How does Missouri fund education with lower property taxes than Nebraska?

Lots of discussions around Nebraska’s property tax problem have stemmed from the way we fund public education.  Missouri, even though they have much lower property taxes, are also tackling how they fund public education.  In lieu of the property tax discussions being had in the Nebraska Revenue Committee, I thought it would be helpful to share some research on Missouri’s education funding formula.

Here are some facts about Missouri’s current funding formula:

• Students with disabilities may generate extra revenue for their school districts to reflect the additional expense their education requires—or then again, they may not.
• The property values in a school district used in the calculation to determine state aid may be current—or they may be from 15 years ago.
• If the public school you attend happens to be a public charter school, your school won’t receive the same funding as other schools for its building and facilities, and it will have to pay 1.5 percent of its state and local funding as an “administrative fee.”

To learn more, click here for a report on ways Missouri could improve its education funding formula.