Posted 10:16 AM by Susan Darst Williams

KUDOS TO CHILDREN'S SCHOLARSHIP FUND:
HELPING 2,000 POOR KIDS GO TO PRIVATE SCHOOL

If you want to help a low-income child have the choice to attend private school instead of public school, donate to the Children's Scholarship Fund of Omaha, 3212 N. 60th St., 68104, or call 557-5650 ext. 1906 or 1908.

The organization's annual luncheon recently disclosed that donors helped 2,000 children in 23 northeast Nebraska counties, including Omaha, attend private schools through tuition assistance provided by the donors to the scholarship fund.

According to outgoing president J. Peter Ricketts, the program's effectiveness is shown by this statistic: 96% of the scholarshipped students who leave Holy Name School in Omaha's inner city go on to graduate from high school. That compares to an overall graduation rate in the inner city of less than 50%.

Around the country, the evidence is mounting that private education works better for disadvantaged children than public education.

New donors are being sought for the Nebraska group because of the recession. The poor economy has increased the need for tuition assistance at the same time as it has eroded giving power among existing donors. Ricketts said that there is only enough money to give 200 additional scholarships on top of the ones already being given this year, but the group has more than 1,300 new applications for the 2010-11 school year.

Labels: Children's Scholarship Fund Omaha, tuition assistance for disadvantaged children to go to private schools

Posted 10:35 AM by Susan Darst Williams

BEST THING GOING IN NEBRASKA EDUCATION:
CHILDREN'S SCHOLARSHIP FUND DEADLINE APRIL 20

Three cheers for the Children's Scholarship Fund of Omaha, www.csfomaha.org. It grants partial tuition reimbursement to low-income families who want to send their children to private schools in Nebraska but cannot afford the tuition all on their own.

The K-8 scholarships are coming due again on April 20. The application form was printed on Page 2FP of last night's World-Herald. The fund will draw names out by lottery and inform recipients well in advance of the 2009-10 school year.

The fund is wisely structured so that each family has to pay a minimum of $500 of the tuition costs per year, per child, and must cover books and fees above and beyond tuition. That way, the tuition assistance is not a total "freebie" feeding an entitlement attitude, and keeps the parents involved and supportive, with "skin in the game."

For an idea of how liberal the guidelines are, a single parent with one child who makes up to $37,800 a year can qualify, and on up the sliding scale so that a household with six people making $76,680 can get help.

So it's family-friendly, it gives low-income parents the same school choice that high-income parents have, it signals to the children that their educations are important enough for their parents to make this financial sacrifice, and it's a great way for Nebraskans to donate to an educational fund that demonstrably helps needy kids and is very, very much appreciated and invested wisely.

You can write to the Children's Scholarship Fund at P.O. Box 4130, Omaha, NE 68104

Labels: Children's Scholarship Fund Omaha