Running head: The State of Education in Nebraska

The State of Education in Nebraska

Amanda Lukesh
University of Nebraska -Lincoln
EDAD 987B
The State of Education in Nebraska

Public schools were established to make education universally available to all children

and free of charge. They were also supposed to work to unify diverse populations, prepare

students for citizenship in a democratic society, improve social conditions, and ensure equity

for all children (Ash, 2007). The Nebraska Department of Education, in the 2017-2018 school

year, accounted for 1000 public schools, 323,391 students, and 23,492 teachers. All of those

students and teachers are a part of different communities – both large and small. Communities

across Nebraska want to make sure that all children have access to high quality public schools

and that there is indeed equity for all regarding educational opportunities. The state of

education within Nebraska is multifaceted and can become complicated as many different

topics can encompass the education systems that exist across the state. Nebraska seems to be

moving in the right direction in improving education across several areas of education, but like

most large systems, improvements can be made. Legislation and funding play a major part in

how education is run in Nebraska, so the work that organizations do to inform and

communicate the work of public schools to law makers can be critical. Other important topics

that can help explain the state of education in Nebraska include approaches to mental health

concerns, student performance data, and the impact of poverty.

Funding in Education

A major component of the state of education in Nebraska has to do with education

funding. According to the Nebraska State Education Association, the projected 2019-2020

budget year revenue shortfall will be $95.1 million. Without proper funding the students in

Nebraska will not have access to the highest quality education and resources that can be

offered. Education funding cuts can be harmful to students, staff and schools within Nebraska.

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Proper funding can ensure that schools are staffed by highly qualified teachers, provide quality

curriculum, and make sure that class sizes don’t continue to grow.

Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act

The state of Nebraska provides funds to local school districts through a funding formula

that has changed very little since 1990 (Rosenboom & Blagg, 2018). In 1990, Nebraska adopted

its current funding formula with Legislative Bill 1059, the Tax Equity and Educational

Opportunities Support Act (TEEOSA). TEEOSA was designed to alleviate inadequate funding

from the state and reduce reliance on property taxes for local funding. One of the objectives of

the Nebraska School Financing Review Commission was for the state to fund 45% of the school

system, however, the state has never funded more that 37% (Rosenboom & Blagg, 2018).

Although tweaks have been made, the 1990 funding formula is essentially the same.

Equalization

Equalization aid has also had its place within education conversations. Around 72% of

Nebraska school districts do not receive state equalization aid, meaning those school districts

have to rely exclusively on property taxes for funding (Rosenboom & Blagg, 2018). Most state

aid distributed by the TEEOSA formula is equalized aid, which is around 85%, but only around a

quarter of school districts actually receive the aid (Bergquist et al., 2018). Districts receive

equalization aid if they have calculated needs greater than the district’s calculated resources.

This issue is not one sided, though, as school districts that are receiving equalization aid are also

struggling. State aid has been failing to keep pace with the funding that is necessary to keep up

with student growth that has been happening within larger school districts within the state. In

2017-2018 the Nebraska Department of Education reported that there was $979.3 million in

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funds distributed to local school districts under the provisions of the Tax Equity and Educational

Opportunities Act (TEEOSA) (Nebraska Department of Education, 2019).

Funding Legislation

In 1990, Nebraska ranked 49th nationally for the percentage of K-12 funding provided by

the state, according to the Open Sky Policy Institute. Fast forward to 2019 and Nebraska has

gained minimal ground in state aid to education and is now ranked 48th. In an attempt to adjust

the funding for schools there were a couple of legislative bills in 2019 that focused on education

funding, including LB294 and LB675. LB294 was a bill that worked to appropriate funds for the

expenses of the Nebraska State Government for the biennium ending June 30, 2021. The state’s

biennial budget of $9.3 billion, was signed by current Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts (NSEA,

2019). According to the Nebraska State Education Association, the Nebraska Legislature funded

state aid to education as a 3.6% per year average increase, equating to $64.8 million (6.7%) in

2019/2020 and an additional $5.7 million (0.6%) in 2020/2021. The final budget incorporated

LB675 that changed the state aid formula by reducing the allowable growth rate from 2.5

percent to 2 percent for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. The change ended up lowering the budget

growth rate of state aid by $11.7 million in 2019-2020 to $12.9 million in 2020-2021. Overall,

the spending rate for state aid totaled approximately $1.036 billion for the 2019-2020 fiscal

year to $1.043 billion for the 2020-2021 fiscal year (NSEA, 2019).

