Nebraska
U.S.
Rank
Rank
#50 F
Overall PPI Score: 53%
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Leadership
Your Governor:
Jim Pillen (R) (75)
First term began in 2023 (two-term limit).
Governor Jim Pillen has championed school choice in Nebraska, supporting programs that provide tax credits and state funding for private school scholarships while advocating for fair school funding. He initially backed a tax-credit scholarship program, later shifting to a state-funded model to expand access for low-income students. Despite voter repeal, he continues pushing for similar initiatives while urging reforms to Nebraska’s school funding formula to ensure equitable resource distribution.
STATE LEGISLATURE:
Nebraska lawmakers are revisiting school choice initiatives during the 2025 session despite voter rejection of state-funded scholarships in 2024. Bills like LB 509 aim to reinstate tax-credit scholarships, while LB 624 seeks a legally secure version of state-funded scholarships. Advocates argue for educational flexibility, while opponents, led by the Nebraska State Education Association, vow to fight any new attempts. The debate continues in legislative committees.
Constitutional Issues
Nebraska’s Blaine Amendment, amended twice, now prohibits only direct appropriations “to” sectarian schools rather than aid provided “in aid of” them. The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld state-funded textbooks and contracts with religious schools, suggesting other school choice programs could be legal (Institute of Justice).
In 2024, voters repealed the Opportunity Scholarship Program and approved a constitutional amendment banning state funding for private education, ending the Nebraska Education Scholarship Program. While direct state funding is now prohibited, tax-credit scholarships and other indirect aid programs may still be legally viable until higher courts find otherwise.
Transparency
School report cards are not as easily identifiable from Nebraska’s Department of Education homepage, which would be ideal but once you search for report card it takes you to a great site: nep.education.ne.gov, an external portal for data, where report cards are easy to navigate, and have a great feature that rates the school on a scale of excellent to needs improvement. Data is comprehensive, with both academic and non-academic measures.
Nebraska’s new scholarship opportunities has its own website, which can be accessed at https://www.nebraskaopportunity.org/. Information on this scholarship program should be on the state’s department of education but because it’s run out of the Department of Revenue website information only exists there.
School board elections in Nebraska align with the general election cycle, empowering parents with greater influence in their decision-making due to increased voter turnout.