Steve Marcus
Assistant teacher Erik Reynolds reads a story to students in a mobile classroom outside Kindergarten in the city of Las Vegas on Wednesday, October 28, 2020. From left: Abigail, De’neah and Osirus. The city is using the mobile Pre-K classrooms to provide low-income preschoolers with a high quality preschool experience.
Tuesday, June 8, 2021 | 2 a.m
For leadership in public education, Nevada lawmakers got a passing grade and several more during this year’s legislature.
The session resulted in the passage of more than a dozen bills that increase funding for the state’s chronically underfunded schools, reduce overcrowding, provide hundreds of new and renovated classrooms, improve student well-being, improve early childhood learning, and more.
The most important measures:
• The legislature voted to fully implement a weighted school funding formula, which was first adopted in 2019. The student-centered funding plan provides additional funding for students with special circumstances – such as gifted students; English learner; and students who are at risk of dropping out due to homelessness, transience, difficult home environments, etc. The implementation of the new funding plan was examined for two years by a special commission and is now going completely online with this year’s vote. That’s a great relief, given that the previous government funding formula had been in place since the 1960s, at a time when Nevada’s population was much smaller, less diverse, and more rural. The old formula did not adapt to the modern educational reality, where the cost of providing quality education is higher for some students than for others.
• Senate Bill 450 allows districts to extend general school building and maintenance commitments for 10 years. These bonds were created by the legislature in 1997 on condition that they be approved by the electorate. In 2015, lawmakers allowed districts a 10-year renewal of the bonds without going back to the electorate, and this year’s action creates another renewal. This was a hugely important need for the Clark County School District, which has faced a double blow in the form of rapid population growth that has resulted in many classrooms being overcrowded and insufficient funds to build or renovate schools and maintain them Maintenance needs have been provided. According to the district, the expansion will allow 13 new schools to be built and 33 schools to be renovated.
• The legislature diverted part of the mining tax revenues into public education and created a tiered tax structure for the gross revenues of the silver and gold mines. The move will provide an estimated $ 170 million for K-12 schools every two years. As part of the tiered tax structure, mines with sales of $ 20 million to $ 150 million are charged an excise tax of 0.75%, while mines that earn more are charged 1.1%.
• A number of other bills will improve the recruitment and retention of school counselors, psychologists, social workers, etc., while supporting suicide prevention and training for students and employees.
CCSD reported that educators increased education funding by a total of $ 500 million over the next two years. State officials estimate that funding per student will increase from $ 7,466 now to $ 9,185 in fiscal 2024.
“I thank the Nevada Legislature for giving priority to school funding, school safety, school infrastructure and student mental health throughout the session,” said CCSD Superintendent Jesus Jara in a prepared statement. “We are grateful for the hard work of Governor Steve Sisolak and lawmakers in providing our educators with the tools and funding they need to support student achievement.”
Indeed, Nevada lawmakers have been on the right track for public education in recent years, beginning in 2015 when Republican Governor Brian Sandoval spearheaded the largest tax increase in the state’s history for K-12 schools.
This steady rise is helping our entire state, from our children and their families to our ability to attract new businesses and diversify our economy. Strong public schools are a magnet for potential employers, providing them with a well-qualified workforce while helping them attract and retain workers who want quality education for their families. Then there’s a more direct benefit: consider that the bond extension in southern Nevada is estimated to generate more than $ 3 billion in economic output.
The fact is, everyone wins when we improve our schools. So we say to our legislative leaders, keep fighting for the good fight.