There is talk of transforming Nebraska’s K-12 education funding into a system that provides aid to schools on a per-student basis.
Assuming the $1.07 billion in state school aid – including the nearly $900 million Nebraska provides in equalization aid – was divided equally among the roughly 310,000 students who attend Nebraska public schools, each student in the state would get about $3,450.
Districts that currently receive equalization aid, which educate 78% of our state’s students including many with high needs, would lose about $270 million a year, OpenSky analysis shows. These districts would have to rely more on property taxes or make service cuts that could negatively affect student outcomes to offset the funding reductions.
Given that many equalized districts are already near their levy limits, these districts would likely have to ask voters to approve levy overrides to avoid damaging service cuts. The average levy override would need to be 41 cents in order to make up for the losses in state aid by providing aid on a per-student basis, OpenSky analysis shows.
It’s important that the state work to address its high reliance on property taxes to fund K-12 education. It’s also vital, however, that education funding reform discussions focus on the outcomes we want for students and how we can fund achieving these goals in an equitable way.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The data used in these calculations comes from the Nebraska Department of Education’s 2022/23 State Aid Certification.)