School Board Members Deserve Praise and Support

I have a tremendous amount of appreciation and respect for school board members. They serve the students and patrons of their communities in a very selfless manner as they receive no pay. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. School board members often deal with difficult policies and situations that can divide communities and create “darned if you and darned if you don’t” scenarios.

As a principal or superintendent, I’ve been lucky to work for school boards in West Point, Franklin, and York and have found them all to be very conscientious, inquisitive, and dedicated to the children of their communities. As a leadership consultant, I’ve been fortunate to work with over 35 more school boards of all sizes in all areas of the state. One common thread of each school board I’ve worked with or for is “PRIDE” in their school and community. They understand the important connection that communities and their public schools share.

School board members are extremely accountable, just like the school districts they serve. They have to ensure their school district adheres to state mandated spending and tax levy lids. They have to make sure they follow all of the “Rule 10” guidelines that are laid out for public schools to meet or exceed. They must maintain policies that meet special education guidelines, assessment and accountability measures, and more “red tape” than most folks can imagine. They also remain accountable, as locally elected officials, to their patrons to provide a high quality education while also being wary of the “local tax burden.”

It is the issue of “local tax burden” that motivated me to write this. I’m tired of seeing school board members blamed for high property taxes. Low levels of state funding for education is at the heart of Nebraska’s property tax issues, not school spending. The 2015 Legislative Fiscal Office report showed that school spending growth over the past decade was at its lowest level in the past 30 years. Numerous districts, like York, have average annual spending increases of less than 1.6%.

Nebraska ranks 49th in the country in the percentage of K-12 funding that comes from the state. Nebraskans pay the 7th highest effective property tax rate in the nation. Our state has a “school funding” problem.

Nebraska K-12 schools receive 33% of their funding from state sources while the national average is 47%. Nebraska K-12 schools receive 49% of their funding from local property taxes while the national average is 29%. We need to reform the way schools are funded and we need to rely much less on local property taxes.

Now is the time to address how we can adequately fund high performing schools without such an extreme over-reliance on local property taxes. We’re not going to be able to “cut our way to excellence.” We need our elected officials in Lincoln, many of whom made campaign promises of lowering local property taxes, to stay true to their word. Adequate and sustainable funding of high quality K-12 public education is imperative for the future of Nebraska and we need to find a way to do so without damaging agriculture producers.