Local senator discusses education funding

During the interim, I have talked to many constituents who had questions regarding a bill enacted by the legislature earlier this year: LB583. LB583 makes adjustments to the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act formula for state aid to Nebraska's public schools. As reported in the Unicameral Update, "Under LB583, introduced by Bellevue Sen. Rita Sanders at the request of Gov. Jim Pillen, the state will pay public school districts $1,500 in foundation aid per student beginning with school fiscal year 2023-24.

The bill also requires the state Department of Education to reimburse each school district 80% of the total allowable excess costs for all special education programs and support services in the following school year."

In total, the state will direct approximately $300 million per year in additional funding to K-12 public schools under LB583. This funding will be sustained through investments by the newly-created education future fund created under LB818, which received $1 billion from the General Fund this year and is expected to receive at least $250 million each year thereafter. The purpose of this legislation is to increase the state's investment in education and reduce schools' reliance on property taxes.

The following chart (printed on Page 8), represents the difference in estimated certified TEEOSA State Aid prior to the passage of LB583 (column 1), the estimated combined increase in state aid to area schools included in LB583 (column 2) and the estimated new total state aid to area schools factoring in the changes made by LB583 (column 3). These sets of figures represent estimates for the upcoming FY2023-2024 school year.

Schools will receive both the estimated certified TEEOSA State Aid prior to the passage of LB583 (column 1) and the estimated combined increase in state aid to area schools included in LB583 (column 2) this year and every year thereafter, equating to the estimated total state aid to area schools factoring in the changes made by LB583 (column 3).

Therefore, the area will see more than double the amount of state aid granted to our area's public school districts. To determine the estimated new total state aid that area public schools will receive this school year, see column 3.

Estimates for all Nebraska school districts can be found on the Nebraska Public Media website: https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/documents/213/District_by_District.pdf

As state senator, I voted in support of LB583 because it represents a starting point to address some of the glaring disparities in state funding distributed among Nebraska's school districts, especially in rural parts of the state. Many schools in our area have received little to no funding from the state's TEEOSA school equalization formula. With the state's increased commitment to public school funding, schools will have additional support to help ensure every child has the opportunity to have their educational needs met. Ideally, the state's investments to our schools under LB583 will begin to reduce schools' reliance on property taxes and should begin to slow or decrease property tax rates for taxpayers.