Nevada

Nevada’s New Formula is an Opportunity Not to be Lost

June 2020
The Nevada Legislature passed a law in June 2019 to overhaul the state’s decades-old and inadequate school funding formula and establish a School Funding Commission to launch the new formula, known as the Pupil Centered Funding Plan. The Commission is charged with developing recommendations for the key cost components of the formula, including the base per pupil cost and additional weights for at-risk students, and identifying revenue streams to fully fund the formula within ten years. However, the Commission appears to be ready to unveil a new formula that ignores these crucial tasks. This report argues that the Commission must develop a plan for the formula that includes appropriately designed weights for English learners (EL) and low-income students, informed by the expert analyses previously commissioned by the state and available to the Commission, as well as a pathway to full formula funding. The report identifies three alternative approaches that would: 1) extend per pupil funding for low-income and EL students at the current rates in the state’s popular Victory and Zoom programs, 2) utilize the “Successful Schools” model developed by school finance experts, or 3) enact the “Full Adequacy” model also developed by finance experts.