In recent years, there’s been a great deal of discussion about the shortcomings of the Nevada Plan. NSEA agrees that no school funding plan is perfect, especially when chronically underfunded. Backers of the new school funding formula like to point out the Nevada Plan is over 50 years old.
While this is certainly a good talking point, SB444 shows one thing the Nevada Plan has gotten right for over 50 years – the basic support guarantee per pupil.
In this case, due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, local revenues came in $268M lower than projected, and the Nevada Plan ensured this shortfall is backfilled by the state.
This does not mean the per pupil amount set last session or the figure currently being contemplated is enough—it most certainly is not. In fact, last month the Commission on School Funding issued preliminary recommendations to the legislature that school funding needed to increase by over $2B per year over the next 10 years just to reach adequate levels. Unfortunately, so far this session, we’ve seen little movement to advance the new revenue necessary to meet the charge made by the Funding Commission.
Ultimately, the level of funding dedicated to public schools is more critical than the plan used to distribute those funds.
Nevada’s chronic underfunding of schools has been the biggest issue under the Nevada Plan, and it will continue to be the biggest issue under the new funding formula.
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