Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Voters back higher school funding

But nearly half in survey want 2003 tax hikes repealed

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Nevadans want their schools funded at the national average, but recent polling shows the public's resolve might waver if this requires raising taxes.

According to a telephone poll conducted last week and commissioned by the Review-Journal and reviewjournal.com, 57 percent of registered voters surveyed backed an amendment to the state constitution requiring Nevada to fund schools at or above the national average.

The level of support for the idea has declined from polling conducted in March, which showed 64 percent of those questioned backed higher school funding.

Twenty-six percent of those who participated in the July 20-22 poll were against the idea, and 17 percent were undecided. In March, 24 percent opposed the idea, while 12 percent were undecided.

However, 47 percent of those same 625 survey respondents said they also would vote to repeal the tax increases approved by the 2003 Legislature, which will generate $833 million in state revenue over two years.

"There is a contradiction, but I think what (the poll) shows most clearly is a broad-based, grass-roots support for this initiative," said John Jasonek, executive director of the Clark County Education Association, part of the state teachers association, which authored the education funding initiative.

"Obviously, tax issues will come up," Jasonek said. "But we have to talk about taxes for education versus taxes for other things. This is about people who want the same level of funding for their children that children receive in other states."

Brad Coker, managing director for the Washington, D.C.-based Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, which conducted the survey, said the declining percentages aren't unusual. Support for initiatives is typically highest at the outset of a campaign, he said.

"You very rarely see support grow," Coker said Monday. "But if your numbers are running above 50 percent, you're doing pretty good."

Ray Bacon, who represents the Nevada Manufacturers Association, has been a vocal critic of the measure pushed by the Nevada State Education Association. It lacks accountability, he said, and never addresses the fact that the national average is a moving target.

The measure could require the state to increase K-12 education funding by at least $500 million annually should it take effect by 2012. According to its National Center for Education Statistics, the per-pupil expenditure in public and secondary schools for 2000 averaged $6,911, while Nevada was at $5,760.

Bacon criticized the teachers union for failing to identify a funding source for its proposal. It's inevitable that it will have to involve higher taxes, Bacon said.

"I don't think that voters have made the connection yet," Bacon said. "But once they see the magnitude of the impact this would have, I think the support will drop away."

Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, said he is not surprised that many voters support repealing the $833 million tax increase approved by lawmakers last year, while at the same time support increasing funding for public education.

"In general, folks love to support education, while taxes are one of the most difficult things to embrace," Perkins said.

Polling also showed widespread public support for the Education First Initiative, proposed by Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev. The initiative, which would require legislators to fund the public schools before any other part of the state budget, was crafted last year after lawmakers delayed approving the schools budget because of a deadlock over taxes.

The failure to fund the public schools by the start of the fiscal year on July 1, 2003, led to the controversial Supreme Court ruling that said the Legislature could approve tax increases by less than the two-thirds vote required by law.

Gibbons, the author of the two-thirds vote requirement to raise taxes, proposed the Education First plan to avoid a repeat scenario in the Legislature, where public education is funded last and held up by a tax debate.

Assemblywoman Dawn Gibbons, R-Reno, the spouse of Jim Gibbons and co-chairwoman of the Education First ballot measure, said the poll numbers are reassuring.

"I sure hope the voters will support the measure," she said. "I do believe this is in the best interest of all Nevadans. It won't raise taxes."

Support for the measure has fallen by five points to 63 percent since a March poll, while opposition increased by the same five percentage points to 26 percent.

Gibbons said the reduced support may be due to the fact there are two education measures on the November ballot. But Scott Craigie, the other co-chairman for Education First, said there isn't a politician who wouldn't be pleased with the level of support being seen for the measure.

"We're still more than two-to-one in favor compared to those who are opposed," he said. "Those numbers are awesome. That's just huge."

Jim Gibbons said the strong voter support is not surprising.

"We're not asking taxpayers to reach into their pockets," he said. "And when we explain the measure to the voting public, they get it. They understand what it is all about."

Because both education initiatives propose amendments to the state constitution, they'll have to successfully go before voters twice, this November and again in 2006, before they could take effect.

Clark County School District Superintendent Carlos Garcia said he appreciates the public debate over education and supports raising Nevada's school funding to the national average. But the Education First initiative makes him nervous, he said. If legislators have to deal with education first, Garcia said they may choose to approve a leaner schools budget, just because they're reserving funds for last-minute issues that might arise late in the session.

"I don't think (Education First) will have a huge impact," Garcia said. "But I am concerned about that."

Sen. Ann O'Connell, R-Las Vegas, said voters need to hear a lot more about the teachers' spending proposal. O'Connell, like Bacon, said there does not appear to be any call for accountability, just a big increase in spending. She also said the per-pupil average should include school construction spending in Nevada, the fastest-growing state in the nation.

"I don't think we should disallow construction spending, and I would like to know what we're going to get for our money," O'Connell said.