LINCOLN — An error on a referendum petition seeking to repeal the recently passed Opportunity Scholarships Act has been corrected, which opponents of school choice labeled Tuesday as a “hiccup.”

“The new petitions are already being printed and we’ll be distributing them yet today,” said Jenni Benson, the president of the Nebraska State Education Association and a sponsor of the “Support Our Schools Nebraska” petition.

The Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office, which is responsible for providing a template of such referendum petitions, provided a corrected petition Monday and said it will honor all erroneous petitions signed through Monday.

Support Our Schools had reportedly gathered 10,000 signatures by the end of this past weekend, toward a stated goal of obtaining 90,000 signatures within 90 days.

The referendum seeks to repeal the Opportunity Scholarships Act, or Legislative Bill 753, which allows taxpayers to divert up to half of their state income taxes to organizations providing scholarships to attend private and parochial schools.

It is the first “school choice” bill ever to pass in Nebraska, which was one of two states in the nation that hadn’t previously adopted any form of providing public funds for private schools.

The error occurred within the Secretary of State’s Office, which had sent out an approved template of the Support Our Schools petition a week ago that was mislabeled as an “initiative petition” rather than a “referendum petition.”

The difference: Referendums seek to repeal an existing state law by letting voters decide; initiative petitions seek to enact new laws or constitutional amendments via a vote of the people.

Each is treated differently in state law. For instance, those seeking to repeal a law via a referendum have 90 days to collect signatures, as is the case with the effort to overturn the Opportunity Scholarships Act.

The state teachers union and other supporters of public schools need to submit about 61,000 valid signatures of registered voters to qualify for the ballot in 2024.

Meanwhile, the initiative petition drive to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska, for instance, has a deadline next year to submit its petitions.

A request for comment from the Secretary of State’s Office was not immediately returned Tuesday morning. Officials with Support Our Schools did not immediately respond to queries seeking how much it cost to reprint the petitions.

Proponents of LB 753 have said that the measure will allow low-income families the same choice of a private school that more well-heeled families already have and that such a choice can help some children thrive who were struggling in a public school.

Critics say it’s a foot in the door to more extensive school choice laws, such as charter schools and voucher programs, and will divert funds to private schools that aren’t as accountable as public schools.

This story was originally published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. It is part of the national nonprofit States Newsroom. Find more at nebraskaexaminer.com.