Even though I am new to the state of Nebraska, I received a quick lesson in LB126 soon after I moved to town. It is the law which requires all Class 1 schools (the smallest schools in the state) to combine with a K-12 district. These schools are still allowed to exist, but they must combine with another district to drive down educational costs.

Many people in Columbus probably are apathetic about this political battle as they feel it has no impact on our schools. This assumption is sadly in error. The reason it is important to CPS students is a great deal of Nebraska educational dollars need to be earmarked to small inefficient school districts. This funneling of dollars to small schools takes away resources that could have been used by Columbus students.

Let me illustrate my point. During the 03-04 school year (the most recent year we have cost information on all our state’s schools), Columbus Public Schools were among the most efficient in the state. They spent an average of $7,041 per student. This is well below the state average that year of $7,798. The other districts in our county spent the following per student: Lakeview -- $8,735; Platte County district 33 -- $9,057; and Humphrey -- $9,560. Columbus’ low per pupil cost is partially due to efficiencies that the district can employ as they are able to spread costs over a larger number of students. This allows Columbus to provide more services than a smaller district for the same reason.

Now compare Columbus’ $7,041 cost per student with the per pupil cost of some Class 1 schools from that same year: seventeen such districts spent over $20,000 per student with three being over $50,000 per pupil. While these are extreme cases, it is very common to see Class 1 districts spending well over $10,000 per student. When districts are allowed to run their operations wastefully, it has a punitive impact on students in other districts. The current funding system basically rewards inefficiency.

Consolidation of small districts with moderately sized, more cost-effective ones is a settled issue in most of our nation’s states. States such as Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa settled this issue long ago when they forced greater school funding economies through school consolidations. This saved taxpayers money while providing more per pupil revenue and increased services for the students of the state as a whole.

Consolidation saves funds in a variety of ways. One is administrative costs. Small districts still require a superintendent and other administrators to manage their schools. When they combine with other districts, these costs are reduced substantially as the ratio of administrator per student is improved. Cost savings are also found in maintaining fewer buildings. General staffing economies are also found. Bulk purchasing discounts also can be realized.

Though we have no Class 1 schools in Columbus, it is in the best interest of our students and taxpayers that LB 126 be upheld. This will lower educational costs in these districts and leave more education dollars for students who reside in cost-effective districts such as CPS. Until this happens, services to CPS students will be sacrificed to maintain small inefficient districts at the expense of the Columbus taxpayer.

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