Study cites state’s ongoing education failures

Jennifer Knight

Wednesday, May 2, 2001 | 11:34 a.m.

Although Nevada has made significant progress in higher education and political leadership compared with other states, it falls behind in K-12 education, Medicaid and services for the disabled and elderly, a new study says.

The University of Nevada, Reno, study, "Nevada Among the States: Converging Public Policies," reviewed the state's public sector to determine how it compares with other states.

Universities and primary grade schools in Northern Nevada fared well in the report. School systems in Southern Nevada did not fare as well.

"Clearly, Southern (Nevada) campuses have focused a lot more on growth per se, and that has put them in a tougher position of keeping up with the north in qualitative comparisons," said Richard Siegel, a UNR political science professor who wrote the study.

The study said that higher education improved over past years despite a divided Board of Regents.

Universities and colleges enjoy higher faculty pay relative to other states. Student access has improved and research centers at UNR and the Desert Research Institute have increased in national prominence.

UNLV was the exception. According to the study, the school "failed to make steady progress in key measures of research investment and productivity even after formal political representation had shifted decisively to Southern Nevada."

The state's K-12 failures were addressed in the study as well, mentioning its D ranking nationally for quality of teachers, adequacy and allocation of resources. Although teachers' salaries grew by 10 percent, the state still ranked 21st in average teacher pay, the study said.

The good news, however, is that Nevada "schools have finally embarked on a course that should ensure sound results," the study said. It cited new policies, such as the state's more demanding standards for testing students, its substantial support of smaller classes in the early grades, remedial education in schools with low performance, charter schools and improved professional development programs.

The state's inability to generate sufficient revenue to fund the state's fast-paced growth is holding it back, Siegel said.

"As we get larger, it does become increasingly difficult to deal with social problems and with the types of problems we usually solve through the public sector," said Keith Schwer, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research.

Nevada's tax structure benefits the state's wealthiest residents. A family of four with an income of $24,000 must pay a much larger relative share, the study says.

The gaming industry's ability to "deflect pressure to increase taxes" plays a part in the state's revenue-generating problem, which has caused a less diverse tax structure when compared to other areas of the country, Siegel said.

"I think the solution is visible and in some ways the political power isn't there to do it," Seigel said. "Certainly, the higher quarter of gaming can afford higher taxes, but more realistically we're looking more toward a new general business tax."

Assemblywoman Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, who sits on the Ways and Means Committee, said legislators are working on solutions to some of the state's tax-base problems this session.

"I hope that during the next interim we'll be able to put something together," she said.

Health care industry interests played a significant role in influencing lawmakers, according to the study. Those ties led to the increase of restricted Medicaid spending in the 1990s, which, in turn, gives patients "few options or waivers, capping budgets to prevent unexpected spending and tieing access to its exceptionally restrictive public assistance program."

Nevada as a whole is on a path to erase a history that has identified it with organized crime and the Hollywood version of the Silver State, the study reports.

"The future of the Silver State also depends greatly on its willingness to align its tax policies with its aspirations and to continue to expand its economic, social and cultural horizons," Siegel said.