Nevada School Leaders Push for Steady Funding (NV)

January 12, 2011

Financial support for education will likely be a cornerstone of debate during the coming session of the Legislature, and educators from around the state have been meeting with business leaders to ensure each camp is invested in the symbiosis of their goals.

At the "Nevada 2.0: New Economies for a Sustainable Future" conference held Friday at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Washoe County schools Superintendent Heath Morrison told business leaders that the issue was not increased funding for education but maintaining current funding.

"Our approach is we’re not going to ask for additional money, we’re just asking to keep the money we’ve got," Morrison said. "That’s been our thrust with the strategic plan. If we keep the funding about where it is right now, we’re going out with our strategic plan and telling the public to hold us accountable.

"I think that’s a fair bargain."

Frequently, school district officials are told to run school affairs like a business, Morrison said, but that the funding sources in Nevada are volatile and the expectations for funding are often murky.

"It’s almost singularly unique in the country because of what drives our tax base," he said. "Right now, I don’t know if we’ll have no cuts or upwards of $74 million in cuts."

State officials have estimated a revenue shortfall of about $2 billion in the next biennium. Some camps believe there should be additional fees and increased taxes while others — including new Gov. Brian Sandoval — do not.

The state’s economy is intricately tied to the nation’s appetite for discretionary spending, Morrison said.

"What we need is a stable tax base so we can have some expectation of what the budget will be," he said. "There’s no way to match your budget to your strategic plan."

To attract new and a more diverse set of businesses to the state, stability is required, Morrison said.&lt ;br />

"Gaming has been on a 22-year decline, so everybody that thinks that when the national recovery happens that things will go back to the way it was before — that’s just not going to happen," he said. "We’ve got to look at alternative businesses, diversify our economic structure."