LB126 is a bad bill

Dear Editor,

I am writing in regard to your editorial of Wednesday, Jan. 19, about Class I schools.

One very big error is your argument that Class I schools spend considerably more per pupil to educate their students than K-12 districts. This is not true.

In an affiliated school system the budget authority and amount of funds a Class I is allowed to spend each year is set by the State Department of Education. We must operate within these boundaries and per pupil cost is found by dividing the number of pupils into the amount spent. Generally, most Class I schools compare to the K-12 districts, and many times the per pupil cost is less and the district must be more efficient to make the budget work.This budget year (2004 -- 2005) District 8 per pupil cost will be considerably less than the primary K-12 district (which is McCook). The per pupil cost of a Class I school fluctuates from year to year because our student population moves up and down from year to year, and one or two students make a very large impact on the final budget.

The per pupil cost has no bearing on the efficiency of our schools. We are probably much more efficient than most K-12 districts.

If LB 126 is passed and Class I schools are mandated to merge with the K-12 districts, it will cause problems for both schools.

Parents who are optioning to District 8 will lose that choice of school, a very good school environment, with a low teacher-student ration.

LB 126 calls for reorganization of school districts for no justifiable reason.

This bill will take away local control, (create) loss of teacher jobs, choice for parents and opportunity for children to receive a better education, all on the basis of per pupil cost, when they are pretty much the same anyway!

School districts are reorganizing on their own all over the state, when local patrons see the need. A mandate is not needed.

A mandate from the state to close schools does not serve the wishes of the people and looks to be very socialistic and undemocratic, since it should be up to the local patrons to close their school when the need arises.

LB126 is not a good or needed bill, and contrary to Sen. Raikes, NSEA and other opposition, there will be no benefit to the students.

I cannot imagine the NSEA supporting job loss for hundreds of teachers across the state for no justifiable reason.

Richard A. Klein,

McCook