Poll claiming Nebraska voters oppose school choice used misleading questions, lawmaker says

A recent poll falsely claims a slight majority of Nebraskans oppose school choice, says the lawmaker who authored the related bill.

According to the OpenSky Policy Institute, which is involved in petition effort against LB 753, a bill creating tax credits for private school scholarships, 55% of Nebraska voters oppose it. The poll’s margin of error was 4%.

But Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, R-District 39, the sponsor of LB 753, says OpenSky’s poll misled voters by suggesting the school choice program would divert funds from public schools.

“In their question are three misrepresentations,” Linehan told local media, noting the most significant is the idea that the bill takes away from public education. “We increased public school funding by $1.3 billion this year, $1.3 billion. [LB 753] doesn’t divert any money from public schools.”

Nevertheless, public school activists have started a petition to repeal the school choice program, which is capped at a modest $25 million next year. If the petition is successful, Nebraskans will vote on the issue in November 2024. 

“We think that the passage of LB 753 is a fairly significant change in education policy in the State of Nebraska and that it’s important for Nebraska voters to have an opportunity to weigh in,” claimed Rebecca Firestone, executive director of OpenSky.  

OpenSky, which is campaigning alongside the state’s teachers’ union to repeal the school choice program, describes itself as a “non-partisan organization that advocates for a strong Nebraska through clear fiscal research and analysis.”  

However, several of its board members have ties to public schools.  

Member Jerry Bexten worked in Omaha Public schools for 33 years as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal. Jamar Dorsey and Kathy Campbell also taught in public schools.  

And board member Tammy Day is currently the vice president of the Norfolk Public Schools Board of Education.  

LB 753 passed Nebraska’s unicameral legislature by a substantial margin in May and was celebrated by Gov. Jim Pillen: 

“Every parent regardless of socio-economic status should have the ability to decide what is the best school to meet their child’s need.”