Nebraska voters will decide at the ballot box whether public money can go to private school tuition

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s top election official confirmed Tuesday that state voters will decide next year whether public money can go to private school tuition.

A petition effort to get the question on the November 2024 ballot far exceeded the number of valid signatures needed to put the controversial question before voters, the Nebraska Secretary of State’s office said in a written statement.

The effort seeks to repeal a measure passed by the Nebraska Legislature earlier this year allowing millions in state income tax to be diverted to organizations that grant private school tuition scholarships. That passage set up a battle between powerful education unions and heavily-funded conservative groups trying to make their mark on school policies following COVID-19 lockdowns and ongoing fights over transgender policies.

In August, the Support Our Schools referendum petition effort turned in 117,000 signatures to the Nebraska Secretary of State, nearly double the more than 61,000 valid signatures needed to make the ballot. On Tuesday, Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen announced that election officials validated nearly 92,000 of those collected signatures.