Special Education Funding

Special education funding is also a popular topic within the education discussion. The

budget included almost $229 million in special education reimbursement for the 2019-2020

fiscal year which equates to approximately a 1% increase over last year and there will be

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another, approximately, 1% increase for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. There will be slight funding

increases for educational service units (ESU’s) core services funding for both 2019-2020 and

2020-2021. Each of those fiscal years will have approximately $10 million in extra funding. It is

important to note that although there were increases in funding within education, it needs to

be distributed to districts all across the state of Nebraska. Student populations, as well as

student needs, usually increase each year, requiring extra funding to these additional costs.

Property Taxes

According to Open Sky Policy Institute, Nebraska relies heavily on local revenue to fund

K-12 education. In 2016, Nebraska averaged 48.9% of funding coming from local property taxes,

while the average percent of funding from local property taxes across all other states was

32.4% (Open Sky Policy Institute, 2018). Taxes on agricultural land in Nebraska have also

increase severely in the past several years. Open Sky Policy Institute (2018) has reported that

property tax growth for agricultural land has far outpaced other property taxes by increasing

274.8% from 2000 to 2017. Nebraska’s current tax structure relies primarily on local property

taxes to fund K-12 public education and seems to be the most popular option of funding

because of the reduced variability of that tax base – compared to other tax base options that

have been considered, such as increasing sales tax. According to Open Sky Executive Director

Renee Fry, Nebraska has a historical reliance on property taxes to fund public school and “every

tax study since 1962 has noted heavy reliance on property taxes and low level of state support

for K-12.” Fry also noted that Nebraska has had some changing demographics, such as declining

rural population, steady increases on agricultural land values and increasing student needs

across many areas of the state. The Legislature did, however, provide an additional $51 million

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to the state’s Property Tax Relief Fund, which is an annual fund that is used to offset local

property taxes. During the 2019 legislative session there were three proposals to reduce

property taxes. One proposal being from Senator Lou Ann Linehan (LB289). Another proposal

coming from the Nebraskans United Proposal supported by NSEA (LB314). The third proposal

was introduced by Senator Tom Briese (LB183). All three of the proposals failed to advance,

meaning senators were not successful in coming up with a solution that would reduce property

taxes, which has been a source of contention across Nebraska. A desirable solution among

lawmakers and taxpayers would have been to find a solution to significantly reduce property

taxes while making sure to protect educational funding for all students.

Private School Funding

A legislative proposal for private school funding also failed to advance. Senator Lou Ann

Linehan introduced LB670 which would have provided a 50% tax credit to individuals who

donate to scholarship programs for private K-12 schools. This was the second year in a row that

this kind of tax credit plan has failed to advance in the Legislature. One interesting aspect of

LB670 is that it was put forth as an effort to help low-income families. However, according to

the Nebraska State Education Association, the bill would have allowed students from a family of

four with a $93,000 income to be eligible – a limit that seemed to be much higher than other

public assistance program limits. While Nebraska has not passed any legislation to allow for

charter schools or vouchers, Nebraska does currently have a governor who publicly advocates

for policy changes supporting private education at the expense of public education – monetarily

speaking.

