The clock is ticking in the fight over so-called school choice.

Earlier this year Gov. Jim Pillen signed legislation making it possible for parents to send their kids to private schools, paid for with public dollars.

That set-in motion a petition drive to overturn the new law, and the deadline to turn in thousands of names is going down to the wire.

[View our full video report above]

 The battle over school choice, a move critics claim will hurt public schools, is playing out on street corners across Nebraska.

On one side a petition drive to repeal the school choice bill that is now in the books.

On the other side are folks urging people not to sign the petition and leave the new school choice law as is.

Joe Jordan, NCN: “If the legislation is so solid why does your side oppose the petition drive. Put it on the ballot. If your side wins your side wins, right?”

State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, Chair Revenue Committee (Elkhorn, (R): “Because it'll cost millions of dollars on both sides. If everybody was being honest, I wouldn't have any concerns about putting it on the ballot. But I have seen all summer dishonesty.

Joe Jordan:

Which is about the only thing the two sides agree on, that the other side is lying.

One arguably neutral observer, the Legislative Fiscal Office, the state’s numbers crunchers, notes that under the new law for each of the next three years, the state will be out $25 million a year, and another $31 million the fourth year.

Sen. Linehan: “It's a tax credit. We have hundreds of millions of dollars of tax credits on the books now and this is just another one.”

Joe Jordan: “That’s basically money that could be elsewhere spent in Nebraska, right? In the budget.”

Sen. Linehan: “It could be but generally speaking if you're dealing with people that know tax credits and have good accountants, they're going to find a way. They’re going to find tax credits.”

State Sen. Michaela Cavanaugh, Omaha (D): “Before we talk about the tax side of this, let’s talk about sex…”

During debate on the new law, Sen. Cavanaugh added this:

Sen. Cavanaugh: "There’s a lot of reasons why I oppose the underlying bill…because Omaha Catholic schools are actively discriminating against LGBTQ youth, specifically trans youth.”

Sen. Linehan: “The people we’re leaving behind are people who can't afford to move to a better school district, who can't afford to pay tuition. I don't think it's fair because of your parents zip code or your parents income that you don't have the same ability to find the best school for your child because your income is not high.”

But opponents, such as Open Sky—a left leaning think tank—claim that “based on data from similar programs in other states” most of the students who will benefit from the new law are already in “private school(s).”

Which brings us back to the petition drive, which is staring at an August 30 deadline, needing nearly 61,000 valid signatures from across the state, the anti-school choice side insisting they’ll have enough.

As both sides continue to point fingers.

Sen. Linehan: “I heard from a school district today that was told if this doesn't get repealed their school district will close.”

Joe Jordan: “True, false whatever. You clearly have a concern that if it goes to the ballot your side might lose."

Sen. Linehan: “I don't really think we will lose. I just don't think that's the best thing we can do in an election cycle. When we've got two US senators up for election, 3 congressmen and my class of legislators which is now 15 are going to be replaced, I would rather focus on winning seats than I would on a ballot initiative."