Nebraska Legislative Education Committee meeting notes

Information provided by the Nebraska Council of School Administrators- During the two-day executive session, the Nebraska Legislature's Education Committee heard from Michael Griffith, school finance analyst for the Education Commission of the States (ECS). He provided information for the Committee regarding school finance policies in other states. Mr. Griffith made the following points during his introductory comments: 1) Nebraska's formula is not among the most complicated. The most complicated systems belong to California and Wisconsin. 2) Predictability of a formula is much more important than simplicity. 3) Revising a school finance system tends to take a lot of time. Implementing an entirely new system tends to take even longer because of the need to run new figures. 4) There is no silver bullet for addressing contention over school funding. It's an issue all states face. 5) A simple, permanent solution can't be developed because education is always changing. 6) The life span for a funding formula tends to be around 20 to 25 years. 7) State constitutional provisions vary greatly with respect to requirements for education. Requirement for a "thorough and efficient" system is common, but courts have different interpretations as to what that means.