Group launches petition to require state to fund K-12 schools and set minimum teacher salary

Advocates for All Nebraskans, a group that wants to lower property taxes in Nebraska, announced a new petition Monday asking the state to play a bigger role in funding public education.

The latest proposed statutory amendment would establish a minimum base salary of $50,000 for all certified public-school teachers and asks the state to fulfill its constitutional obligation to fund K-12 education. Teachers with 12 or more years of experience would receive a minimum salary of $62,000.

According to a 2025 report from the National Education Association, Nebraska’s average teacher starting salary is $38,811, which ranks 49th among the 50 states.

Last year, Iowa passed a bill raising the minimum salary of teachers to $47,500, which rose to $50,000 in 2025.

“I hate losing football games to Iowa, and I don't want to lose our teachers to Iowa as well,” said Nebraska State Board of Education member Kirk Penner. “A competitive wage can help attract and retain high-quality educators, which is a significant challenge for many school districts.”

Penner said the proposed statute would provide a predictable funding source for teacher salaries through a block grant to local schools.

Last month, Advocates for All Nebraskans launched two other petitions aimed at lowering property taxes.

One petition would change state statute to cut the taxable value of property in half while keeping actual valuations steady. Currently, agricultural and horticultural land is valued for taxation at 75% of its actual value. The initiative would reduce that to 37.5%.

The other petition would amend the Nebraska Constitution to cap annual property valuation increases at 3% or less.

The petition to halve taxable property values together with the education funding petition make up what Advocates for All Nebraskans has dubbed the ‘APPLE Plan,’ which stands for Assist Property Payers through Legislative Education support.

“The APPLE Plan protects schools while stopping the unchecked growth evaluations that fuel endless bonding and higher tax bills,” said former Nebraska State Patrol Superintendent Tom Nesbitt. “It gives families relief and communities stability. Nebraskans have asked for this for decades.”

Eric Underwood, the registered agent for Advocates for All Nebraskans, said the plan would make the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act (TEEOSA) largely unnecessary. TEEOSA currently provides equalization aid to certain school districts through a formula that can be roughly summarized as needs minus resources.

Underwood said $1.2 billion of funding has moved through the TEEOSA formula, going to 60-70 of the 245 school districts in the state.

“Strangely enough, if you were to fund, appropriately, all the teachers, that's $1.2 billion,” he said. “We would assume that a majority of the TEEOSA formula would become obsolete because the school districts would now have funding provided in a different way.”

The foundational aid of $1,500 per student and $900 for Pre-K and under would continue through a quarterly block grant program.

To get on the November 2026 ballot, the petitions changing state statute would require approximately 90,000 signatures by next July.

The proposed constitutional amendment to place a 3% cap on annual property valuation increases would require around 130,000 signatures.

Danna Seevers said Advocates for All Nebraskans has invested in “cutting edge” technology for its petition drives.

“We are mobilizing a powerful grassroots network of volunteers all across the state,” she said. “We will track signatures on multiple initiatives in real time to guarantee that we meet our petition thresholds with confidence.”

The APPLE Plan isn’t the only tax petition that will be circulating over the next nine months.

Earlier this summer, the organizers behind the 2024 EPIC (eliminate property, income and corporate taxes) option launched a petition that would add a new section to the Nebraska Constitution that states, “No governmental entity in the state of Nebraska shall collect property tax, income tax or inheritance tax beginning Jan. 1, 2028.”

Meanwhile, the Nebraska School Financing Review Commission is meeting with the goal of reviewing TEEOSA and providing recommendations to improve it.

Underwood said he believes his group will have conversations with the 18-member commission, but its mission is different.

“We believe that the people in Nebraska need to be involved in that,” he said. “18 people we just honestly don't believe is enough. We commend their efforts, but we ask them to be a part of ours.”