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Organizations who Advocate for Education

There are several organizations within Nebraska that are helping to keep education first

and work to advocate for our schools and systems. The STANCE (Schools Taking Action for

Nebraska Children’s Education) organization looks to help lead discussions about equity and

opportunity within education that is free of lobbying voices who are not superintendents. They

work to educate policy makers and work to clarify the purpose of the state aid formula

components. They also advocate for education policy that is understandable and promotes

cooperation of member schools, as well as seeking to develop and maintain trusting

relationships with our policy makers here in Nebraska to gain support for best practices in

education across the state. The Nebraska Council of School Administrators (NCSA) is an

organization that is made up of six affiliate associations – NASA, NAESP, NASES, NSASSP,

NASBO, and NARSA. NCSA is made up of more than 1,300 school administrators who serve in

Nebraska schools. The NCSA and its affiliate organizations work to provide information to

members on various issues as well as providing a forum for discussion. These organizations also

help to formulate positions on issues that arise and help to build the communication,

cooperation, and professional assistance that is necessary. Overall, all of these organizations

are necessary in and making sure that voices are not drowned out by special interest politics, as

politics and legislation play a significant role in education. These organization want to work with

other organizations and lawmakers to not only help to provide reliable information but

promote effective education.

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The State of Mental Health

Mental health is a highly discussed topic throughout Nebraska right now. Some recent

changes include legislation introduced by Senator Rick Kolowski. The legislation (LB619)

requires coverage under insurance policies for mental health services that are provided in

schools and within an education setting (NSEA, 2019). The law provides that an insurer offering

a health insurance policy cannot deny coverage or payment for mental health services solely

because the service is delivered in a school. This bill had significance because it allowed for

students receiving mental health services, such as therapy, to miss less classroom instruction

time because the provider will be able to come to the student rather than having the students

travel back and forth from the providers office. It is important to note that there are some

school districts who already allow providers to come into the school building to provide

services. However, this practice is not consistent across school districts within the state of

Nebraska.

There are several school districts what are implementing plans to support students with

mental health concerns as well as other learning challenges that students may experience.

Westside Community Schools has worked to integrate behavioral and mental health prevention

into the district’s five-year plan. The plan includes diagnosis, treatment, and raising awareness

on mental health topics. In order to make those integrations possible, they partnered with

Children’s Behavioral Health allowing every Westside Community Schools student is eligible to

receive two district-funded sessions with a children’s psychologist (Dahlgren, 2018). It is

incredibly important to make sure that these types of resources are available to students

because detection and identification are important to make an impact on mental health

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disorders. Another example of an impactful implementation is happening within Millard Public

School District. Millard has developed new programming to enhance the social skills of students

with autism and other intellectual or developmental disabilities. Millard is working to partner

with the Munroe-Meyer Institute to provide programs. These programs will primarily focus on

middle and high school students, as well as students in the district’s young adult program.

Student Performance Across Nebraska

Every year the Nebraska Department of Education publishes student performance data

and schools are sorted into four classifications based on test scores. The four classifications are

comprised of excellent, great, good, and needs improvement. The reporting of student

performance data can be difficult for some districts because the data can create a stigma within

struggling schools and often correlate closely to the poverty levels of their students. However,

creating those labels could mean extra state assistance for the schools that are considered the

lowest performing.

School Classifications

In the past couple of years changes were made to standardized testing, and with those

changes came new federal requirements. With the new federal requirements taking effect,

some school districts saw classifications at individual schools drop. For example, schools that

were rated ‘excellent’ are now ‘great’, and those that were rated ‘great’ are being rated as

‘good’. Despite changes being made to the qualifying classifications, three out of four schools

across the state - equating to 813 - were rated good or great, while 141 schools received a

rating of excellent. In a 2018 Omaha World Herald article, Millard Superintendent Jim Sutfin

pointed out that “for years under No Child Left Behind we tested for minimum competency, but

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now Nebraska is focuses on career and college readiness standards – today’s curriculum

standards are more complex and that means the assessments are more difficult”. The new

data and changes in school classifications help the state to identify the lowest-performing of

the state’s Title I schools – those receiving federal money because of high poverty. Those school

are eligible for additional state support, which involves a needs assessment and an

improvement plan, as well as extra resources to help with implementation of the improvement

plan (Omaha World Herald, 2018). Overall, many schools across Nebraska are doing a great job

in creating a high-quality learning environment for students, but there is room for

improvement.

