adopted a college-level savings plan (LB 1003, 2000). The new law provides for tax deductible contributions, tax deferred earnings, and distributions taxed at the beneficiary’s tax rate if used for college expenses.  Efforts to expand the program to include K-12 expenses probably will not be initiated until the program is more established.

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