06/16/2023
Please see below the text of a letter from Sacred Heart’s Chief Administrative Officer, Mr. Doug Goltz.
“This letter is in response to the June 6th article representing the views of both the Falls City Education Association and the HTRS Education Association and their petition drive against the recent passage of LB753, the Opportunity Scholarships Act.
As with any issue asking for signatures on a petition or a vote on a ballot, it is critical to have all the information and for that information to be factual. I recommend you go to the bill itself and read what it really says. It can be found at https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/108/PDF/Slip/LB753.pdf. At the end of the day, LB753 is a simple concept which is widely supported once people realize what it is: it’s a law to ensure parents are empowered with the financial resources they need to make the best choice possible for their children’s education.
Falls City Sacred Heart has been around nearly as long as Nebraska has been a state. We’ve provided a quality education for many years to children in our area. It should come as no surprise how disappointed I am when anti-LB753 folks have made statements about our state’s non-public schools not having accountability and not following rules and regulations. Sacred Heart School is accredited through the Nebraska Department of Education. This means that Sacred Heart meets the NDE’s Rule 10 regulations and is accredited, just like the two public schools in Richardson County. For example, we have the same teacher certifications, same course offerings requirements, and the same hours expectations for graduation. Nebraska regulates their non-public schools at as high a level as any state in the country. Parents choose us because we succeed, and our kids shine in college and in the community. This claim of not meeting standards is false and an attempt to smear the credibility and success of our school.
More important than any regulation ever could be, we must remember that parents are the first and primary educators of their children. They have the rights and responsibilities to ensure their child gets the education that is best for them. LB753 ensures this. These funds do not go to the schools. There is no “fund.” Money is not distributed to the non-public schools as the teachers’ unions claim. LB753 clearly states that this money cannot go directly to non-public schools, but rather it must go to a child who makes a choice with their dollars. LB753 will create a Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO) that provides scholarships to children, not to private schools. It gives parents a choice.
LB753 allows a taxpayer to contribute 50% of their tax liability to a Scholarship Granting Organization. A taxpayer cannot send money to a private school. They cannot designate money to a particular student. People will be able to donate to help poor and vulnerable kids by creating scholarships. And, no, donors cannot “get rich” off this tax credit—at the end of the day, their hard-earned income goes to the state or to scholarships for kids.
The Falls City Education Association and HTRS Education Association state that “LB753 siphons away money from Richardson County Public Schools.” This legislative session, Governor Pillen and the Legislature has significantly increased state funding to rural schools. This is great news for our rural public schools. Special education funding will now be reimbursed at 80% rather than 42% and every public school will receive $1,500 per student. Falls City Public School will receive an increase of $1,984,322 (70%) in new state funding and HTRS will receive an increase of $767,890 (57%) in new state funding. New state funding to Nebraska’s public schools will increase by $305 million next year in addition to the $1.5 billion in state dollars already going to Nebraska public schools. With all this new education spending, I’m baffled that anti-LB753 advocates are up in arms over a law that represents .0057 percent of the $4.4 billion we invest in public education.
Additionally, Falls City Sacred Heart School saves Richardson County taxpayers money. The 200+ students attending our school saves District 56 money because it decreases the public school’s enrollment. In fact, there are nearly 40,000 students attending non-public schools saving Nebraska taxpayers around $500 million dollars per year. LB753 will be a return on investment for taxpayers.
Sacred Heart School is surprisingly affordable. Our tuition is the lowest in the Diocese of Lincoln. We do more with less. We want it to be affordable for families who want another choice for their children. There are already income-based scholarships available for families attending Sacred Heart School. There are Good Shepherd and Guardian Angel scholarships making tuition affordable for families. We have an excellent teaching staff that make a financial sacrifice to teach at Sacred Heart and fulfill our mission. We have a family atmosphere with tight-knit families that volunteer and work hard to help keep our costs down. Sacred Heart is a Catholic School with 30% of its students being non-Catholic. But even with all these sacrifices and efforts to make Sacred Heart affordable, we know there are children who may benefit from LB753.
Falls City Sacred Heart has a long-time commitment to education and our community. We have always worked on behalf of kids. That is what LB753 does and that is why Falls City Sacred Heart supports it. Supporting LB753 does not mean that you are anti-public schools. It means you want all children to have the opportunity for educational success. When you are approached to sign a petition to repeal LB753, I hope you’ll join me and many others across our state by declining to sign.”
Doug Goltz
Falls City Sacred Heart, CAO
