John Augenblick, author of an education funding report, testifies Wednesday before legislators in Carson City. Photo by The Associated Press

CARSON CITY -- A study of how much money is needed to make Nevada students proficient under federal legislation was castigated by critics Wednesday as being created in a fantasy land without regard to costs.

But others said the study -- sponsored by the Legislature and carried out by the Denver-based consultant Augenblick, Palaich and Associates -- contains valuable information that could be used as a road map to improve student achievement in Nevada.

The report concluded the Nevada Legislature needs to boost education spending by nearly $223 million a year from 2003-2004 levels for students to meet federal No Child Left Behind Act standards by the 2013-14 school year, when full compliance is required.

Under the law, all students are expected to perform at their grade level by that year.

Spending on public education in Nevada was $2.23 billion in 2003-2004. The yearly increase in funding would mean that spending on public education would total $4.46 billion a year in the 2013-2014 fiscal year.

The difference equates to the $223 million in annual education funding increases over 10 years.

The suggested increase does not reflect growth in student enrollment. As more students enroll in school each year, public education funding would have to be increased.

The report was reviewed in a joint meeting of the Assembly Ways and Means and the Senate Finance committees.

Carson City resident Joe Enge, an education analyst with the Nevada Policy Research Institute, a fiscally conservative think tank, said the first flaw is that the study was produced by professional educators without regard to the costs involved.

The study used six panels of Nevada educators to produce an "evidence-based" approach to improving student achievement. The consultant then put costs to the recommendations, which also contained some flaws, Enge said.

One example of a flaw, Enge said, was listing pay for deans at $80,000, while principals were paid only $75,000. Magnifying just that one error would add up to a large sum of money, said Enge, who is a member of the Carson City School Board.

Another flaw is that some of the "successful" schools used in the study were anything but, Enge said. Sparks High School, for example, has one of the highest rates of remediation for students going on to college, he said.

"That's all it takes is one missing variable, and there are so many in here to make the figures absolutely irrelevant," Enge said.

Richard Phelps of the Nevada Policy Research Institute, said he would give "no credence" to the study results.

Nevada schools might need more money, but the Augenblick report cannot be used to draw that conclusion, he said.

But Terry Hickman, executive director of the Nevada State Education Association, said the study is the road map to improved student achievement.

It recommends preschool for at-risk students, smaller class sizes in kindergarten through fifth grade and all-day kindergarten, among other ideas, he said.

"The question of what solution is best for our kids we believe is answered by the adequacy study," Hickman said.

Assemblywoman Debbie Smith, D-Sparks, asked the critics why the judgment of the education professionals who came up with the list of what is needed for successful schools should be questioned.

The professionals that served on the panels were highly recommended, she said.

Smith asked who should make such determinations if the professionals' judgment could not be relied on.

But Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, criticized the study for producing no concrete recommendations on how to improve Nevada schools.

"The study failed to make specific recommendations on how to improve education in Nevada," he said.

John Augenblick, one of the principal authors of the $225,000 report, spent about two hours explaining the methodology of how the final figures were arrived at.

The panels of local Nevada educators came up with what was required for success, he said. Then the costs of those requirements were computed, Augenblick said.