Wednesday, March 3, 2004 | 8:26 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- A schoolteachers union started its drive Tuesday to require the state to put enough money into the public schools by 2012 to meet the national average -- an expensive proposition.
The Nevada State Education Association submitted to the office of Secretary of State Dean Heller its initiative petition to amend the state Constitution. It will need to gather 51,251 signatures by June 15 to put it on the ballot. The initiative must be approved in November and again in 2006 before it can become effective.
"Given the overwhelming support we have seen for increased funding for education and the fact that, under this proposal, we have eight years to reach merely average funding levels, we expect this petition to be very popular," Terry Hickman, president of the association, said.
The petition says the state must calculate its current spending per pupil with the statistics gathered by the National Center for Education Statistics and then bring its allocation up to or beyond the national average.
The center said the national average spending per pupil was $6,911 compared with $5,760 for Nevada in 2000, the most recent year available.
If the Legislature brought Nevada up to the 2000 national figure, it would cost $443.6 million. After a bitter fight in the Legislature last year, the Legislature raised taxes by $357 million this fiscal year, which would not be enough to cover the increased proposal of the teachers. The increased taxes would bring in an estimated $464.2 million next fiscal year, just enough to cover the higher spending.
Gov. Kenny Guinn sidestepped saying whether he supports the petition. Instead he said he is "looking forward to the debate that will be forthcoming."
"Ultimately it is the will of the people that will decide this issue, and I have great faith that our citizens will decide what is best for them," Guinn said. Guinn will be gone from the governor's office by the time this proposal, if it passes, would take effect. He said education is tops in his agenda, but he added, "It will be interesting to hear what improvements the people of our state will receive from this proposed investment."
Hickman said the education association has five priorities:
Hickman said the average teacher now spends $500 to $1,000 a year of his or her own money on supplies and books.
The association advocated at the 2003 Legislature a starting salary of $30,000 to attract new teachers. Hickman said the average beginning salary now in Clark and Washoe counties is around $27,500.
An estimated 85 percent to 90 percent of the money allocated to public schools now goes into wages and benefits for teachers and others. According to the National Education Association, teacher salaries in Nevada were 22nd in the nation in fiscal 2001.
Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Minden, said the petition did not have enough information.
"It seems to me if you are going to mandate spending, two things should occur. One is you got to tell us what we're going to get for this spending. The other is to tell us where the money is going to come from," either from cutbacks in other government programs or new taxes.
Hettrick, who opposed the tax package passed in the 2003 Legislature, said the union should tell the public if there are going to better graduation rates or higher SAT scores if the extra money goes into schools.
Hickman said the association is "not advocating higher taxes." He said the Legislature has eight years to change its priorities to achieve the national average. As new money comes in to the state, it should be directed toward public schools.
Hettrick said the petition is like chasing your tail. Rising spending in Nevada would also raise the national average, so the state would continually be trying to catch up.
Gary Waters, president of the state Board of Education, said it has not considered the initiative petition yet. He said he has yet to see a copy. "It's probably very expensive. It probably would be worthwhile," Waters said.
He added he wants to know what goes into computing the national average. Some states count their building costs, he said, and Nevada does not.
"The devil is in the details," s Waters said.
Doug Thunder, deputy superintendent for finance in the Education Department, said the proposal probably would require new taxes.
"We're talking big bucks. There is no way this much money could come from other (state) programs," Thunder said.
Since the 2000 national figures that the group cites, the gap between Nevada and the national average has widened, he said.
"We're going the other way."
Another constitutional amendment is being proposed by Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., that would require the Legislature to pass the education budget before anything else. Assemblywoman Dawn Gibbons, wife of the congressman, said 19,000 signatures have been gathered and the effort is not having trouble getting people to sign it.
The teachers' petition would have to gather signatures of 10 percent of the voters in 13 of the 17 counties to qualify for the ballot.
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