The U.S. Education Department plans to trim $2.6 million from Nevada's share of funds for English-language learners, baffling state educators who say the 30 percent reduction from the past school year will jeopardize services and programs for students.
Almost all those federal dollars were earmarked for Clark County, where nearly one out of every five students has been identified as an English-language learner.
"It's illogical to cut funding in a state that's growing so rapidly," Clark County Schools Superintendent Walt Rulffes said. "Something has gone haywire."
The preliminary federal budget calls for Nevada to receive just over $6 million for language programs, down from $8.6 million in the prior fiscal year.
Keith Rheault, Nevada's superintendent of public instruction, said he was notified of the cut by the Education Department, but has not seen the data used to determine how much money would be allocated. Rheault said a federal survey had apparently determined fewer Nevada students qualified, a conclusion he was having a tough time swallowing.
Since 2005 the Education Department has relied on the American Community Survey, a sampling conducted as part of the U.S. Census, to determine the number of recent immigrant and non-English-proficient students in each state. Based on that statistical sampling, Nevada received a $1.2 million boost in 2006.
Although the survey may provide more timely updates than the full census, it relies in part on people self-reporting data - including their language skills - to the government. In prior years, the census information was used with information provided by state education departments.
Nevada is one of 18 states that do not provide schools with extra money for students with limited proficiency in English. For each of the past three legislative sessions, the state's 17 superintendents have urged lawmakers to support a per-pupil formula that would give extra money to schools serving English-language learners. Currently Nevada's minimum per-pupil guarantee is supplemented only for special education students.
The Clark County School District's operating budget for fiscal 2008, which began July 1, called for $28.4 million to be spent on English-language programs. Of that , $20.4 million was from local revenue and $8 million in federal aid. Plans to add 23 English-language specialists, who work directly with students and teachers, are now in jeopardy.
"We're certainly not getting that money from anywhere else," Rulffes said.
Charlene Green, associate superintendent of student support services for the School District, said she was devastated when the Nevada Education Department informed her of the looming cut.
"I almost passed out," Green said. "I said, 'What are you talking about? We have more kids now than we had last year.' "
Ivette Silver, assistant principal of Rex Bell Elementary School, said she hoped the district would find a way to hire the specialists. That's the job Silver held at the school, which has the district's highest number of English-language learners, before being promoted to administration about 18 months ago.
"Even at schools with smaller populations, there's still a need for someone to train teachers and work with them on issues of diversity and language," Silver said.
With language specialists in high demand and short supply, Silver had to divide her time between two campuses, which often compounded frustrations.
"At a school with 700 kids, what is a person (working half the time) going to be able to do? What kind of impact are they going to be able to have?" Silver said.
Since 1998, the School District's English-language learner population has soared 136 percent, compared with 74 percent nationally over the same time . Nevada has the nation's third-highest concentration of English-language learners in its public schools, behind California and New Mexico, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, a federal clearinghouse.
"We are going to have to be very creative in how we support our students with the funding we have left," Green said.
To Otto Merida, president of the Latin Chamber of Commerce, the funding cut was disappointing , but not surprising.
"Every year we're getting less and less - first from the state and now from the federal government," Merida said.
The Hispanic population has swelled to 38 percent of Clark County's student enrollment. Hispanic students are more likely to drop out of school and less likely to graduate than their white classmates - statistics that aren't likely to improve without specialized programs , Merida said.
"If we put the additional resources into it, we could give these children a chance," Merida said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is concerned about the cut to Nevada's funding, spokesman Jon Summers said. The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires the use of the statistical survey as part of the formula. However, the education law is up for reauthorization, and Reid plans to investigate possible improvements to the formula, Summers said.
Reid "would like to see a formula that provides more consistent information off of which to make funding decisions," Summers said.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy