Face to face: NSEA president, school choice laws author debate future of Nebraska education

Yahoo

11-02-2025

Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, and former State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of the Elkhorn area participate in a debate on Nebraska education policy, including school choice, at the 50th annual Nebraska Ecumenical Legislative Briefing Day at Christ United Methodist Church in Lincoln. Feb. 8, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
LINCOLN — Months after a tense election cycle to repeal the state's two latest school choice laws, the former state senator who wrote those bills and the current president of the state teacher's union spent Saturday debating the future of education policy, with a focus on Nebraska students in need.
Lou Ann Linehan, the former state senator for the Elkhorn area, and Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, sat side by side for the 50th annual Nebraska Ecumenical Legislative Briefing Day at Christ United Methodist Church in Lincoln.
They debated school choice and more for about an hour, offering competing visions for what the next steps should be to change the 'status quo.'
The pair have crossed paths in and out of the Legislature, often clashing in recent years in Linehan's two committees: Revenue and Education. Royers was past president of the Millard Education Association, and Linehan chaired the Revenue Committee for six years.
Beyond policy disagreements, the two have found common ground in Linehan-led and teacher-backed efforts to increase support for students struggling with reading, including dyslexia, which Linehan has, and to increase state funding for schools, largely to offset the amount of school spending relying on property taxes.
Linehan also assisted Royers, a civics and government teacher for Millard before ascending to the top NSEA post last fall, by personally replying in writing to students or otherwise engaging with them on assignments and presentations that Royers devised.
Most recently, Linehan and Royers were among the public faces of Nebraska's school choice 'battle,' as Linehan described it Saturday, hosting dueling rallies for and against Linehan's past laws.
It was a fight that sometimes got personal, including Linehan questioning whether the union had the best interests of children or families at heart and the union pointing out Linehan's familial connection to the American Federation for Children. Her daughter works for the group.
Linehan, who was term-limited last month after eight years, led the passage of two laws in her final two years to help Nebraska families cover the costs of attending a private K-12 school, after multiple earlier attempts.
'I've always been able to choose and pick [what was best for my children] because I had the financial ability and the knowledge to do so, and I don't think that choice should be limited to just those with means,' Linehan said Saturday.
NSEA-backed Support Our Schools and Linehan-backed Keep Kids First raised and spent more than $9 million combined, for and against the referendum measures in 2023 and 2024. Support Our Schools accounted for 83% of that total fundraising and spending. A key reason for the imbalance: Linehan and her supporters largely declined to fight the 2024 referendum.
Royers said option enrollment, which allows parents to apply and possibly move their child to a different district or school than the one they live closest to, gives parents a choice in public schools, which Linehan supports.
However, she has criticized option enrollment for leaving some students behind, particularly those receiving special education or those who can't afford transportation to a different school or district.
If there's an issue with a neighborhood school, those should be resolved first, Royers said. He said he and Linehan have a 'philosophical disagreement' on how best to meet the needs of Nebraska students.
'All of those kids deserve to have the education they should need,' Royers said. 'It shouldn't just be that we provide a lifeboat to a handful of kids to go somewhere else.'
The annual Ecumenical Briefing Day focuses on the assumption that part of living under God's grace means 'fighting for justice for those oppressed or in need whose voices go unheard.'
Linehan and Royers also weighed in on how to best support underperforming schools, what possible ramifications could come of federal calls to abolish the U.S. Department of Education and whether chaplains should be allowed to serve as school counselors.
Among NSEA's main concerns that Royers voiced Saturday:
Private school tuition sometimes skyrockets after such laws pass, keeping private education out of reach for some of the families that supporters of the laws say they want to help. This often leads to families with children already in private schools being the biggest beneficiaries of expanded scholarship or voucher programs.
The dollar-for-dollar tax credits disproportionately benefit a specific type of donation, to private school scholarship organizations, that doesn't apply equally to other donations, such as to public school foundations. Some have suggested expanding the tax credit program to include those public school foundations as a compromise.
The scholarship or voucher programs apply to all private schools that have been 'approved' or 'accredited' by the state. Royers noted accreditation requires a higher standard. He said he knows there are great private schools, but he argued that all are accredited. He said the application process to be an 'approved' school is just one page long.
'Does that mean if we removed 'approved' and it was just 'accredited,' that you would support it?' Linehan asked Royers.
