Aid-Formula Revision Sends Neb. Districts Scrambling

By Laura Miller

With only a month to go until the start of school, education officials in an Omaha suburb are scrambling. Administrators of the Millard, Neb. district just learned that their state aid will be $2.1 million less than it was last year.

Other districts across Nebraska are facing comparable losses, while some are welcoming gains. In most cases, the state-aid numbers look little like they did last year and nothing like officials thought they would.

The main reason is an adjustment to the school-funding formula, passed by the legislature this year. The law, known as LB 1290, attempts to equalize the way property is appraised across the state by correcting assessments to 100...