'Not Giving Up': Pillen Plans to Continue Push for School Choice
by John Gage
(Picture credit John Gage)
LINCOLN — Governor Jim Pillen said he would continue his fight for more school choice options in Nebraska following a failure of the Legislature to pass a “stopgap” private school scholarship budget provision this year.
“We’re not going to give up on that topic,” Pillen told the media Thursday during a visit by U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon. “Even counties that did not have private schools supported school choice.”
Pillen’s comments come as the Legislature stymied a proposed $3.5 million private school scholarship program, as well as a bill that would hold back third graders who were not reading at a proficient level. Following the failure of the latter measure, the governor called for the Legislature to change its 33-vote rule to break a filibuster.
“Nebraskans are electing majorities [in] Lincoln to get work done, only to have it die by an antiquated filibuster rule,” Pillen said. “This is dysfunctional and fails to serve the will of the people of our state.”
During her visit, McMahon praised Pillen for being the first governor to opt into a federal education tax credit program, which was part of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” The federal education tax credit program goes into effect in 2027.
Nebraska became the last state in the country without a school choice program after the ballot referendum vote repealed a $10 million annual scholarship program.
John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.
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