Board wants more money for schools

Monday, April 15, 2002 | 10:58 a.m.

RENO -- The state Board of Education wants Gov. Kenny Guinn and the 2003 Legislature to increase support of public schools by almost 60 percent to bring Nevada up to the national per-pupil average.

While some members had misgivings, the elected board voted unanimously Saturday to ask for an additional $857 million over the next two years for teacher raises, as well as added kindergarten and summer school programs.

Guinn had directed all state agencies to prepare flat budgets for the coming biennium, allowing only for such things as growth of students or welfare recipients. The request came after state tax revenues dipped in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The governor, who says the public schools are a top priority, has the authority to pare back any request in his budget that is made by the state board.

John Gwaltney, a board member from Reno, said Nevada students deserve financial support at the average level with the rest of the nation's pupils.

The National Center for Educational Statistics reported that in 1999 the average per student expenditure was $6,508, while Nevada was at $5,587 or 38th in the nation.

Board member Gary Waters of Las Vegas said the request may not be realistic in view of the state's unstable financial condition. "We should ask for something in the realm of reality," he said.

State Budget Director Perry Comeaux said Sunday it would be impossible to provide the money. "If there was a significant increase in revenues, we could look at this," he said.

Failing that, he said he said, the rest of the programs in state government would have to be eliminated to fund the request.

Still the board voted to raise the annual salary of beginning teachers by $3,000 and continue the $2,000 signing bonus for all teachers hired into the public schools.

They included a 5 percent cost-of-living increase in fiscal 2004 and a 3 percent the following fiscal year.

The increased salaries would cost more than $310 million over the two-year period.

The board also endorsed spending $16 million to expand pre-kindergarten programs to serve an additional 1,000 youngsters in each of the two fiscal years.

Full-day kindergarten classes would be established in the next biennium, instead of the current half-day classes. The board also called for a 16-to-1 student-teacher ratio, at a cost of $118.7 million.

To provide new classroom space for the school districts, the state board recommended the state provide $257.6 million.

Also included in the increased spending plan were added instruction for limited English proficient students at a cost of $76.9 million and summer school and intersession classes for middle school and high school students who have fallen behind at a cost of $4.1 million.

An additional $134 million would be distributed to the districts to restore the programs, activities and services that were cut or reduced by districts because of inadequate revenues this fiscal year, the board said.

"These programs are in addition to present programs," board member Theresa Malone of Las Vegas said. "The governor needs to know these are the opportunities for student to learn. He (Guinn) has to know so he can make decisions.

"I hope the budget office will accept (it)," she said.

Gwaltney said Clark and Washoe counties, as well as rural Nevada, had to reduce their budgets this year. The public and the media paid attention to these cuts, he said and that puts the board in an "advantageous position."

"The size of the cuts gives up a platform to speak from," said Gwaltney. He said he hoped the full request could be funded but added the amount was "negotiable."