Senator blasts education department over plans and program

Monday, Feb. 10, 1997 | 6:02 a.m.

Schools chief Mary Peterson presented plans for K-12 education spending, accounting for nearly a third of Gov. Bob Miller's budget. But Raggio, R-Reno, challenged the proposals and scolded her for the attention the department has given to accountability reports.

Miller proposed spending $43.8 million over the next biennium for computers - $35 million for "one-shot" funding and $8.6 million for maintenance and training - to start a project that would lead to five computers in each classroom.

But the committee heard that the $35 million is just the down payment for a program that will actually cost $175 million and take six years to achieve.

"If the state's responsibility in the next six years is $175 million, that's $70 million in each of the next two bienniums," Raggio said. "And the governor recommended class-size reduction that will cost $50 million.

State Budget Director Perry Comeaux said the governor plans to seek funding for the "computer-in-every-classroom" plan by approaching the business community for help and requesting federal support.

"The governor believes we can afford to make that investment," Comeaux said. "The $35 million does not commit us to future money. The additional investment can be made as we can afford it."

But Raggio remained unconvinced.

"I'm not going to be a party to promising the people of this state something that sounds good, but we are not able to fund," he said.

Comeaux said the administration will look into a program already in place in California that takes old computers, sends them to prisons to be refurbished, and donates them to schools.

Raggio said he'd rather see the money spent on other areas of education that are badly lacking, like improving academic standards.

"As long as we teach to this level, that's all our children will learn," he said. "If we're going to keep up with the other advanced countries, we're going to have to increase our standards. I'd rather put more money into this rather than computers."

Raggio also said that in fiscal year 1996 the state planned to spend $40.80 per child for textbooks, but the Education Department lowered it to $36.49 per child because schools hadn't spent all of what had been allocated for textbooks.

"Yet, every time I called in the superintendent of the school districts to ask if there were sufficient funds for textbooks, they said yes," Raggio said.

Doug Thunder, assistant superintendent for finance, said that when school districts increase salaries and benefits, the money has to come from somewhere.

"You mean the school districts are bargaining away the money for salaries from textbooks?" Raggio responded. "We will pass a law very fast to put a stop to that. That's a real surprise to hear."

The chairman also expressed dissatisfaction with the department's handling of the school accountability program that was designed to assess schools' problems and poor performance through surveys.

"There was a lack of commitment to the accountability program during the interim," Raggio said. "I sent a letter expressing disappointment that the program was dealt with in such a cavalier fashion."