State Aid and School Needs
Total TEEOSA aid (Taxpayer Equity Education Opportunity and Support Act) to schools will equal just over $1 billion for school year 2018-19. To calculate TEEOSA aid, the state aid formula estimates each school’s needs—the dollars needed to educate students in the school. The starting point for determining school needs is “basic funding” which for each school is equal to the average of general fund spending of similarly-sized schools. Schools’ TEEOSA aid as a percentage of basic funding can be calculated as a measure of the amount of state aid a school receives relative to its estimated needs. A low percentage means TEEOSA aid accounts for little of a school’s basic funding. A high percentage means TEEOSA aid accounts for a greater proportion of a school’s basic funding.
The pie graph below shows the number of schools in four categories: 1) schools where TEEOSA aid accounts for less than 1 percent of basic funding (blue); 2) schools where TEEOSA aid accounts for more than 1 percent but less than 10 percent of basic funding (orange); 3) schools where TEEOSA aid accounts for more than 10 percent but less than 20 percent of basic funding (grey); and (4) schools where TEEOSA aid accounts for more than 20 percent of basic funding (yellow).
For 55 schools, or 22 percent of schools, TEEOSA aid in 2018-19 will account for less than 1 percent of the schools’ basic funding. McPherson County School will receive the least TEEOSA aid as a percentage of basic funding at 0.27 percent. In these schools, property taxes or other revenue sources will pay nearly the entire cost of the schools’ basic funding. For 150 schools, TEEOSA aid will account for less than 10 percent of the schools’ basic funding. On the other end of the spectrum, TEEOSA aid will account for more than 20 percent of basic funding in 60 schools. The results indicate there is a wide discrepancy in the amount of state aid provided schools relative to their basic funding. Moreover, the majority of Nebraska schools, 61 percent, receive less than 10 percent of their basic funding in the form of TEEOSA aid.