Assessment Scores

When it comes to assessment scores, reading proficiency in 3rd grade is one of the most

important predictors of high school graduation and career success (Kids Count in Nebraska

Report, 2018). Being able to read proficiently also creates a greater likelihood of performing

well in other school subject areas, so when 47% of Nebraska’s 3rd graders are not reading

proficiently it is an issue (Kids Count in Nebraska Report, 2018). In 2016/2017, 53% of 3rd

graders were reading proficiently, while 38% of low-income children are reading proficiently.

The Kids Count Report explains that children with lower reading achievement are less likely to

be engaged in class which, as time goes by, can ultimately affect high school graduation rates.

Moving forward to high school, all juniors take the ACT test. According to the Nebraska

Department of Education, there were 21,810 students in the 2018 graduation cohort that took

the ACT and had an average composite score of 19.3.

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With those school performance scores shared, it is important to note that Nebraska has

consistently held one of the country’s highest on-time graduation rates. According to the Kids

Count in Nebraska Report, 89.1% of 2017 cohort students graduated on time and 24 Nebraska

counties had 100% of high school students graduate on time (2018, p. 16), which are great

percentages considering a high school diploma is one of the largest contributors to long-term

career opportunities. Given these test scores it is easy to determine that work needs to be

done to increase reading proficiency, especially those students who may be living in poverty.

The graduation rate is something to be proud of considering Nebraska is ranked 48th in

receiving state aid to education as was previously stated.

The Effects of Poverty

In Nebraska, test scores tend to correlate with poverty rates, reflecting the challenges of

educating students who come from economically disadvantaged families. In Nebraska, statistics

also reveal significant disparities based on race and ethnicity (Kids Count in Nebraska Report,

2018). Growing up in poverty is a threat to healthy child development.

Poverty in Families

According to the Kids Count in Nebraska Report (2018), 37.9% of Nebraska children live

in families that are defined as low-income; making less than $50,200 per year. Over the past

several years the poverty rate of Nebraska has fallen a small amount, however, food insecurity

rates have increased. In 2016, 17.3% of Nebraska children experienced food insecurity (Kids

Count in Nebraska Report, 2018, p.19). Kids Count also reported that close to 143,000 public

and non-public students were eligible for free and reduced meals in 2016/2017 across the

state. It is also important to note that poverty levels can vary greatly within urban areas. For

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example, 77% of the 52,000 students in Omaha Public Schools qualify for free or reduced lunch,

while Elkhorn Public Schools, a suburb of the city of Omaha, reports a free and reduced rate is

8% (Dejka, 2018). These statistics are important because research indicates that children who

are food-insecure are more likely to struggle in school, as well as experience development

impairments and also increases issues with social and behavioral problems (Kids Count in

Nebraska Report, 2018). It is also important to point out that poverty rates are not created

equal across all citizens as “Nebraska’s children of color face disparate rates of poverty and are

three times more likely to live in poverty than their White, non-Hispanic peers” (Kids Count in

Nebraska Report, p. 18). Nebraska needs to continue to work to lift children and families out of

poverty, regardless of race or ethnicity. According to a Lincoln Journal Star report the minority

population has grown from 8% in 1990 to 21% in 2017 (Young, 2018). Nebraska is only going to

continue to grow in diversity and we need to make sure that we have affective plans to help

families and children.

Combating Hunger

According to the Kids Count in Nebraska Report there were 281 summer food

participation sites in 2017, each serving an average of 62 meals per day. Many families rely on

free and reduced lunch programs for their children’s daily meals. In the summer this can really

create an issue, as kids are not in school receiving routine meals each day. There have been

several efforts started within Nebraska that work to help families and children in need. The

Food Bank of the Heartland and the federal Summer Food Service Program help to alleviate

hunger during the summer months. The Food Bank for the Heartland, headquartered in

Omaha, is a nonprofit that organizes and distributes food to 600 local food pantries, schools,

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emergency shelters, and other nonprofit partners (I Love Public Schools, 2019). They conduct

several programs throughout 16 locations in the Omaha metro area. The Summer Food Service

Program works with sponsor sites to provide free meals to students 18 and younger. Sponsor

sites also act as centers of education, enrichment, and recreational activities that aim to keep

kids engaged and safe during the summer months (I Love Public Schools, 2019). Examples of

sponsor sites include schools, libraries, park and recreation centers, and community pools.

