What about construction?

Democratic lawmakers want fully subsidized full-day kindergarten in every elementary school in the state, as well as reduced class sizes across the board. The unmentioned but far more urgent issues: Where will school districts put all those kindergartners and all the new teachers required? And where is the money coming from for that space?

There can be no major class-size reduction without construction, and right now, that’s not part of the discussion.

Consider the awful margins tax measure set to appear on the 2014 ballot. If approved by voters, revenue from that tax would cover operational expenses. While those costs are staggering — a four-year elementary school class-size reduction plan drawn up by the Clark County School District eventually totals more than $271 million annually, and those costs would roll even higher each successive year — the capital costs are almost stupefying: nearly $932 million in construction. And that’s just in Clark County.

Let’s not forget that, just last November, Clark County voters took the school district to the woodshed by voting against an almost $700 million property tax increase for construction and major renovations. That measure went down by a 2-to-1 ratio. So how do Democratic lawmakers and the school district think a construction measure approaching $1 billion might fare?

Looking ahead, also on Democrats’ education wish list is prekindergarten for all at-risk schools. You know that program would keep growing. Add another grade to every elementary school in the state and you’re looking at, what, at least another $1 billion in construction costs?

Furthermore, the scenarios for these expansions don’t address the school district’s woefully funded maintenance budget. The capital costs associated with class-size reduction and full-day kindergarten do nothing to shore up the maintenance budget and prevent current schools from falling apart. There are many millions of dollars worth of needed repairs right now, and there’s no money for the fixes.

Set aside the debate on whether universal full-day kindergarten and prekindergarten will actually make a difference in student achievement — a growing body of research says they won’t. Before legislators begin their 2014 campaign push supporting these ideas, they would be wise to first figure out where they would put everybody and how they would pay for it, and how to get much-needed maintenance for current buildings. Construction has to come before class-size reduction.