VICTOR JOECKS: Audit shows new education funding was a ‘waste of money’

Most people don’t have the guts to own up to a $2.6 billion mistake. Gov. Joe Lombardo may be the exception.

Last week, the Executive Branch Audit Committee released its review of Nevada’s public schools. Audits usually put people to sleep. But the findings of this one should be eye-opening to the politicians who keep trying and failing to improve education.

“Student achievement is not necessarily dependent on the amount of dollars spent,” the audit said. It continued, “Chicago and Los Angeles spent significantly more than (the Clark County School District) and achieved mostly lower ranking results. These results evidence the amount of funding spent is not the only factor affecting student achievement levels. Miami-Dade County spent a similar amount to CCSD per student for both instruction and support but scored consistently higher.”

The unavoidable conclusion: “These results further support the notion that how funding per student is spent is a greater indicator of success than the amount spent alone.”

Lombardo didn’t miss the obvious. In a meeting reviewing the audit, he noted that he and the Legislature recently increased state education funding by $2.6 billion. “Yet this audit says that that’s, I don’t know, for lack of a better term, a waste of money,” he said.

In what qualifies as a significant understatement, he labeled that “a little disturbing.”

It would be easy to dunk on someone for wasting billions of dollars. I wrote in January 2023 that “there is decades of evidence in Nevada that ‘increased funding’ didn’t boost ‘desired outcomes.’ ”

Think about it. Kenny Guinn, Brian Sandoval and Steve Sisolak boosted education funding when they sat in the governor’s office. If that new money worked, there wouldn’t be a problem to fix. What happened in Clark County shows why more money won’t solve anything. As former Superintendent Jesus Jara said, the district spent “95 percent” of the new revenue on “paying the same people more money.”

But Lombardo deserves credit for doing something those other governors didn’t do. He commissioned this audit early last year and seems interested in changing course. There’s still time to learn from his mistake.

The stakes are high. As another part of the report notes, “Fewer than half of Nevada students are meeting proficiency goals.”

There are policies that would actually help.

The most important reform is passing school choice. And not the puny $50 million allocation he proposed last session. Lombardo should propose a universal school choice program right now and let GOP legislative candidates campaign on it.

Lombardo should demand school districts use phonics to teach reading. That has helped improve student achievement in places such as Mississippi. Prohibit students using cellphones in classrooms. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is urging schools in his state to do just that. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis already did. Roll back any law, including portions of his own bill, that limit school discipline based on behavior.

Even for someone as popular as Lombardo, this will be difficult. But that’s the point. The “easy” solutions failed. If Lombardo wants to actually improve education, he’s going to have to take a different — and difficult — path.

Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.