'I would be more comfortable with it, how about that,' he said.
Royers said the laws also come as some attempt to privatize the education system and profit off of it. However, he said, he doesn't think that is Linehan's goal.
'Even though I fundamentally disagree with the solution she's advocating for, I fundamentally do believe that she believes this is in the best interest of kids,' Royers said.
I've always been able to choose and pick (what was best for my children) because I had the financial ability and the knowledge to do so, and I don't think that choice should be limited to just those with means.
– Former State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan
About 57% of voters rejected Linehan's latest school choice law in November, Legislative Bill 1402, an annual $10 million appropriation to the State Treasurer's office to distribute funds to families to offset private school attendance costs. It was the fourth time Nebraska voters have rejected school choice proposals at the ballot box.
Her successor, State Sen. Tony Sorrentino, has introduced a bill to revive the 2023 version of Linehan's school choice law, LB 753, which set aside $25 million in dollar-for-dollar income tax credits to offset private donations to organizations funding scholarships for students seeking to attend private K-12 schools. Linehan repealed the 2023 version in favor of the direct scholarship or voucher program last year.
Sorrentino's Legislative Bill 509 is joined by LB 624 from State Sen. Rob Dover of Norfolk, which would revive the new scholarship or voucher program that voters repealed in November. Both are among at least seven school choice bills in the 2025 legislative session.
Much of the union's hesitation and pushback has less to do with what the proposal is now, Royers said, and more to do with what it could become and 'the door that could open.' He said that concern grows with Linehan no longer in the Legislature because he understands Linehan's intent with her legislation. Similar laws in other states have started at a similar scale, scope and focus and have grown, he explained.
Linehan said that if students are leaving any school in droves, it should raise questions. Some families can't afford to leave and might not feel like they have the power to demand change, she said, pointing to parts of the Omaha Public Schools, where she said some schools have underperformed 'for two or three generations.'
'If you are poor and you are afraid somebody might come and take your kids away from you, you don't go to school and demand answers,' Linehan said.
Asked by an audience member about the next steps for underperforming schools, Royers agreed with Linehan that many decisions reside in the Nebraska Department of Education.
Linehan said it is up to the department and the State Board of Education to accredit schools, but she said it's right to question why schools that are failing are still being accredited or receiving more state aid per-student aid than others that are performing better.
'It's not always just money,' Linehan said of solutions.
All of those kids deserve to have the education they should need. It shouldn't just be that we provide a lifeboat to a handful of kids to go somewhere else.
– Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association
Royers said he needs to do better in voicing alternatives to Linehan's approach, which he said Saturday is the 'community school model.' It seeks to tailor services and supports specifically for each neighborhood, decentralizing decision-making and bringing in parents with a voting voice to 'help steer the school in the right direction to meet the needs of their kids.'
'It's not a cookie cutter answer, because the fundamental principle is it should be tailored to whatever the needs of the community are,' Royers said.
Linehan said she is 'so proud' of Sorrentino, who she said 'just ran in there' and said, 'I'm going to do this.' She said it takes a lot of nerve and is very hard to take on the teacher's union.
'The Education Committee in the Legislature is one of the most important committees there is. And if you're a Republican, a conservative, and you're for choice, and you put yourself on that committee, you're putting a bull's-eye on your back, and it's not right,' Linehan said. 'We can help all kids, and I've always wanted to help all kids.'
Royers said that while the two disagree on how, he and Linehan are united in wanting to help students.
'Where I think we do have common ground is both of us are unhappy with the status quo,' Royers said. 'We just fundamentally disagree on what the solution is to the status quo.'
Both Royers and Linehan bristled at the suggestion of having chaplains serve as school counselors, a proposal advanced by State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City in 2024 and proposed again in LB 549 in 2025. The new bill would allow a clergy member to serve at a school in a volunteer capacity, such as providing academic, career, emotional or behavioral health support.
Royers said that while he's had important pastors in his life, they're not trained to be counselors.
'To imply that those two are the same, candidly, in my mind is insulting to both counselors and religious leaders,' Royers said.
Counselors also take up coordination of federal Section 504 support plans for students, Royers said. It is a second tier of special education services with a lower qualifying threshold than individualized education plans (IEPs).
