In 2023 and 2024 Governor Pillen and the Legislature focused an abundance of energy on the educational needs of Nebraska’s PreK-12 students.They increased public school funding by 37%, created a $1 billion dollar future education fund, and finally joined the 48 other states in offering all children the opportunity to attend the school that best fits their needs. But some do not like even the tiniest percentage of educational funding going to schools that the union does not control.
Even though funding for the new school choice program is only .02% of total PreK-12 education funding, some, including the teachers’ union and Omaha progressives including Susie Buffett and University of Nebraska Regent BarbaraWeitz, are criticizing its supporters.They are spending millions to stop low-income students, students who are getting bullied, or whose parents are in the Armed Services from accessing the same opportunities that most Nebraskans access every day.They claim school choice will hurt Nebraska’s Public Schools. Do not let them fool you. Nebraskans love school choice. Nebraska’s 365,000 school age children attend 244 different public school districts or one of the 215 private schools spread across Nebraska. Many Nebraska counties have multiple public school districts. For instance, Douglas County has seven different school districts and so does Buffalo County. In sparsely populated Nebraska there may be only one public school per county and no private school, but nonetheless according to US Census Bureau statistics students in 89 of Nebraska’s 93 counties attend an approved or accredited Nebraska private school.
Any review of residential real estate listings and ads in metro Omaha and in some cases elsewhere in Nebraska make clear that when house shopping a top priority of parents is the school district where the home is located. Of course, this option is mostly exercised by those who can afford to move to pricier areas of Douglas, Lancaster, or Sarpy County.
