Cuts to education are a top concern, as the legislature works to fill a budget deficit.

Governor Dave Heineman would like state aid to schools to remain at this year's level for the 2010-2011 school year.

But getting there, won't be easy.

A bill proposed by Sen. Greg Adams of York aims to adjust a funding formula for state aid and trim nearly 38 million dollars from the state's budget.

"We're trying to get the aid formula so that the total amount of aid that the state distributes in the upcoming school year is equivalent to the amount of aid that was distributed during this school year," said Adams.

But doing so, isn't an easy task.
About 210 school districts get state aid and not all of them will get the same amount of money as this year.

"We may have a school district that's a rapidly, rapidly growing school district that so their needs are growing and we're going to have to try and account for some of that," said Adams.

Districts seeing increased enrollment, like Lincoln Public Schools, could get more state aid compared to those with little growth in student population but a large increase in land valuation that they could get more property tax from, according to Adams.

While state aid amounts may vary, overall, districts will be spending less with fewer dollars allocated to their general funds.
The proposed bill also changes the way money is distributed for districts who hire teachers with higher education, like master degrees.

The move could save an estimated $20 to $25 million.

"We're working at this point thinking we can be relatively accurate with our projections and at the same time, do schools something of a favor by giving them a bit of a heads up as to where they're going to be."