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Organizers behind a petition to stop a $10 million appropriation of state tax dollars to private school scholarships submitted more than 87,000 signatures on Wednesday to put the issue before voters this November.

Support Our Schools, a coalition of public education supporters led by the Nebraska State Education Association, easily surpassed the roughly 62,000 names needed to qualify the referendum for the ballot.

It's the second time in less than a year Support Our Schools has turned in tens of thousands of signatures of registered voters in the state to repeal the Opportunity Scholarships Act, which seeks to use state dollars to support private schools.

In August 2023, organizers submitted more than 117,000 signatures — more than double the number needed to qualify for the ballot — to put a repeal of a law (LB753) that granted a 100% tax credit to private school donors on the 2024 general election ballot.

The Legislature, in an effort led by Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, rendered the referendum moot on the final day of its 60-day session in April, however, passing LB1402, which ended the dollar-for-dollar tax credit in lieu of providing a direct appropriation of $10 million for private school scholarships.

Support Our Schools, in turn, launched a second petition drive in May seeking to repeal the appropriation included in LB1402 while keeping the provision ending the previously-passed tax credit in place.

Jenni Benson, president of the NSEA, the statewide teachers' union, said Wednesday the 67-day campaign presented a "huge challenge" for the 2,800 volunteers — last year the organization reported 2,100 volunteers — who circulated petitions across the state.

But signers of the petition had added motivation this year, she said, after the actions of lawmakers in April.

"Many were appalled that LB1402 was passed to block citizens from voting on the issue and to impose a costly new voucher scheme on taxpayers," Benson said.

Cynthia Peterson, president of the League of Women Voters of Lincoln-Lancaster County, said state lawmakers who passed LB1402 underestimated the anger of voters who had expected to vote on the repeal of LB753 last year but were denied.

"I heard this sentiment freely, often unsolicited, as voters lined up to sign the petition," Peterson said. "Nebraskans deserve the opportunity to vote on school vouchers — yes or no."

"This petition all boils down to letting the people decide," she added.

Others who spoke on Wednesday said preventing the school choice program from expanding would keep Nebraska from following other states where the systems have ballooned after a short time.

Rebecca Firestone, executive director of OpenSky Policy Institute, said the cost of school voucher programs in Iowa have tripled in just two years as private schools increased tuition prices, while Arizona's universal voucher program grew by more than 1,300%, forcing lawmakers to address .

The back and forth between supporters and opponents of the Opportunity Scholarships Act will likely be decided by voters in November.

Secretary of State Bob Evnen said in May that because the Legislature repealed the tax credit when it enacted LB1402, Support Our Schools' first petition would not go before voters.

Consequently, if the latest petition meets both the raw total needed as well as the requirement that it be signed by 5% of voters in 38 counties, the partial repeal of LB1402 will be included on the general election ballot. Organizers said Wednesday they qualified in 60 counties.

State election officials could take more than a month to validate the signatures. About 15% to 30% of petition signatures are typically invalidated, often because signees aren't registered to vote or fail to date their signatures.

Backers of school choice say students already benefiting

If it's on the Nov. 5 ballot, voters could end the Opportunity Scholarships program less than a year after it began but not before students have received scholarships funded through both the tax credit and direct appropriation.

The state will allocate $10 million to the Nebraska State Treasurer to be dispersed to private school scholarship organizations beginning Thursday.

Following Support Our Schools' announcement, backers of the school choice programs said giving Nebraskans the chance to end the program at the ballot box would hurt students who are benefiting from those programs.

Linehan, who championed the issue throughout her two terms in the Legislature, said the referendum was supported by a "tangled web of leftwing special interests" funded by "wealthy liberal elites" in Omaha.

"Opponents of school choice have once again demonstrated they have the money and muscle to circulate petitions and collect thousands of signatures," Linehan said in a statement.

Support Our Schools' effort to put a second referendum before voters in a little more than two months cost more than $1.2 million this year, with the coalition spending $512,000 in June alone, according to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission.

As the coalition made its final push, the NSEA contributed more than $391,000 in June, more than half of the campaign's $643,000 total. Support Our Schools received a total of $649,000 in contributions last month.

Unlike the 2023 petition drive, the latest effort was not actively opposed by Keep Kids First, a group formed by Linehan and other backers of school choice programs that encouraged voters to decline-to-sign the previous petition.

According to campaign finance records, Keep Kids First has nearly $34,000 on hand but has not raised any money this year. Linehan indicated the group plans to continue advocating for school choice in Nebraska.

"No matter how much money they spend or how many signatures they collect, supporters of school choice won't stop fighting for parents rights and for our kids," she said.

Jeremy Ekeler, the executive director of Opportunity Scholarships Nebraska, a state-approved scholarship-granting organization, said more than 1,500 students are set to receive a scholarship to attend a private school beginning this fall.

"We constantly hear new stories of families seeking the support and hope that opportunity scholarships provide," Ekeler said in a statement. "Meanwhile, leaders of the state's teachers union have spent yet another summer attempting to strip educational opportunity away from Nebraska families that need it most."

Tom Venzor, the executive director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference, called the ballot referendum "frustrating."

"It demonstrates a blatant disregard for thousands of students in need of more educational options, and it undermines the fundamental rights of parents as the primary educators of their children," Venzor said.

While Venzor said Support Our Schools collected 30,000 fewer signatures in 2024 than it did in 2023 — which he said showed "opposition to school choice is rapidly declining" — Tim Royers, the incoming president of NSEA, said the petition gathering campaign lasted 18 fewer days this year.

Royers said the Opportunity Scholarship Act included in LB1402 was an effort to both undermine public education as well as the voice of the people, adding the people will now have a say on both.

"Back in May, when we kicked this off, I said that this was now a bigger issue than just education, because as many of the other speakers have said, this is about rebuffing a direct attack on our rights as citizens in this state," Royers said.