Omaha Public Schools Levy Increase

[OmahaFan]

It’s really starting to annoy me that every year it seems like OPS is raising taxes on Omaha homeowners and not taking the needed steps to clamp down on their spending. I also keep hearing from city, county, and state officials about property tax relief. Since I’ve been in my home, I have not once experienced any sort of property tax reduction. 15 years btw.

[bbinks]

Shouldn't someone have questioned the $30 million overpayment that led to this in the first place?

[nebugeater]

Shouldn't someone have questioned the $30 million overpayment that led to this in the first place?

I find it sad that this is being sold as a shortfall when really they are trying to get back the windfall

[bbinks]

Shouldn't someone have questioned the $30 million overpayment that led to this in the first place?

I find it sad that this is being sold as a shortfall when really they are trying to get back the windfall

And this levy increase will certainly not be temporary.

[OverlookedFarm]

Shouldn't someone have questioned the $30 million overpayment that led to this in the first place?

I find it sad that this is being sold as a shortfall when really they are trying to get back the windfall

And this levy increase will certainly not be temporary.

Bingo.

Despite the hard realities that confronts OPS year after year, decade after decade, they refuse to make hard decisions, that sometimes go against their agenda, and wind up in situations where they just pass the buck.

Been going on for a long as I've been alive.

[Brad]

Spending Per Student:
OMAHA PUBLIC SCHOOLS $21,668.00
ELKHORN PUBLIC SCHOOLS $14,505.00
DOUGLAS CO WEST COMMUNITY SCHS $17,169.00
MILLARD PUBLIC SCHOOLS $14,072.00
RALSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS $15,934.00
BENNINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS $14,008.00
WESTSIDE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS $18,062.00
BELLEVUE PUBLIC SCHOOLS $17,623.00
PAPILLION LA VISTA COMMUNITY SCHOOLS $15,015.00
GRETNA PUBLIC SCHOOLS $16,285.00
SPRINGFIELD PLATTEVIEW COMMUNITY SCHOOLS $20,100.00

[OverlookedFarm]

That is a crazy amount of spending for incredibly poor rate of positive outcomes.

I wonder if someone could make a bar chart for each school district highlighting the burden is spread by detailed expense category. Then compare that to a similar budget, lets say, 50 years ago. I wanna see something.

[Garrett]

I mean, the answer to a lot of this is more school integration efforts but I'm sure a lot of you aren't ready for that conversation

[bbinks]

OPS spends more, yet Elkhorn and Millard produce better better standardized testing results.

[ita]

We can't just look at spending and better educational "outcomes," whether graduation rates, ACT scores, MAP test scores, college admittance rates, etc. This is not an A+B=C situation. More spending in OPS may be attributed to students' higher needs due less favorable economic or social circumstances. I am not going to explain all the possible factors here. Specialized programs and people to run those programs are expensive. That is not to say that other more affluent (not by the spending metric, but by people living within the district) districts do not have students with special needs. I have had a couple children receive specialized speech development services in Millard, at no additional cost to me. However, there are socioeconomic disparities that are being ignore when we are merely comparing spending and educational outcomes. I apologize if I am just stating the obvious.

[OverlookedFarm]

I mean, the answer to a lot of this is more school integration efforts but I'm sure a lot of you aren't ready for that conversation

Farmers often blend off chaff, high moisture and mold damaged grain with good crop. It will "get by" inspection, but the bar has been lowered. The buyers are left with a batch of product with less market value and may not meet their needs, and commands a lower price, hurting them all.

Because the bar has been lowered for sale, the farmer has no incentive in managing his chaff % in sake of lost productivity, harvest moisture content because there is a timetable to meet, or doesn't want to invest in drying technology.

"Show me them incentives, I will show you the results!"

-Cmung

[Linkin5]

I won’t disagree that property taxes are out of control but I think there is sometimes misplaced blame on the levy rate rather than the valuations rising so fast in the past decade due to an out of wack market.