Political post - Public School vs. Private School

Let me preface this post by saying it’s not my intention to make this a political blog. This blog is supposed to be about our family with updates, events and stories that we want to share with friends and family. With that in mind, I’m about to step up on my soapbox for a brief moment.

I received and e-mail from a friend yesterday telling of a new bill that is going before committee that could potentially have an impact on my family. Before we get into the specifics of the bill, I need to preface this with: I am in no way saying that public schools are inferior to private schools. I am a product of the Omaha Public School system and I feel that I was provided with good opportunities to learn and excel. In my family, both immediate and extended, are many educators that have taught for many years in public school systems in this state. I have nothing but respect for teachers and administrators who strive to provide children with the best education possible every day. My hat goes off to them. With that being said, J and I have been strongly considering private school for R. I will admit that the primary reason is because we don’t like the public elementary school in our neighborhood. I’m not saying that this school has poor teachers or administration, but I believe the kids that attend this school have uninvolved and uninterested parents. Who, in my opinion, and lack of actual knowledge probably use school as a cheap babysitter. Why do I feel this way? Try standing in my front yard anytime during the school year around 3:00 when school is dismissed and observe the kids walking home from this school. They are destructive, lack respect for themselves, others and properties. They use foul language and have a complete disregard for anyone or anything. This is not a group of children I want my daughter to sit in class with for 6-8 hours a day, nor do I want her to walk home within range of any of the kids I have had the opportunity to observe. Now again, I’m not accusing every student from this school to be this way. I’m sure there are some from good families that know how to behave and speak properly. Let me say also that I’m not trying to be one of those moms that over-shelter their children either. Our desire to have R attend a private school, specifically Omaha Christian Academy doesn’t even have to do with the “Christian” environment (although admittedly that is an added bonus), it’s for the moral character of the staff and students she’s exposed to every day.

My logic partly lies in this theory: when the parents are directly involved in the educational environment of their children, the children are more likely to succeed throughout their educational years. Parents who enroll their children in private schools have a financial investment in that education. And let’s face it. Money talks.

Now I know that if R were in Public school, I would be involved with her education. That’s the type of parent I am. J is the same way. We would talk to her and her teacher when and if we spotted any problems, before they got out of hand. We’d help her with her homework, insist on a consistent bedtime, send her to school with the appropriate supplies, make sure she’s had breakfast, etc. Basically provide her with all the tools we can to be successful in school. But that’s J and me. The problem lies in the parents of other Public School kids that don’t and won’t do those things for their children. Those children are most likely going to be the ones with discipline issues that will take the teachers attention and time away from teaching the rest of the classroom full of children that actually want to learn. Teachers spend more time disciplining kids than they do teaching anymore.

We parents need to step it up a notch. We need to realize that these teachers are not babysitters. School is not free day care. Parents need to get involved and stay involved.

With that all being said. Here is the political portion of my post. This is the e-mail I received. I urge any of you reading to contact the members of this committee and ask them to support this bill. If it will help me with part of all of the financial commitment that I make to send my child to a private school, I’m for it. I’m also very happy to continue to pay my fair share of taxes to support the public school system. I’d just like parents who would like to choose private school over public school to have a little bit of an incentive to do so, without the worries of being able to afford the tuition.

Legislative Bill 67

Legislative Bill 67 will be up for vote by the Revenue Committee soon; information about the bill is stated below. This bill would have a positive impact on Christian education. Please pray that this bill will pass. The Revenue Committee will hold a public meeting on Friday, February 27 at 1:30 p.m. in Room 1524 of the State Capitol. If you
would like to attend the hearing and are interested in carpooling to Lincoln to attend, please contact the office and we will try to arrange a carpool system.

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. The goal of this bill is to provide scholarships to help defray the cost of private school tuition for students whose families have low or limited income and to provide an incentive to families and businesses to encourage charitable giving to nonprofit School Tuition Organizations, creating a new revenue stream with additional scholarship resources. These scholarship tax credit programs have been very successful
in Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Florida, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. Your help is needed to cause favorable treatment for LB 67 and its advancement to the full Legislature for debate.

Here is what you can do:1. Call or e-mail members of the Revenue Committee and urge them to support LB 67 and advance LB 67 to General File for debate. The Committee controls the fate of the bill
at this stage, so contact these senators even if they are not from your
district. (If you would prefer to write a letter; using regular mail, that
is fine, but act soon!)Revenue Committee members, district #, phone numbers, e-mail and mailing addresses:

Abbie Cornett (45) acornett@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2615
M.L. "Cap" Dierks (40) mdierks@leg.ne.gov, 402-471-2801
Greg Adams (24) gadams@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2756
Mike Friend (10) mfriend@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2718
Galen Hadley (37) ghadley@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2726
LeRoy Louden (49) llouden@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2725
Dennis Utter (33) dutter@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2712

Tom White (8) twhite@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2722

Senator ______, District #____, State Capitol; Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509-46042.

Spread the word about LB 67 to other members of your school community and request that they also call or e-mail the senators on the Revenue Committee and urge them to support and advance LB 67.3. Senator Mike Friend (10) of Omaha introduced LB 67. He is a member of the Revenue Committee. In contacting Senator Friend, please thank him for sponsoring LB 67. Sen. Tony Fulton (29) of Lincoln is a co-sponsor of this bill. If you live in Senator Fulton's District (29), thank him for sponsoring this bill and let him know his efforts are appreciated. Please see the guidelines enclosed with suggested talking points for using in your message. Thank you!

For more information, please contact:Jeremy P. Murphy, Associate Director for Education Issues Nebraska Catholic Conference215 Centennial Mall South, Ste. 310Lincoln, NE 68508

(402) 477-7517JeremyMurphy@neb.rr.comwww.nebcathcon.org

Thanks again for your time. I am now stepping down from my soap-box.

-A