Nebraska students might get religious release from school time, as package advances
LINCOLN — God and religion 'may' have a new path into Nebraska's public schools after the Education Committee on Friday sent a package to the legislative floor that includes a revamped 'release time' proposal.
The package's most controversial part was its inclusion of State Sen. Loren Lippincott's Legislative Bill 550, which would let students be excused during the school day for off-site religious instruction and coursework.
Christian education organization Lifewise Academy, with ties to the populist right, is lobbying for similar bills in conservative-led states nationally. Lippincott has acknowledged the group's influence on the issue.
He was pleased that the bill made it out of committee Friday with 'a few minor changes' and said he hoped lawmakers would give it a chance. Amendments adopted Friday essentially watered it down to existing law.
'We'll see what happens once it gets on the floor,' said Lippincott, of Central City.
Committee members had battled back and forth for weeks on whether to include Lippincott's proposal in a bill largely built around Omaha State Sen. Ashlei Spivey's former LB 440 to boost paid leave for teachers.
The Spivey bill would give teachers up to three weeks of paid leave to deal with significant life events and pay for it using a new payroll fee on teacher salaries to cover the costs of paying long-term substitutes. The fee also would help pay for special education teacher recruitment and retention.
The importance of that underlying bill to teachers, now in LB 306, made unusual allies of the Nebraska State Education Association and some of the Legislature's members who want more Christianity in schools. Also part of the deal was the Legislature's Retirement Systems Committee.
Tim Royers, president of the NSEA, had no immediate comment on the bill's advancement. He had said earlier Friday that his union was only willing to accept Lippincott's 'release time' bill if allowing students to leave school for religious instruction was optional, not required.
As such, the committee amended Lippincott's part of the package to change its 'shall' language to a 'may' on the requirement that schools let students leave. Other changes clarified that they had to leave for at least 42 minutes and that they couldn't miss core classes.
The three amendments to Lippincott's proposal are a big reason why the bill secured at least six votes to get out of committee — and might get a seventh. It needed five to advance to the legislative floor.
Republican State Sens. Dave Murman of Glenvil, the chair, Jana Hughes of Seward, the vice chair, Dan Lonowski of Hastings, Glen Meyer of Pender and Rita Sanders of Bellevue all voted to advance the package.
Democratic State Sen. Margo Juarez of South Omaha voted yes as well. The lone no vote came from progressive nonpartisan State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, who warned about the door to more religious bills in schools.
Hunt acknowledged that Lippincott's bill does not change the process for students leaving under current law but endorses what she called 'missionary work.'
She said the organization behind the bill, Lifewise, brings a bus for students and entices them with a popcorn party or other incentives to grow membership. Students left behind feel pressured, she said.
Lonowski said he didn't see Lifewise getting involved in Nebraska, but that he might be wrong. Hunt said he was wrong. Jesse Vohwinkel, LifeWise Academy's Vice President of Growth, testified in favor of Lippincott's bill during its public hearing in February.
Lonowski said the bill was pragmatic, as public schools are losing students when families want religion. Murman said it gives parents and school boards 'a little bit of cover' to get the programs off the ground.
Juarez said if other religions were not allowed, she would oppose the bill. She noted Satanists have already said they would use provisions of Lippincott's original bill if it required schools to open doors to groups.
Given the time constraints of budget bills and the likelihood of the education bill facing a filibuster, Speaker John Arch will have to decide whether scheduling the bill is worth the floor time.
Arch said late Friday that he would need to wait until the bill is officially reported out of committee and he has a chance to review it to determine whether to schedule it. The committee was holding open its vote until Monday to let State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln weigh in.
Examiner reporters Zach Wendling and Juan Salinas II contributed to this report.
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