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Organizers expect enough signatures to ask Nebraska voters to repeal private school funding law

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2 years ago

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Organizers expect enough signatures to ask Nebraska voters to repeal private school funding law


OMAHA, Neb. — Public school advocates believe they have enough signatures to ask Nebraska voters in November to repeal a law that provides taxpayer money for private school tuition, marking the latest twist in a long-running fight with state lawmakers who have repeatedly opposed efforts to let voters weigh in on the public funding plan.

Organizers of Support Our Schools, which has been furiously gathering petition signatures over the past nine weeks, say they expect to have more than the roughly 86,500 signatures needed by Wednesday to ask voters to repeal the private school funding law.

“I mean, I’m a nervous wreck,” Karen Kilgarin, an organizer with Support Our Schools, said days before the deadline. “One of our biggest challenges is that we’ve really only had 67 days this time around to meet the deadline.”

If the repeal measure is approved for the November ballot, organizers fully expect school choice supporters to file a lawsuit to try to thwart the referendum, said Tim Royers, a Support Our Schools organizer and Millard Public Schools teacher.

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“We’re very confident that, should they choose to try and file a court challenge to get us off the ballot, we would successfully defeat that challenge,” Royers said.

It’s the second time in a year public school advocates have had to carry out a signature-gathering effort to try to reverse a legislative measure to use public money for private school tuition. The first came last year, when Republicans who dominate the officially nonpartisan Nebraska Legislature passed a bill to allow corporations and individuals to divert millions of dollars they owe in state income taxes to nonprofit organizations. Those organizations would, in turn, award that money as private school tuition scholarships.

The private school scholarship program saw Nebraska follow several other red states — including Arkansas, Iowa and South Carolina — in enacting some form of private school choice, from vouchers to education savings account programs.

Before the measure was even enacted, Support Our Schools began organizing a petition effort, collecting far more signatures than was needed to ask voters to repeal the law.

But rather than letting Nebraska voters decide, school choice supporters sought to thwart the petition process. Omaha Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, who introduced the private school funding bill, first called on Secretary of State Bob Evnen to reject the ballot measure, saying it violated the state constitution that places the power of taxation solely in the hands of the Legislature.

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When that failed, Linehan successfully pushed a new bill to dump the tax credit funding system and simply fund private school scholarships directly from state coffers. More significantly, because Linehan’s new bill repealed and replaced last year’s law, it rendered last year’s successful petition effort moot — perfecting what Linehan called an “end run” around the effort to have Nebraska voters decide whether public money can go to private schools.

That move is in line with a growing trend among Republican-dominated state legislatures to find ways to force through legislation they want, even when it’s opposed by a majority of voters. A number of those efforts center on citizen-led petitions for law changes.

“They know that this is not popular with the public,” Royers said. “They know that every time vouchers have gone on the ballot in other states, it’s been defeated.”

Supporters of school choice say it’s needed for students and their families who are failed by low-performing public schools — particularly low-income families unable to afford private school tuition on their own. Opponents say private school funding programs end up being too costly for states to maintain and undercut public schools. Some have also said it violates the Nebraska Constitution’s prohibition against appropriating public funds to nonpublic schools.

When Linehan’s new direct funding of private school tuition scholarships passed this year, opponents again launched a petition effort to repeal it — but with less time and more obstacles than they had last year.

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Royers noted that lawmakers waited until the last day of the session this year to pass the new private tuition funding bill. It then took days for Republican Gov. Jim Pillen to sign it into law and some 10 days for Evnen — also a Republican — to approve the language for a new petition effort.

They also had to start before most public schools were out for the summer, leaving teachers unable to help with signature collection early in the process. Most difficult, Royers said, was having to explain to people who had signed the repeal petition last year why they had to sign again if they wanted voters to have a say.

Linehan said she expects the fight over school choice “will probably end up in court,” but that the decision to file a lawsuit to stop the ballot measure would likely be up to the Nebraska Attorney General’s office.

Even then, if Support Our Schools succeeds in getting the repeal question on the ballot, Linehan said she expects that effort will fail if voters understand that it’s meant to help people — including foster children and military families — without the means to send their children to private school.

“I don’t think if Nebraskans understood the situation, if they will vote to take those scholarships away from those kids,” she said.

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Nebraska

‘Best we’ve played all year.’ Trent Perry scores 20 points as UCLA routs No. 9 Nebraska

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6 hours ago

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March 4, 2026

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‘Best we’ve played all year.’ Trent Perry scores 20 points as UCLA routs No. 9 Nebraska


The UCLA men’s basketball team made Senior Night one to savor Tuesday, dominating No. 9 Nebraska 72-52 at Pauley Pavilion for its 20th victory of the season and third over a top-10 ranked opponent.

The Bruins improved to 20-10 overall and 12-7 in the Big Ten with one regular season game remaining, Saturday at crosstown rival USC.

Trent Perry scored 20 points, Eric Dailey Jr. had 14 and three players — Tyler Bilodeau, Skyy Clark and Xavier Booker — each added eight points.

“Nebraska’s got a great team,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “This is the best we’ve played all year — they brought out the best in us. We went from our worst defensive effort to our best. They outhustle everyone they play, but not us. Tonight we were great, but I love the way they play. If we had their attitude we’d have their record.”

