Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Lawmakers to start going over governor’s education plan

CARSON CITY — Gov. Brian Sandoval is setting a goal that by 2025 all third-graders will be able to read proficiently. And by 2020, he wants the state’s high school graduation rate to equal or exceed the national average.

The objectives are set out in the governor’s education budget, which will be examined Monday by the two money committees of the state Legislature.

The Senate Finance Committee and the Assembly Ways and Means will get a short briefing on the education programs proposed by Sandoval for the next two years.

Nevada has been ranked at the bottom or near the bottom in ratings among states in national studies.

Nevada’s high school graduation has risen from 62 percent in 2010 to 73.6 percent in 2016, but it was still the third lowest in the nation. The average was 82 percent.

The Legislature, at Sandoval’s urging, previously agreed to spend $343 million for special programs to help schools improve. Legislators will want to know if those programs are showing progress.

Under the budget, the Distributive School Account will spend $1.1 billion a year to support local school districts. That’s up from $1 billion this fiscal year.

That increase is funded, in part, by the governor’s plan to impose a 10 percent tax on the sale of recreational marijuana. Schools also get money from local taxes, federal money and fees to add to the state fund.

A fund to give incentive pay to teachers and other professional who do an outstanding job, which was $2.5 million this fiscal year, would be been reduced to $1 million in each of the next two years.

The governor is proposing to continue spending $2.5 million a year to reimburse teachers who buy school supplies with their own money. The fund to pay for university scholarships for students who go into teaching remains at $2.5 million a year, under the proposed budget.

A total of $169 million would be set aside to fund all-day kindergarten classes.

The committees will get briefings on other programs recommended by the governor next week. The full session of the Legislature starts Feb 6.

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