Nebraska's Schools Are Failing Poor Kids. Will the State Give Them a Way Out?

"People think about corn fields when they think about Nebraska," says Clarice Jackson, co-founder of the education-reform nonprofit L.E.A.R.N. Coalition, "but if you live in North Omaha, things are drastically different."  

"We have one of the highest African-American school-to-prison juvenile detention rates in the nation, and we need to do some things to change that. One of the key things is education."

Jackson is part of a movement in the Cornhusker state to create more public options for kids who want an alternative to their district schools. Nebraska is one of only seven states that don't have any charter schools, voucher programs, or other publicly funded alternatives to traditional public schools.

On January 28, 2016, a coalition of education reform advocates came together at the state capitol building in Lincoln to call for new legislation to change that.

Reason TV was there to cover the rally.

The event was part of National School Choice Week (NSCW), an annual event that aims to raise public awareness of the need for more options in K-12 education. Reason is a media sponsor of NSCW, which this year featured over 16,000 events in all 50 states.

Produced by Jim Epstein and Justin Monticello.

Three minutes.

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