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Eric Freeny had four points, five rebounds and three steals in 18 minutes for UCLA, which got 26 points in the paint and 17 second-chance points.

“Effort is what it takes to win in March,” Freeny said. “It was our last home game. Coach keeps on pushing me to be better everyday.”

Sam Hoiberg had 12 points to lead Nebraska, but Pryce Sandfort, who began the game leading the conference in three-pointers made per game, was held to nine points.

“Sandford has been unbelievable so to hold him to nine points is amazing,” Cronin said. “Brandon Williams was the unsung hero.”

Williams had six points and three rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench.

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The Bruins were in control from the opening tip-off and never trailed the Cornhuskers (25-5, 14-5). UCLA improved to 10-3 in all-time against Nebraska and the win greatly strengthened its resume for the NCAA tournament as the Bruins also beat then-No. 4 Purdue 69-67 on Jan. 20 and then-No. 10 Illinois 95-94 in overtime on Feb. 21 on Donovan Dent’s layup with one second left.

“We have to take attitude we came with tonight, bottle it up and take it on the road,” Dailey Jr. said. “We’ve got so much left. The season’s not over… we’re only as good as our last game. It’s all about how you respond. I love the fight that we played with tonight.”

This is the fifth time in Cronin’s seven seasons that the Bruins have won 20 or more games. They are 17-1 at home (their only loss in overtime to Indiana on Jan. 31).

“Since I’ve been here we don’t lose much at home.” Cronin said.

UCLA went ahead by 15 points, 37-22, on Perry’s three-pointer with 2:41 left and led 37-24 at intermission. The Bruins shot 50% from the field in the first half (15 for 30) while Nebraska was only 31% (nine for 29).

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The Bruins increased their advantage to 18 points on Dailey’s dunk less than five minutes into the second half and the visitors got no closer than nine the rest of the way.

Prior to pregame introductions the Bruins honored seniors Bilodeau, Dent and Clark; fifth-year player Jamar Brown; redshirt seniors Steven Jamerson II, Jack Seidler and Anthony Peoples Jr; and redshirt junior Evan Manjikian. In a media timeout, midway through the first half, former coach Jim Harrick (who led UCLA to its 11th national championship in 1995) was honored and got a loud ovation.

“I’m happy for our seniors, I didn’t want them to lose their last game at Pauley,” said Perry, who reversed a subpar performance at Minnesota, where he was 0-for-7 from the field with one rebound and one assist in 26 minutes. “I had to come out here tonight and bounce back for my team. I play for something bigger than myself and I’m fortunate to have the type of guys I do around me.”

UCLA guard Skyy Clark looks to pass while under pressure from Nebraska guard Sam Hoiberg and forward Berke Buyuktuncel in the second half.

(William Liang / Associated Press)

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Over the last four games, Dent has 46 assists and just two turnovers.

Bilodeau has scored in double figures in 26 of 28 games played, totaling 20 points or more nine times.

Dailey moved to within five points of reaching the 1,000-career point milestone.

UCLA has now made at least one three-pointer in 887 of 888 games dating to February 2000.

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“We had one practice this week, that’s it,” Cronin said. “We watched film, had a heart-to-heart talk and a shoot around today but that’s it.”



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Nebraska

4.1-magnitude earthquake hits south-central Nebraska

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18 hours ago

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March 3, 2026

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4.1-magnitude earthquake hits south-central Nebraska


People across Nebraska and Kansas reported feeling an earthquake Sunday afternoon.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a quake measuring 4.1 on the Richter Scale struck around 1 p.m. about 3 miles east of the Webster County village of Cowles, which is in south-central Nebraska near the Kansas border.

A quake of that magnitude is considered “light” and not likely to cause damage.

But the USGS received dozens of reports from people who said they felt the quake, some as far away as Omaha and Manhattan, Kansas. Numerous people took to social media to report feeling the quake.

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Two aftershocks of 2.6 magnitude later occurred near the original quake site, one about 90 minutes after the initial quake and one later Sunday night.

Earthquakes are relatively rare in Nebraska, but the state does usually record one or two minor ones per year. The last time Nebraska recorded a quake of a magnitude 4 or above was in December 2023, also in Webster County.



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Nebraska

Nebraska Lottery results: See winning numbers for Powerball, Pick 3 on March 2, 2026

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1 day ago

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March 3, 2026

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The results are in for the Nebraska Lottery’s draw games on Monday, March 2, 2026.

Here’s a look at winning numbers for each game on March 2.

Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing

02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

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Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from March 2 drawing

21-28-58-65-67, Powerball: 25

Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 3 numbers from March 2 drawing

7-5-8

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 5 numbers from March 2 drawing

03-08-09-17-25

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Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning 2 By 2 numbers from March 2 drawing

Red Balls: 14-26, White Balls: 17-18

Check 2 By 2 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning MyDay numbers from March 2 drawing

Month: 05, Day: 03, Year: 23

Check MyDay payouts and previous drawings here.

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Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 2 drawing

28-41-42-50-55, Bonus: 02

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Nebraska Lottery drawings held?

  • Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
  • Pick 3, 5: By 10 p.m. CT daily.
  • Lucky For Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
  • 2 By 2: By 10 p.m. CT daily.
  • MyDaY: By 10 p.m. CT daily.
  • Lotto America: 9:15 p.m CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a USA Today editor. You can send feedback using this form.



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