LINCOLN — Gov.-elect Jim Pillen on Thursday announced the creation of a school finance reform committee to advise him about how to update and change the state’s school aid formula.

In a press release, he said the new committee is the start of fulfilling his campaign promise to distribute state school aid on a per-student basis. He is asking the group to recommend how to “create a system that invests in every Nebraska student,” which he said the state does not do now.

Nebraska provides the bulk of its school aid through an equalization formula, which directs aid to districts that cannot raise enough money through property taxes to meet the needs of students. In the current year, $886 million of the $1.07 billion in state school support is going out as equalization aid.

The number of districts getting equalization aid has dropped over the years as property valuations, particularly agricultural land valuations, have grown. The higher valuations mean that more school districts can provide for student needs through property taxes without exceeding the state’s levy limit. But farm- and ranch-land owners have objected to the increased reliance on agricultural property taxes to support schools.

Members of his policy team; State Sens. Rita Sanders of Bellevue and Tom Briese of Albion; members of STANCE, a group representing midsized school districts, including Lakeview Superintendent Aaron Plas and Seward Superintendent Josh Fields; members of Omaha Public Schools, including Superintendent Cheryl Logan; members of Lincoln Public Schools, including Superintendent Paul Gausman; retired school superintendent and CEO of Avenue Scholars Ken Bird; Nebraska Association of School Boards; Nebraska Rural Community Schools Association; Nebraska Farm Bureau; Nebraska Cattlemen; and Americans for Prosperity-Nebraska.

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