Nevada lawmakers tap education rainy day fund to help plug gap; teacher raises renewed
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Money for education is a hot topic again in Carson City as lawmakers made a $126.9 million withdrawal from schools' rainy day fund to help plug a gap created by a decrease in tourism.
Additional steps might be necessary after the state per-pupil spending levels are finalized in a budget session scheduled for Thursday.
Schools must address a $160 million gap between spending requests and tax revenue. Projected tax revenue has declined since budgets were drawn up at the start of the legislative session in early February.
Gov. Joe Lombardo has recommended per-pupil spending of $9,416 in the 2026 fiscal year (July 1-June 30) and $9,486 in 2027. Critics point out that $9,416 is merely $2 more than spending this year. Some are suggesting the state go deeper into the rainy day fund for schools, which is projected to have $746.1 million remaining in July.
Per-pupil funding going up $2 next year unless something changes in Nevada budget
A final per-pupil funding figure is expected to be delivered by legislative staff on Thursday, taking into account decisions made in today's budget closing session of the Joint Subcommittee on K-12/Higher Education/CIP.
Nevada made education funding a priority in the legislative session, but building on that will be difficult in today's economy. Lawmakers voted to continue raises put into place by the 2023 Legislature, but not without some finger-pointing.
Republicans on the committee voted against continuing $250 million in spending to fund raises for teachers in the state's public school districts — but didn't have anything for charter school teachers yet.
'Charter schools are public schools,' Republican State Sen. Carrie Buck said. 'These teachers are public teachers. They deserve raises also, so I will be voting no today.'
Democratic Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager reminded Republicans of discussions from the 2023 session and the commitments made then to teachers. He called a 'no' vote 'utterly irresponsible,' but five Republicans stood their ground.
They didn't have enough votes to stop the existing raises.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro held out hope for charter school teachers.
'While I recognize that today is not the day that we'll be talking about charter school raises, I do think that that conversation should continue for the remainder of this session so that we can come to a good resolution on that,' Cannizzaro said.
Lawmakers have been watching as more families leave public school districts to put their kids in charter schools. Lombardo based his budget on no enrollment growth, and during Thursday's hearing, lawmakers were told that student populations have increased in only three counties: Mineral, Nye and Pershing. But as a whole, charter school enrollment is on the rise.
Transportation funding for charter schools — about $17 million over two years — was a sticking point in 2023. Today, the committee removed that funding from the per-pupil funding account, instead deciding the money should go to the Charter School Authority through a one-time appropriation from the state general fund.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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