Nebraska Petition Aims to Get Rid of Board of Education

A petition circulating in Nebraska aims to collect enough signatures by July 2022 to dissolve the Department of Education and School Board and replace it with an office overseen by the governor, according to The Hill.

The petition stems from growing clashes between parents and state school boards and seeks to establish an Office of Education overseen by the governor. Previously, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts has clashed with the Nebraska Board of Education over their inclusion of gender identity as curriculum.

Ricketts noted that any changes to the structure of education would have to be approved by voters first.

“The Nebraska Department of Education should respect that parents are the primary educators of their children, and the agency must continue to be accountable to the people of Nebraska,” Ricketts stated.

Petitioners have until July 7 to gather roughly 125,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot in Nov. 2022. Petitioners must collect those signatures from 5% of registered voters in 38 of 93 Nebraska counties, according to the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office, The Hill reported.