Editorial: Facing the facts

Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007 | 7:34 a.m.

One of the most important issues facing the Legislature this year is education, but unfortunately some pound-foolish reactionaries are trying to muddle the debate.

The first sign of that was clear last week when the Senate Finance Committee and the Assembly Ways & Means Committee met to hear a presentation on a study that found the Legislature is not providing an adequate amount of money to the state's school districts. The study concluded that Nevada needs to spend an extra $2 billion over the next nine years to meet goals set by a panel of education experts.

The hearing turned sour as some Republicans tried to misdirect the committee from the problem by ignoring the basic facts.

In his daily e-mail report, Las Vegas Sun columnist Jon Ralston noted Wednesday that the lawmakers' questions became political statements and partisan lines were drawn by Democrats and Republicans. Notably, lawmakers clashed over the testimony given by representatives of the Nevada Policy Research Institute, a thoughtless think tank that jumps to knee-jerk conclusions. Instead of offering any real solutions, the institute's representatives simply bashed the study.

When Democratic Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley objected - she said she wanted to focus on solutions - she was interrupted by Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio. Raggio said the institute's representatives were invited to speak, although no one would admit to having invited them, and they continued to rail against the study.

The Associated Press reported that when one institute representative was asked by Assembly Ways & Means Committee Chairman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas, to answer with a simple yes or no whether the state should spend more money on education, the representative did not respond.

Quibbling over a study that reaffirms the obvious is all they have to offer? Is this what the educational debate will come down to?

Sadly, it appears so, because it is a way to avoid the fact that Nevada's educational woes are in large part due to inadequate funding. For example, after the hearing, Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, posted a comment on his Web site taking issue with testimony from a Clark County School District representative, who said Nevada ranks 42nd in the nation in per-student spending. Beers pointed to a study by the federal government's National Center for Education Statistics that shows Nevada ranks 35th among the states. A 35th ranking is not something we should be particularly proud of, especially considering that number includes the amount that Nevada pours into construction to keep up with the growth.

Nevada spends $8,110 per pupil - $1,118 less than the national average. But a quarter of that amount goes toward capital costs and to repay interest on school debt - costs driven by school construction in a state that for most of the last two decades has been the fastest growing in the nation. Take that number out of the equation, and Nevada - at $6,092 per pupil - ranks 46th.

The facts are clear, and the reactionaries need to quit pushing the bogus theory that the state's schools are flush with cash. Lawmakers need to face the truth and spend more to improve school programs, raise teacher salaries and give Nevadans what they deserve: a first-class education.