Regents look for solutions to funding disparity

LAS VEGAS - The way university regents Steve Sisolak and Mark Alden see it, the schools with the most students should get the most money.

Sounds simple, but for years there has been a funding gap favoring students in northern Nevada over those in the southern part of the state. Two-thirds of the state's students attend UNLV or the Community College of Southern Nevada.

"It's not fair," Sisolak said Thursday as regents listened to arguments about the budget trend. "Every student deserves the same access, the same opportunity."

Tempers flared and not much was decided during the day-long meeting, which continues on Friday.

Sisolak and Alden want regents to begin closing what has grown into a $3,000-per-student funding gap. University of Nevada, Reno backers have focused on a legislative study that claims the disparity in instructional funding is only $784-per-student.

UNR President Joe Crowley argued that his school needs more money because it maintains older buildings, but said he would support an independent study to review the disparity.

The board was scheduled to vote Friday on whether or not to commission the study.

"There is so much that needs to be analyzed and explained," Crowley said.

CCSN President Richard Moore noted that Nevada has the lowest rate of high school students in the nation that go on to college - 38 percent compared to the national average of 65 percent.

He blamed the figure on inadequate funding for higher education in the nation's fastest-growing city.

"We have not put the resources here for people to go to school," he said. "I say to you, you need to redistribute. We need to sit down and reallocate. Help me get the dollars to fund the students we currently have."

Clark County School District Superintendent Brian Cram told the board students will continue to be harmed if Las Vegas continues to receive less funding.

"Fix what you can now and put in solutions for the future," he said.

Cram suggested an independent study would be a waste of time, saying another study wasn't needed "to confirm what we already know."

As the day wore on, Sisolak and Alden were clearly frustrated that the majority of the time had been spent listening to the problem instead of talking about solutions.

"This is where we're going to have to make hard decisions," Sisolak said.

The controversial topic has been around for a dozen years, but didn't get much attention until the last regents' election.

Regent Dorothy Gallagher said she resented a new regent, referring to Sisolak, acting as if the board has done nothing for years. Sisolak was elected last year.

Later during a break in the meeting, Sisolak told Ms. Gallagher he resented regents who had done nothing for 18 years.

Alden proposed using money from the estate tax fund toward education, but that prompted a new round of debate over how much money can be taken from the fund.

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