Education: An investment

Wednesday, March 23, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.

College students from across the state converged on Carson City on Monday, protesting Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposed cuts to the Nevada System of Higher Education. The Republican governor’s budget calls for closing a deficit estimated at more than $2 billion by slashing government, notably education.

Students rallied and filled the halls of the Legislature, making their concerns known. Student leaders also met with the governor.

The question, though, is whether there will be any lasting effect from the student effort, which was one of the largest gatherings on the Capitol grounds in recent memory.

Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, said lawmakers shouldn’t overlook students or their families, who could see their tuition increase significantly under the governor’s plan.

“Lawmakers will ignore their constituents who say we have to preserve education at their own peril,” he said. “This budget will not pass gutting education the way it does.”

But as David McGrath Schwartz reported in Tuesday’s Las Vegas Sun, the student demonstration was dismissed by some lobbyists and political observers. Students don’t have much political clout because they largely don’t vote and aren’t engaged in the process. And then there’s the reality of the situation: Education takes up a considerable portion of the state’s general fund budget, meaning any reduction of note will include education.

The students spoke about raising taxes to ease the severity of the cuts, and that rankled many conservatives, who are strongly opposed to taxes.

Republican operative Robert Uithoven, who led Jim Gibbons’ successful 2006 campaign for governor, took to Twitter, calling the effort a “spoiled brat” protest. He later apologized.

Uithoven’s remark came as he argued against taxes, and that’s a debate that is always heated. Uithoven, who went to UNLV after receiving a baseball scholarship, argued against taxes and said the university system relies too much on public money.

Many conservatives have argued that the state should reduce the amount of money it gives the university system, even using the term “subsidies.” But that spreads a belief that the state has no interest in whether students receive a college education.

Education has a profound effect on the economy. Universities can act as incubators for new businesses and jobs, bringing economic diversity and stability. As we have noted before, the Brookings Institution has found a link between the public’s level of education and the success of the economy in the Intermountain West. And Nevada ranks poorly on both counts.

In their shortsighted view, conservatives have pitted government spending and taxes against the state’s economic well-being. It’s a simplistic argument: Businesses create jobs when taxes are low, and they don’t — they even cut jobs — when taxes are high. Nevadans heard that argument in 2003 when the Legislature passed a record tax increase — yet business and the state’s economy boomed.

If the conservatives’ argument was truly correct, the economy would have recovered from the recession. Nevada has one of the most favorable tax climates for business in the nation, and yet it has struggled to bring new business here.

Higher education serves the entire state, not just individual students, and is a proven economic engine. Spending money on education should be seen as an investment, not as a burden. Cutting the budget might help Nevada get through this budget cycle, but it will undercut the state’s future for years to come.