O'Connor is far from alone. For more than a decade Nebraskans have thrown their hands up in exasperation when looking at how the state gives funds to school districts.

Now, as school districts were expecting a $132 million increase in state aid, state senators have decided to throw a grenade in the whole process and change it again.

Senators last week gave first round approval to LB988, which surprise, surprise restructures the entire aid formula and reduces the expected amount of funding by $50 million.

Overall, school funding from the state will still be increasing $82 million or almost 11 percent from the $768 million given for the 2007-08 school year.

Furthermore, the change helps the state balance its budget as the growth in state revenues has slowed, creating a $58 million budget gap.

The changes in the funding formula may be good, but what bothers us is that it throws into disarray any planning being done by school districts.

The Northwest School District is a perfect example. On Feb. 1, state projections said Northwest's state aid would increase by about $869,000 to $6.22 million for the 2008-09 school year. However, under the changes in LB988, Northwest will be receiving $150,000 less than it received for this year, pushing its state aid down to $5.199 million. That's a more than $1 million swing in Northwest's projected state aid.

It's unconscionable to make that kind of change in March for a budget year that begins in September. How is a school district ever suppose to plan programs with such wild swings in state aid?

In February and March, schools are in the process of offering contracts to teachers and making staffing decisions. Reduction in force actions must be taken by April 15, but those decisions are difficult to make when state aid figures aren't going to be certified until April 30.

As far as LB988 goes, it appears it benefits larger districts by revising the funding needs calculation. Grand Island is set to receive a $5.38 million increase.

It's the small schools that take a hit. O'Connor's 262-student Creek Valley School District is set to lose $113,000 in state aid.

We're not prepared to endorse or condemn the new state aid formulation. Like O'Connor, we're about to throw our hands up when trying to understand it.

Nebraska needs a simpler, more stable state aid system. Revising a formula to make it better is legitimate. But revising the system at this late of date, while needed to balance the budget, isn't fair to school districts.

Lawmakers need to figure out this state aid puzzle. Yes, government should seek fairness in its budgeting decisions, but it should do so in an orderly fashion that doesn't create chaos.