What's Worse Than a Paper Cut?
The word "budget" has been thrown around the Nevada area lately, and it isn't good news. But rarely is the news ever good when the word "budget" plagues it. Jim Gibbons, the Republican Governor of Nevada, started his term by promising citizens low taxes and no tax hikes. Now, with an estimated $900 million dollar short fall in the budget by 2009, what will he cut next? Unfortunately, K-12 education as well as university and college spending had already been cut earlier this year in January, and it looks like it is getting hit again.
This year, with our economy in a decline and an unusually high unemployment rate, Nevada's students are beginning to feel the pressure more than ever before. Textbooks, room and board, and tuition have already tapped out many students and their parents. In January, education was set back $151 million in their budget, which was passed along to the students in various areas of higher education.
My question to the Governor is; why are you continuing to cut the education budget? In Nevada, high school dropout rates are high, 4.6% in 2006, per pupil spending is low -- about $6,000 per student, and minority groups are suffering. Education budget cuts affect mostly Clark County, where Las Vegas is, because it is the most populated county in Nevada. 4,654 students dropped out in Clark County in 2006, totaling 5.6% of Clark County high school students. With annual budget cuts to education, the system is continually making it harder and harder for students to obtain a college degree.
Much of the faults of the Nevada education system cannot be blamed solely on the budget cuts. Las Vegas is a service industry city, meaning there are plenty of well paying jobs available to young people straight out of high school. Instead of high school graduates spending money on higher education in Nevada’s colleges, they are taking jobs as waiters, valet parkers, and maids, etc. These jobs are taking away much needed income by providing salaries, upwards of $40,000, that make college seem like an expensive and unnecessary option to many Clark County graduates. It is a tricky game to balance budgets, but education needs to be spared this one time.