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4. h h o 2 X X 8 k 0 ( 7 7 7 = 6 7 7 % ` ` ` p 7 7 ` ` ` ` 7 ea? ` ; 0 k ` s " > s ` ` " s x ` ` k s X a : The following is an email I sent to NFA and selected GBC members. It is a bullet-by-bullet response to Regent Knechts attached article in the Reno Gazette Journal (RGJ).
I certainly have a point to make regarding Nevada: namely, that education spending rose more quickly over the past ten years because of the state's previous record of spending so little on education. After a long period during which education was regarded by important business leaders as unimportant for Nevada's citizens, a paradigm shift began to overtake the state -- based on the recognition that there is a growing necessity for a more highly-educated workforce. This is the central reason why education spending needed to increase -- in order to make perceptible gains over the past lack of commitment. The second highly important reason for increased state spending on education concerns the rapidity of state population growth during the same period. Over that decade cited by Regent Knecht, Nevada's population growth was the highest in the nation -- due especially to the expansion in the Las Vegas area. This growth necessitated the construction of sixteen new schools. Even though most of the buildings were erected using "standardized" designs, and although many schools switched to a revolving twelve-month schedule in order to reduce the necessity for construction wherever possible, the cost of hiring new teachers and building new buildings -- on account of such rapid population growth -- still factors into the perceived increase in spending on schools in Nevada over the past decade. Now, regarding the employment statistics passed on to us by R. Knecht, my own data comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 1. Total Non-Farm Employment in Nevada peaked in February, 2007, at 1,295,700. The most recent figure available that is not preliminary is October, 2009. The same statistic is 1,174,800. That shows a reduction of 120,900 persons (9.3%) in the workforce.
2. During that same period, the reduction in CONSTRUCTION jobs fell by 55,100 -- a whopping 40.1%! Take note of what a sizeable portion of job loss has been due to a slowdown in building construction. That lack of construction is generally attributable to the bursting of the so-called "housing bubble." With runaway growth now tamed, and with speculators having left the market, construction ALONE accounts for nearly 43% of all of Nevada's lost jobs. Construction actually peaked in February, 2006, according to the same set of statistics. The decrease from 2006 to 2007 was rather slight, so it wasn't felt so hard by the state.
3. Job loss in other sectors has been relatively tame over the same period: Manufacturing: from 50,400 to 44,000 (-12.7%); Trade, Transportation, Utilities: from 230,400 to 222,600 (-3.3%); Financial: from 65,700 to 59,200 (-11.2%); Professional & Business Services: from 162,000 to 141,000 (-13.0%); Leisure & Hospitality: from 340,000 to 308,100 (-9.4%); Mining: from 12,000 to 12,200 (GAIN); Government: from 155,300 to 156,800 (GAIN).
4. Subtracting construction jobs and those classified as "government" from other nonfarm jobs, we see that there were 1,003,300 such jobs in February of 2007 and 936,000 similar jobs in October, 2009. Not considering the construction/speculation boom and government employees, the workforce in Nevada has slimmed by 6.7% over that period.
5. According to our state's own statistics (published by the Department of Administration), Nevada's population was growing at nearly four times the national growth rate during the period immediately prior to the issues that developed in the housing market. Meanwhile, from 2000 to 2006 the number of state employees per capita went down from nearly 11 per 1000 residents to 9 per 1000 residents -- so that "government" was not "bloating" during this same period. In fact, that figure went down nearly every year during that six-year period.
6. According to the state DoE statistics, there were 340,706 students enrolled in K-12 public schools in the 2000-2001 school year. During the 2007-2008 school year, there were 432,473 students enrolled in K-12. It is no surprise, then, that so many new schools were built during the period -- or that new teachers had to be hired.
7. According to our own DoE, Nevada lags SIX YEARS behind the national average on per-capita education expenditures.
8. In 2007 (the most recent year available), the national rate for achieving a post-secondary degree or certificate was 27.5%, according to the Nevada Legislature website. That same year, Nevada's rate was 21.8% -- "making it the lowest among western states" and well below the national average.
9. According to a presentation made by NSHE to the legislature in 2007, Higher Education enrollment increased over 40% from 1996 to 2006. This was the second-highest rate of growth in the country. During the five-year period from 2002 to 2007, SHEEO reports that FTE enrollments went up about 22.8% -- again, one of the highest rates of increase nationwide. The population has increased; enrollments have increased, and more importantly the percentage of people interested in obtaining a degree has increased.
10. The Nevada System of Higher Education has never been funded at the level that the state itself considers to be the minimum necessary in order to carry out its mission; that funding percentage is usually in the mid 80's.
11. According to the Las Vegas Sun, the percentage of Nevada's General Fund spent on higher education was 18.1% in 1997. Based on a commitment by the state's citizens, this figure rose to 20% by 2003. According to statehealthfacts, that figure dropped to 17.1% by 2007 and has declined disproportionately in the most recent year.
12. According to WICHE data, Nevada's expenditure for higher education as a percent of tax revenue has ranked at or near the bottom of all western states every year since 1994. Education spending in Nevada has never kept up with the increase in the demand for education. Noble efforts on the part of some politicians to improve Nevada's standing nationwide are being undone by the people who are impugning the motives of those who want to raise revenue in order to pay for the state's education. Nevada is hardly being "crippled by the Great Recession." Nevada was growing at a ridiculously fast rate; that growth has now slowed down. As a result, construction has slowed dramatically.
I do not condescend to the taxpayers. In fact, I have not proposed a single tax -- nor do I intend to do so. I'm merely pointing out where Nevada has stood for years relative to the rest of the nation. I believe that the citizens are far more committed to education than our public officials are.
I believe that our citizens value education more than our public officials do. Given the 2009 economic downturn, more people are turning to education as a means to acquire new knowledge and skills -- and jobs along with them. Kids are staying in school, and adults are flocking to our colleges and universities. They want to be educated, but the State of Nevada (not the citizens but a public entity) is cutting back on education. I do not know where this will lead. Frank
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