LINCOLN- Having already received an enormous $800,000 contribution from a national donor, organizers behind a petition to repeal the recently-passed Opportunity Scholarships Act, which provides tax credits for donations to private or parochial school scholarship funds, announced that they have raised over $1.1 million total over the past month. Support Our Schools Nebraska, the organization leading the endeavor to repeal the new law, must gather 60,000 authorized signatures from around the state within 90 days of the end of this year's legislative session.

According to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, only around $400,000 has been spent by the organization. The large donation of $800,000 came from the National Education Association, the largest labor union in the U.S., which represents public school employees. Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, who introduced the Opportunity Scholarships Act, criticized the substantial contribution, stating that national groups shouldn't be concerned with local issues like scholarship tax credits, and adding that the National Education Association supported school closures amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Linehan-backed oppositional campaign, Keep Kids First, is urging Nebraskans to refuse to sign the petition to place the issue on the ballot. According to the Accountability and Disclosure Commission, Keep Kids First is almost entirely backed by the American Federation for Children, a national group, which contributed $494,000 of Keep Kids First's $504,000 spending fund. Thus far, 250 signing events have been organized and held all over the state by Support Our Schools Nebraska. According to Jenni Benson, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, Support Our Schools Nebraska has made "great progress" towards its goal of 90,000 signatures, 30,000 more than is required by the Secretary of State's Office.

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