Nevada school per-pupil spending ranks 46th in nation

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A new federal census report lists Nevada 46th in the nation in per-pupil spending, and the state's ranking could fall even further unless lawmakers raise taxes, educators say.

The new report titled "Public Education Finances" comes as the Nevada Legislature debates a plan to raise about $1 billion in new taxes for cash-strapped state services.

"It's all a question of what we consider acceptable for our children," state schools Superintendent Jack McLaughlin said Tuesday. "We don't want our kids to be 46th, not in educational opportunities and not in achievement. We want them to be the best."

Nevada spent $5,778 per pupil for education in 2001 , compared with the national average of $7,284, according to the census report released Tuesday.

New York spent $10,922 on each student, the most of any state. Utah finished last, spending $4,625 per pupil.

Unless Gov. Kenny Guinn's budget wins approval, the Clark County School District will have cut to about $220 million from its budget, said Walt Rulffes, deputy superintendent of instruction.

That would include reducing the per-pupil spending by about $200 for each of the district's more than 258,000 students, he said.

"We would have to say goodbye to music, goodbye to middle school sports, goodbye to art classes," Rulffes to the Las Vegas Sun. "Those are all areas that would have to be seriously scrutinized."

School busing could be eliminated for high school students, and class sizes could increase at most grade levels, Rulffes said.

For two weeks, school district officials have been preparing for an estimated $156 million in cuts over the next two years, as outlined in a memo from McLaughlin. But during a visit with the governor's staff last week, Rulffes said he was told the district should be preparing for as much as $220 million in cuts.

"We're assuming it's going to be the higher number," Rulffes said. "I'd rather work from that scenario than be surprised with an extra $60 million shortfall down the road."

In the last three years, the district cut $90 million of its $1.2 billion annual budget.

It has been holding town hall meetings to gather public comment about what programs and services to reduce, eliminate or spare.

"We're definitely getting the point across to the public that this is a serious situation," said Joyce Haldeman, director of community and government relations for the school district.

Haldeman has been coordinating the Clark County district's push in favor of the iNVest plan, a proposed $879 million two-year increase to education spending backed by all 17 of the state's school superintendents.

The plan calls for raising Nevada's per-pupil expenditure rate to at least the national average.

The governor's budget plan calls for backing about a third of the proposals outlined in iNVest, but it would not raise per-pupil spending.