'Education is speech': New lawsuit says Nebraska funds only the government's viewpoint

A civil liberties litigation group filed a lawsuit Thursday on behalf of parents in Nebraska arguing that the state is violating the First Amendment and Free Speech Clause in the state constitution.

New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) argues in its lawsuit, filed in the district court of Lancaster County, Nebraska, that the state’s compulsory education, combined with its school-funding rules, violates parents’ right to freedom of speech. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two families – the Jacobsens and the Menters – who both have children in the Lincoln Public School District.

“Education is speech," NCLA said in a press release announcing the lawsuit. "The curriculum taught, the books assigned, and the values reinforced inside (and outside) of the classroom all convey a message. The Constitution has long recognized that parents—not the government—hold the paramount right to direct that message for their own children.” 

You can read the lawsuit here.

Nebraska requires parents to enroll their children in public, private, denominational, or parochial schools, or to homeschool them. 

Failing to do so carries a potential jail sentence and fine. However, educational benefits are provided only to students enrolled in public school. 

NCLA argues that this confers benefits onto students who are subjected to the government’s preferred educational viewpoints. 

Students do not receive scholarships, financial assistance, tax credits or other benefits for choosing non-government education options. 

Meanwhile, the state spends roughly $19,000 a year on a student in public school. That structure, NCLA argues, forces families who opt out of public school to essentially pay a penalty to avoid government viewpoints.

The Jacobsens and the Menters say they withdrew their children from public school to protect them from disagreeable, government-funded speech, including an elementary school that allegedly displayed a classroom door sticker promoting alternative sexuality and transgender ideologies.

The lawsuit makes the novel claim that forcing students to learn government-approved ideologies threatens their free speech rights.