Education

Report: Nevada Rural Districts Receiving Too Much Money

By Diette Courrégé Casey — August 20, 2012 1 min read
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A funding fight could be brewing in Nevada, and it’s unlike most of the others happening across the country.

While rural districts typically end up in court fighting for more money, in this state, a new report has shown the state’s rural districts are getting too much.

The state’s lawmakers are looking at a new school funding formula, and they commissioned the American Institutes for Research to study the issue. Their findings were presented last week.

“The institute found the ‘outdated’ funding structure, called the Nevada Plan, overpays rural teachers, overfunds rural districts, and doesn’t provide extra funding to cover the high cost of teaching students in poverty and English-language learners, which most states already do,” according to an article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Under the funding proposal examined in the study, only the largest county, Clark County, and its biggest city, Las Vegas, would see an increase in per pupil funding from the state. The state’s other 16 districts, most of which are rural, would see less. As it stands now, Clark County consistently has received less than others (as little as one-third of some) despite generating the most tax revenue.

Clark County helped pay for the study, so at least one lawmaker is quoted as saying its findings are “no surprise.” Legislators are slated to discuss the report’s recommendations further on Aug. 28.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Rural Education blog.