NPRI demands we get our money's worth from CCSD

The conservative Nevada Policy Research Institute's Patrick Gibbons recently inked an interesting column breaking down just how much CCSD spends per student. And while the results are astounding, Gibbons says we clearly are not getting our money's worth.

NPRI:

For the 2009-10 school year, CCSD will spend $3.731 billion providing education for just over 303,000 weighted students — a number that most likely will decrease. Total expenditures, thus, will come to at least $12,307 per pupil. While that is an 8.9 percent decrease from the previous year, it still is a substantial sum devoted to education.

To better understand the real priorities of the school district, however, let's break that total into its parts.

Of the $3.7 billion, CCSD will spend $649 million repaying debt. This breaks out as $2,143 per pupil going toward debt repayment. Total debt for the district, with interest, balloons to $6,428,470,473. In other words, for every student currently enrolled, CCSD owes $21,203 in principal and interest.

CCSD will also spend $671 million, or $2,214 per pupil, on capital projects. With approximately $4,357 per pupil spent on debt and capital projects, CCSD desperately needs to figure out ways to reduce these expenditures to save taxpayers money or to make more funds available for use in the classroom. 

Gibbons says CCSD needs to investigate expanding charter schools throughout Clark County. Simultaneously, the state, he says, needs to advocate for vouchers. In the same breath, Gibbons says that Clark County is spending as much as what private schools spend per student, yet, the results couldn't be more far apart.


E.C. :)