Petition Drive Begun To Eliminate State Board Of Education And Give Duties To Governor’s Office

      A petition drive is underway to change the Nebraska constitution and eliminate the elected state Board of Education and shift oversight of the Education Department into the governor’s office.

       Supporters of the petition drive need to gather roughly 125,000 signatures from registered Nebraska voters  by next July to put the question on next November’s ballot.

      The measure comes after multiple clashes this year between Governor Pete Ricketts and both the Education Department and the board of education.

      Current state board president Maureen Nickels says the system now in place is working well and critics of the petition drive say the proposed change would concentrate too much power in the governor’s office.