Money the root of school troubles

Terry Webster

Monday, April 23, 2001 | 10:39 a.m.

Most of the debate on schools Saturday came down to money. Politicians implied the Clark County School District is not spending it wisely. Residents said they are willing to pay higher taxes if it means improvements in education.

Others in the 200-plus crowd Saturday at Cimarron-Memorial High School couldn't resist the chance to air complaints about the district during a forum held by School Board member Denise Brodsky.

It all was part of a citywide information blitz by the School Board. Amid talks of possible cutbacks in arts and sports programs, the board held seven simultaneous meetings throughout the city Saturday to inform the public on a funding crisis and gauge its response.

School officials have asked for increases in the per-pupil state funding for education, but legislators have said there might be no extra money. On Saturday many legislators faced parents and others.

At Cimarron in the northwest, the politicians took it on the chin as a lively crowd fired out questions.

Frustrated with the discussion, a woman in the crowd kept repeating, "Well what can we do to make it better?"

Another woman, who said casinos need to pay more taxes, prefaced her speech with the statement, "I'll probably have a contract on my life for saying this."

"Casinos here pay the smallest percentage of tax out of any other casinos in this country," Ellen Freas said. "That's where the money is supposed to come from."

State Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, said casino revenues have not come in as high as expected this year.

"It's not what we expected," he said. "The most stable source of revenue is property taxes."

Las Vegas Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald said downtown casinos would suffer from an across-the-board increase in the casino tax rate.

"The downtown casinos are not rolling over great profits," she said.

Boggs McDonald and Rawson agreed that sales tax and gaming tax are too elastic to provide a stable tax base. When members of the crowd began complaining about a lack of supplies and textbooks in the district, Rawson said the state allocates the money, but the district decides how to spend it. He also said the safeguards and oversight that have to be placed on the district increases the bureaucracy and costs.

Speaking on the district's bureaucracy, a man in the crowd said he got the run-around while trying to get his son out of school for a doctor's appointment. He called the district inefficient and full of "bureaucratic indifference."

Rawson said the state also is suffering from major cutbacks.

After the forum, rumblings were heard throughout the crowd that many questions still remain. Brodsky said she will have more such forums.