Nevada urges new data in education funding

Suzanne Struglinski

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2003 | 9:41 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada lawmakers are continuing to push for federal consideration of newer population figures for certain education grants, a move that could bring millions of extra dollars to the state.

Nevada's representatives, Republicans Jim Gibbons and Jon Porter, as well as Democrat Shelley Berkley, sent a letter to the House Appropriators Tuesday calling on them to include language in the education spending bill that would force the Education Department to use annually updated data from the Census Bureau to determine education funding.

The department uses population data from 1999 to determine certain grants that would benefit lower-income students.

"Nevada continues to welcome thousands of new students every year, and yet our federal funding formulas are based on 3-year-old data," Gibbons said in a statement. "It is time that the Department of Education use annually updated data to ensure that fast growing states, like Nevada, receive their fair share of federal education funds, especially for our neediest students.'

More than three dozen House members supported the request according to Gibbons' office. "When you grow as fast as Southern Nevada, every extra penny for education counts," Berkley said. "Utilizing the most up-to-date census data to calculate education funding will ensure that Clark County School District and other school districts receive a greater share of the federal funding needed to address the effects of Nevada's rapid growth on our education system."

The Senate approved a similar effort by Nevada Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., early last month.