Good Afternoon Senator Raikes, Senator Suttle, who is my senator from District 10, and members of the Education Committee.

My name is Colleen Mayo, last name spelled M-a-y-o, and I am testifying in support of LB 271 in two capacities. I do promise to keep this under five minutes.

First of all, I am here in my capacity as a board member of the Nebraska Federation of Catholic School Parents. The Federation is comprised of 17,300 members from across the state interested in public policy decisions impacting the education of our children. Roughly 50 members took time out of their busy lives to come here today to show their support for LB 271, some coming from as far away as Ogallala, Elgin, Humphrey, Kearney and Spalding, as well as Omaha and Lincoln.

As taxpayers, we support public education. We believe that the premise underlying taxpayer-financed education is that all of society benefits when every child receives a quality basic education. And yet, because some parents want their children to receive their education in an environment that also promotes their family’s moral and spiritual values, the parents must personally incur the entire financial burden of educating their children in state-mandated, non-religious subjects such as math, science, English, Physical Education, and history. We are not asking for a "hand-out", as we have demonstrated for generations that we are more than willing to pay our fair share of taxes and still sacrifice to provide a top-notch education for our own children out of our own pockets. However, many low-income families must rely upon the generosity of their fellow parish members to help subsidize their children’s education in the nonpublic school that the parents believe to be in the best interest of their children; and in those many instances where the resources are simply unavailable, their parental right to choose the education they deem best for their children may be denied. LB 271 would help remedy this by shifting some of the cost of providing this state-mandated non-religious education back to the state by providing a dollar for dollar income tax credit for the contributions made to private K-12 scholarship funds, which would encourage greater levels of giving to such scholarship funds.

This brings me to the other reason I’m here today. A former colleague of mine, Alberto Gonzales, wanted to be here today to testify in person, but because he works three jobs, he was unable to attend. However, knowing that I was coming today, he wrote a letter to the committee and asked me to read it into the record. Alberto works with high-risk youths as a gang intervention and prevention counselor for the Chicano Awareness Center in Omaha. He is also a drug and alcohol counselor and a Boys Town National Hotline Crisis Counselor. Here is his letter:

Education Committee

C/o Senator Ron Raikes, Chairman

District 25, State Capitol

P.O. Box 94604

Lincoln, NE 68509-4604

Dear Senator Raikes and Members of the Education Committee:

I am writing to express my support for LB 271, the Elementary and Secondary Scholarship Assistance Act, and I would like this letter to be included in the record at the March 13 hearing on LB 271. I would have testified in person, but I work three jobs and cannot fit an afternoon hearing into my schedule.

As a Hispanic-American I am very concerned about the educational opportunities available for minorities within the Omaha Public School System. Too often I see Hispanic kids falling through the cracks at OPS, and in my opinion, OPS seems overwhelmed when working with Hispanic kids who are on the fringe. On the other hand, I have seen many Hispanic kids thrive in the education and spiritual environment of our local Catholic Schools. Because of this, I believe that the state needs to do more to promote school choice options.

It is often stated that we have school choice in Nebraska because parents can send their children to any public school they wish under the option enrollment program. However, the public school option is not always viable because of the distance to other schools, school enrollment capacity, or lack of meaningful differences between the public schools in the area. Furthermore, in my (three) jobs, I work extensively with troubled kids, and it is my observation that the vast majority of these kids are "spiritually bankrupt". These kids need spiritual direction and would benefit greatly from a religious based education, which, as you well know, can not be provided in any public school setting. True, parents do have the right to send their children to a private school if they wish, but the private school option is generally limited to those parents who have the financial resources to pay tuition. Almost all of the kids I work with come from low-income homes where private school is not an option.

LB 271 would help address one of these hurdles. LB 271 would provide a tax incentive to encourage greater giving to scholarship funds to help low-income families pay private school tuition. For low-income parents who might prefer the private school option for their children, additional scholarship resources could make all the difference. Furthermore, given the option, I would prefer to send my children to a private school located within my neighborhood rather than send my children to another public school miles away in an effort to find a school that meets my expectations.

I ask that you support LB 271 and the goal of promoting true school choice for all parents regardless of their income. Thank you for considering my views.

Sincerely,

Alberto Gonzales

Gang Intervention/Prevention Counselor (Chicano Awareness Center),

Drug and Alcohol Counselor, and Boys Town National Hotline Crisis Counselor

4420 South 23rd Street

Omaha, Nebraska 68107