Press Release: Nevada Continues to Fail Its Students - Making The Grade Report
Nevada is the only state to receive an "F" in all three grading categories
Las Vegas - Nevada students continue to be among the worst funded in the nation, according to the 2022 Making the Grade report released December 13, 2022.
The Education Law Center’s annual Making the Grade report examines the condition of public school funding across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report ranks and grades each state on three measures to answer the key question: How fair is school funding in your state?
Nevada was the only state in the nation to receive an “F” in all three categories: Funding Level, Funding Distribution and Funding Effort. Additionally, Nevada, which had already been ranking towards the bottom, decreased funding compared to 2008, after adjusting for inflation.
“We’ve been hearing for years that Nevada wants to change course in supporting its students but we’ve continued to hover at the bottom in funding. This translates into our students having the largest class sizes in the country, limited resources and lack of opportunities,” said Amanda Morgan, Executive Director of Educate Nevada Now. “Success takes commitment and meaningful investment, and we clearly have not done that for our students.”
According to Making the Grade, Nevada ranks 47th in per-pupil funding and funds its students $4,370 per pupil less than the national average. Nevada also received an “F” and ranked 44th when it came to "funding effort" which reflects both state and local funding as a percentage of GDP at the state level.
“Seeing us toward the bottom in funding effort is the most disheartening aspect of this report, as it shows how indifferent and uncommitted Nevada is towards the education of its students. We don’t value them despite having the financial capacity to do more. We can and we must do more” added Morgan.
The report also highlighted the looming fiscal cliff that is to come as pandemic relief funding expires, cautioning that states will need to increase their levels of support or be “forced to cut essential staff, programs and services for students.” Additionally, the progressive distribution of the federal funding means high-poverty schools that received the most aid will have the most to lose when those funds run out.
“Luckily, we are about to enter a new legislative session in Nevada, and we are going in with a potential budget surplus,” said Morgan. “We urge legislators to prioritize our students’ needs.”
Highlights from the report include:
Nevada was the only state in the nation to receive an “F” in all three categories: Funding Level, Funding Distribution and Funding Effort.
Nevada ranks 47th in per-pupil funding and funds its students $4,370 per pupil less than the national average.
When adjusting for inflation, Nevada was one of the bottom ten states in funding K-12 schools since the 2008 recession.
Nevada ranks in the bottom in funding distribution as the most regressive model with a 27% difference between how it funds its low poverty districts and high poverty districts.
To address Nevada’s K-12 resources deficiencies, ENN joined the Empower Nevada’s Future campaign with an objective to fund students at least at the national average by the year 2030. Learn more or sign the pledge to fund our students at www.empowernevadasfuture.org
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NV Board of Education Position Statement Support
Tomorrow, the Nevada State Board of Education will discuss its Position Statement with recommendations to improve Nevada's national rankings ahead of the 2023 NV Legislative session. The board will discuss the need for increased K-12 funding to improve the following:
Educator recruitment, training, retention, and support
Pre-K Programs and Access
Infrastructure (physical and technological)
We urge everyone to show your support of these efforts by sending a statement email to the board at NVBoardEd@doe.nv.gov . You can also stream the meeting live beginning at 2 p.m.
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