Private school scholarships sought for foster youth, siblings

The Health and Human Services Committee heard testimony Feb. 12 on a bill that would provide state-funded scholarships for Nebraska foster youth and their siblings to attend private schools.

Under LB481, introduced by Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln, the state Department of Health and Human Services would administer the program, which would be funded at $200,000 annually through the state’s General Fund.

Any youth in the state’s foster care system, as well as their biological siblings, could qualify for a scholarship under the program. Scholarships could be used to pay all or part of the cost to educate a qualified student at a nongovernmental, privately operated elementary or secondary school that complies with certain antidiscrimination provisions.

A qualified student would remain eligible for a scholarship until they graduate high school or reach age 21, regardless of their foster care status.

Ballard said the bill would be a “prudent investment” in Nebraska’s future and would provide continuity for young people who often experience significant educational setbacks due to changing schools frequently.

“My intent for LB481 is fairly simple, it’s to protect the social and educational development of foster care children and their siblings,” Ballard said. “Many of these children move from family to family, house to house, community to community.”

Foster parent Angela Pillow, who said she currently pays private school tuition for two foster youth in her care, testified in favor of LB481. Herself a foster child in her youth, Pillow said it’s important to minimize disruptions for vulnerable state wards who already have lost so much.

“Unless you’ve been there, I feel like no one really knows what it’s like to be in foster care,” she said.

Also speaking in support was Carla Knipp, guidance counselor at Roncalli Catholic High School in Omaha. Eighty-five percent of Roncalli students receive some form of financial assistance from the school, she said, and the student body is both racially and socioeconomically diverse.

Knipp said being a small school of 300 students allows Roncalli to provide a variety of levels of student support that public schools often lack, and the ability to be in regular conversation with parents.

“We know that LB481 and the scholarships it would provide can make a positive impact on students across the state and students that we serve,” she said.

Daniel Russell of Stand for Schools testified in opposition to LB481. While the bill is limited to foster youth, he said, voucher programs often start small and expand over time.

Russell also questioned whether DHHS possesses the expertise to administer a scholarship program and what he characterized as the bill’s minimal reporting and accountability requirements.

“School voucher programs have not been shown to be effective in increasing academic outcomes for their users,” he said. “If we’re going to spend money on sending children to private schools, I think it behooves the Legislature to ask the question of whether or not those children are being better academically served.”

The committee took no immediate action on the proposal.