Early Childhood Education

In order to help address the issues that poverty can bring to the table it is important to

invest in programs that can help students and their families, starting with working to make

early childhood education accessible to all. A good education begins early. Several studies show

that early childhood education as an “important cost-effective investment that prevents

delinquency, remediation and other high-cost problems later in children’s lives” (Zietlow, 2002,

p. 21). Calder (2014) also mentions that the evidence is overwhelming that early childhood

education gets the highest return on investment. A good education begins early so it is

important for all children to have access to high-quality pre-kindergarten programs. Nebraska

had 16,467 children enrolled in public school-based preschool in the 2016/2017 school year

which is the highest enrollment yet (Kids Count in Nebraska Report, p. 47). However, many

school districts, especially larger districts, have long wait lists for early childhood and preschool

programs within their public-school system. Lincoln Public Schools, alone, had close to 800

students on pre-school waiting lists for the 2018-2019 school year. As a state we need to do

better creating and funding early childhood programs, as the research indicates that these

types of programs are effective increasing student achievement.

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Conclusion

This paper touched on several components that help to develop the topic of the state of

education in Nebraska, including how we fund education, organizations who advocate for

education, the state of mental health, how students are preforming academically, and the

effects of poverty.

We need to make sure all children across Nebraska have equal access to a high-quality

public education. There are still differences among schools and districts when it comes to per

pupil funding, with disparities continuing because education in the U.S. remains primarily a

state and local function. Communities vary in wealth, but also in their capacity and willingness

to tax their local citizens. It is important to make sure that Nebraska lawmakers are working to

fully fund TEEOSA; helping to ensure that all districts, rural and urban, have access to funds that

are needed. We need to continue to work with the legislature to increase education funding so

that educators have the tools and resources that they need to ensure that all student needs are

being met. By making a point to increase state aid we can create an education finance system

that fosters quality, fairness, and equity. Organizations, the public, and lawmakers need to

continue to work together to help bring about positive change that will positively impact the

students within Nebraska, because we have an obligation to keep advocating for all of our

children and families across the state.

In order to best support our administrators and teachers in education we need to make

sure that we are supporting state education organizations. These organizations are advocates

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for our public-school system and have the ability to provide support and advice. Education

organizations also help to provide the legislature with information necessary to make decisions

on education practices and help to bridge the gap between lawmakers and those who are

working within the school buildings.

The state of mental health is more complicated to work with because of the healthcare

side and working with the ‘healthcare’ side of things. In Nebraska we need to continue working

on gaining our students access to, as well as streamlining services to resources like counseling

and therapy sessions. If we can gain more resources for students that are conducted at school

during the school day it will help to not only provide access but also cut down on the times a

student needs to be gone from school.

Student assessment data seems to show some inconsistency. Some academic areas are

doing better than others, but there is always room for improvement. It is important to keep in

mind that although assessment data is important in knowing where are students are

academically, that student growth is also important. A graduation rate of around 89% is a

wonderful percentage, however, we need to keep working on how to fix the race disparities in

academic achievement, which is a state-wide issue.

The effects of poverty are far reaching and we know the academic and social impacts

that it can have. Our state needs to continue to think outside the box when it comes to

providing resources to students and families as the need is there. We need to make sure that

our students are getting the resources that they need to in order to have their basic needs met

- no student deserves to go hungry. It is also important for continued advocacy with early

childhood education. Research indicates that early childhood education has one of the largest

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impacts on student achievement later in their education, so we need to work with school

districts and lawmakers to make sure these education opportunities are available and plentiful.

Overall, we need to ensure equal opportunity remains an essential mission for public

education in Nebraska. Nebraska is doing a several things right as far as education is concerned

given the high school graduation rate and programs that have been made available, however,

there are some gaps that could be filled to help improve public education and increase equity

for all students.

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Rosenboom, V., & Blagg, K. (2018). School district funding in Nebraska.

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