State aid bill gets second-round approval

Despite complaints from a number of senators about the effects of proposed changes to the state’s school aid formula, the Legislature gave second-round approval Thursday night to a bill amended to reduce state funding next year another $11 million.

With the most recent version of the bill (LB988), state aid would increase overall next year to $839 million, nearly $62 million less than original calculations, but $70 million more than schools got this year.

In Lancaster County, all but one district would get less than they would have without the most recent changes to the formula. Only Malcolm Public Schools’ state aid would remain the same, according to Nebraska Department of Education calculations.

In Gage County, Beatrice Public Schools would go from a nearly 12 percent increase in state aid to an 8 percent increase. In York County, increases in state aid for both York Public Schools and Heartland Community Schools would be lower.

Sen. Mark Christensen of Imperial said state money going to schools in his district was already getting thin, and it was more difficult for the schools to survive. In eight counties and part of another, only 13 schools remain, he said.

The potential loss of schools could push people out of Nebraska’s rural areas, he said.

Sen. Gail Kopplin of Gretna complained that members of the Legislature were trying to balance the state budget by reducing money to schools. The budget shortfall for next fiscal year is $60.5 million. The money to make up for the shortfall could have come out of the cash reserve, he said.

“Oh, but we have to save that for a rainy day,” he said. “People, it’s raining cats and dogs in some of our schools and we don’t have the intestinal fortitude to stand up and say, ‘This is wrong.’”

Sen. Annette Dubas of Fullerton said LB988 was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a back door attempt at more consolidation of small schools.

But Lincoln Sen. Ron Raikes, who introduced the bill and has spent countless hours working on it with his staff, said the changes to the school aid formula actually favor small schools more than the current formula.

Among the changes adopted Thursday was a stabilizing factor for the amount of state aid districts would get next year and the following year.

Complaints continued during debate about the complex nature of the formula.

Sen. Greg Adams of York, a member of the Education Committee, said there was no denying the formula was complicated. But that was due, in part, to trying to accommodate the vast differences in Nebraska’s school districts, he said.

And Sen. John Harms of Scottsbluff said he was offended by the late hour that senators were given printouts to enable them to look at the effects of changes on their individual districts. It didn’t give senators time to study the changes or consult with their constituents.

Debate on the bill started at 5 p.m. and went about 3 1/2 hours.

Speaker Mike Flood urged senators to pass the bill and give the formula a chance to work.

“We have people in this Legislature, despite how the numbers come out, despite the process, that care about what we’re doing, that care about wanting to balance the interest of resources with the delivery of educational services statewide,” Flood said.

Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com.