Linehan said she hasn't read the new bill, but she remembers part of the 2024 push was for schools without counselors or other needed teachers in rural Nebraska, which could be helpful. She said she didn't disagree with Royers' concerns.
'If you're going to be a counselor, you need education that says you're a counselor,' Linehan said.
Some of the biggest cheers for both debaters came from an audience question on the possible ramifications to Nebraska schools of President Donald Trump, tech billionaire Elon Musk 'and their kind' who have pushed ideas including the abolishment of the U.S. Department of Education.
Royers said if anybody tried to give a definitive answer right now 'they're wrong,' because while there is a lot of rhetoric that sounds alarming, it 'really doesn't have a lot of teeth behind it.' For example, he said, eliminating the federal department would require an act of Congress.
He predicted that once people realize the department's role as a distributor of resources with little influence on curriculum, abolishing it will face bipartisan opposition, as it did last year. Royers said eliminating the department would diminish certain financial accountability measures in place for federal dollars, such as requiring compliance with federal special education laws.
'Right now, it just feels overwhelming and you have to play almost a sense of policy triage, otherwise you mentally won't get through these next four years, just to be candid with you,' Royers said. 'You have to prioritize what's the most immediate concern.'
Linehan said she had breakfast Thursday with a very conservative friend who similarly questioned federal actions in recent weeks and called it 'crazy.'
'It is crazy, and I agree with Tim,' Linehan said. 'The president of the United States can't just do things. He can't just fire people. He can't just do away with departments. He's got to deal with Congress.'
Linehan worked in Washington, D.C., for 12 years, including as campaign manager and later chief of staff for former U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. She later worked in the U.S. Department of State in various roles, including deputy assistant secretary. She said it's hard to get anything done in Washington.
Linehan said Trump is 'showboating a bit' to let people feel like he'll get something done.
With a flood of information, she also offered her personal solution: 'I do not listen to the blah, blah, blah on TV … It's not healthy.'
Linehan also earned a laugh when she said at one point, 'I am never running again, you can tell by some of my answers.'
Royers similarly suggested self-reflection on reactions to political developments, noting that negativity draws more attention. He said more people engaged with the NSEA on social media posts regarding school choice than when the union discussed the priorities of its teachers. He said getting engagement on those other issues is 'like pulling teeth.'
'We've gotten very good at getting fired up about something we don't like,' Royers said.
He continued: 'It's a choice to always focus on things that get you fired up in the wrong way, and we still need to be vigilant about these things, don't get me wrong, but at a certain point, we're just eating ourselves up.'
LB 753 (2023) — The 'Opportunity Scholarships Act' from State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan. It created dollar-for-dollar income tax credits for individuals who donated to newly established scholarship granting organizations. The annual cap was $25 million in credits, which could grow to $100 million each year over time, if there was high demand. Passed 33-11 in May 2023. The Support Our Schools campaign gathered enough signatures to place a repeal of the law on the November 2024 ballot, raising and spending more than $1.8 million to do so. The Keep Kids First campaign, backed by Linehan, raised and spent more than $1.4 million against the signature-gathering effort.
LB 1402 (2024) — The second similar school choice law from Linehan. It created an annual $10 million program in the State Treasurer's Office for $10 million in education scholarships or vouchers. The bill repealed LB 753, ending the active repeal efforts. Passed 32-15 in April 2024. The Support Our Schools campaign gathered enough signatures to place a repeal of the law on the November 2024 ballot, raising and spending more than $5.6 million to do so. The Linehan-backed Keep Kids First campaign raised about $86,000 and spent $127,000 opposing the referendum effort. The repeal passed at the ballot box with about 57% support, receiving majority support in 45 of the state's 49 legislative districts.
LB 509 (2025) and LB 624 (2025) — LB 509, from State Sen. Tony Sorrentino, Linehan's successor, would nearly word-for-word revive the Opportunity Scholarships Act. LB 624, from State Sen. Rob Dover, would revive LB 1402 in the State Treasurer's Office. Other bills in 2025 seek to enact school choice policies, such as through option enrollment (LB 557, State Sen. Christy Armendariz of Omaha; LB 633, State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair), educational savings accounts (LB 131, Sorrentino; LB 427, State Sen. Bob Andersen of Omaha) or limiting such state support for foster care youths (LB 481, State Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln).