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[sjsmith]

Thought those in Nevada or looking for jobs this year there might be interested in this.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/Chancellor-unveils-drastic-scenarios-for-110-million-in-cuts-to-higher-education-system-83385292.html

Dan Klaich, Nevada’s higher education chancellor, told the system’s governing Board of Regents the state is facing the worst economic shortfall in anyone’s memory, nearly $1 billion. This will mean either massive cuts to every aspect of government, or woefully unpopular tax increases. Or both.

The packed meeting was held on the College of Southern Nevada’s campus.

If the Legislature applies the cuts equally across state government, it will likely mean budgets will be reduced by 22 percent for the rest of this fiscal year and the next one.

A 22 percent cut from government support for the state’s higher ed system works out to about $110 million.

Klaich outlined three scenarios that would cut that much from the system:

1. Close Nevada State College and the College of Southern Nevada.

2. Close Great Basin College, Truckee Meadows Community College, Desert Research Institute, UNLV’s law and dental schools, and the system’s medical school.

3. Close the state college, Great Basin, Truckee Meadows, Western Nevada College, all athletics at the two universities and the agricultural experiment station at UNR.

Don’t like those options? Klaich laid out a few others.

The system could implement 20 percent salary cuts across the board.

It could lay off 1,290 faculty and staff.

It could implement tuition and fee hikes of 48 percent.

I wouldn't be surprised to see other states e.g. Illinois follow suit soon (if they haven't done so already).

[mad_doctor]

I think there are a lot of states in the same position.  Lately whenever I think of all the cr@p my career has had to endure, I comfort myself with the knowledge that things could be a lot worse.

[jonesey]

So, two of their three scenarios involve closing Truckee Meadows CC? 

That's craziness.  That school covers a huge area of Northern Nevada and the Lake Tahoe region.  I suppose this is what happens when you gamble on tourists and overpriced real estate. 

Damn.

[daniel_von_flanagan]

The community colleges and the professional schools have political support bases that will protect them.  The only vulnerabilities are in the core instructional colleges in the two main campuses, as well as their faculty.  The usual recipe is expansion of the professional schools coupled with massive salary cuts for full-time faculty outside of those schools. - DvF

[august_leo]

Sounds like the situation in the UK.

That really, really sucks. My condolences to any fora members at those schools.

[inthelab]

Awful scenarios.  All of them.
Closing medical and dental schools!!  Chilling....

[corny]

A good story about this in today's Inside Higher Ed:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/02/12/nevada.

[t_r_b]

A good story about this in today's Inside Higher Ed:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/02/12/nevada.

Why can't more university presidents talk like this?

"If you want to continue to live in a state that consistently ranks in the bottom of every education and quality of life measure, then by all means, sit back and watch your state burn," Klaich wrote.

"However, if you dream of a Nevada where you have pride in the quality of our life, then join me in doing something about it. Nevadans need to step up to the plate and pay for what we value, and we must hold our elected leaders accountable for their actions and stand by them when they do what is right. Now, it is time to do what is right for Nevada's future and not what is right to get re-elected in a sound-bite society."

[sjsmith]

Well, look at it this way - things could always be worse.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/raggio-has-harsh-words-for-gibbons-83920587.html

CARSON CITY -- Poor people eligible for free Medicaid health care no longer would receive eyeglasses, dentures, hearing aids or as many adult diapers under the $109 million in social service spending reductions proposed by Gov. Jim Gibbons.

"We are down to the ugly list of options of where we can cut," Department of Health and Human Services Director Mike Willden told members of the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee on Tuesday.

"These things are beyond ugly," replied Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas.

Buckley warned the committee that even more disturbing cuts might be ahead for Willden's agency because so far, the governor has proposed reductions that total less than half of the $881 million in cuts the state must make to balance its budget.

"There is no magical solution to this," said Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas.

The state would save $829,304 by reducing the number of adult diapers that incontinent disabled and elderly people would receive. The reduction was mentioned repeatedly Tuesday as the most horrendous example of a budget cut.

Eligible people now receive 300 diapers per month; that would be cut to 186, which, according to the Health and Human Services agency, is in line with national standards.

But Washoe Legal Services lobbyist Jon Sasser predicted that elderly people will be spending hours per day "with poop in their diapers."

"It is abhorrent to be discussing this," Buckley said. "Are we really going to tell the elderly we are cutting them off dentures and hearing aids and diapers? I don't know how we can look the elderly in the eye."

When questioned about the proposal, Gibbons' communication director, Daniel Burns, said the state simply does not have the money. If legislators do not want to take the limit off diapers, the governor will support them if they find something else to cut, he said.

If the budget situation is that bad I don't think that there is much hope that there is going to be any extra money for higher education, regardless of Klaich's eloquent words.

[profxfiles]

It is, of course, worth noting that all of NV's budget discussions are about cutting programs in a state that has NO income tax and NO corporate tax. I am just constantly amazed that politicians across the nation can so successfully frame every budget crisis purely in terms slashing existing programs without any discussion of examining revenue structures.

[corny]

If the budget situation is that bad I don't think that there is much hope that there is going to be any extra money for higher education, regardless of Klaich's eloquent words.

This is true - the entire Nevada budget situation is dire.

It is, of course, worth noting that all of NV's budget discussions are about cutting programs in a state that has NO income tax and NO corporate tax. I am just constantly amazed that politicians across the nation can so successfully frame every budget crisis purely in terms slashing existing programs without any discussion of examining revenue structures.

This is the thing that's so maddening. Meanwhile, in the State of the State address last week, the governor proposed a new program where people can buy gift certificates through which they can make a donation to teachers' salaries (K-12):

I am also introducing the Education Gift Certificate. These will be available at many state facilities, like the DMV, or you’ll be able to download one off my website. You can use the gift certificate to donate money to a non-profit organization that will make sure your money is spent ONLY on teachers’ salaries. For those of you who can afford to help our teachers, I encourage you do it.

You know, it seems to me like there's some other system that many states use to allow their citizens to support teacher salaries...oh wait...I know...income taxes! Taxing the mining companies would help, too. Eh. Oh well.

[profxfiles]

You know, it seems to me like there's some other system that many states use to allow their citizens to support teacher salaries...oh wait...I know...income taxes! Taxing the mining companies would help, too. Eh. Oh well.

Actually, in most states, it is a combination of income taxes and property taxes. Here in the upper Midwest, most state budgets for K-12 education are about 1/3 property tax at the local level and 2/3 income & other taxes from the state. Higher ed, on the other hand, is 100% income & other taxes, which makes it far more vulnerable...

[dolljepopp]

As I understand it, there has been an argument for a while that property taxes alone are not sufficient to fund K-12 education in many places, which leads to great disparities between town/county A, which has lots of expensive enough homes to provide a decent revenue stream, and right next door town/county B, which does not. Money of course, does not solve all educational dilemmas, but crumbling school buildings (for example, see Bob Herbert's column today) do not generally augment the educational experience. Classes that are too large, teachers who are burned out because of not being able to make ends meet (and/or too-large class sizes), teacher shortages, etc, etc, I suspect also do not augment the educational experience. Money may not solve all of these problems, but a lack of money makes all of them worse.

Again, as I understand, the argument behind federal funding for K-12 educational is that it might help seriously underfunded areas address certain chronic problems.



I'm not myself planning on moving to Nevada anytime soon...

Of course, if one believes all taxes are evil and that the government should fund the military and not much else, well, then, people who live in areas with low local revenue will likely have schools that are not well funded.

[mad_doctor]

Nevada is high on the list of states with the worst budget problems, along with California, Washington, Oregon, most of the northeastern states, and most of the midwest states.  In Nevada's case, it seems to be mostly about the real estate problems.  This would in turn affect state revenues raised through property taxes.

Re: budget cuts and education...  I'm not sure about the cause and effect of more money = better education and less money = worse education.  When schools were poorly funded for centuries sschools stillmanaged to do a pretty good job of educating students.  In the modern era, now that we've increased funding to public schools by several orders of magnitude we have little or no measureable benefit, and many would say that the data might lead to the hypothesis that more money = worse education.  Whatever the case, there absolutely no doubt that the threefold increase in higher education expenditures for the last thirty years (in constant dollars) has not led to a threefold increase in the quality of education.  At best we're no better off now than we were when we spent three times less money on the "problem".

[larryc]

When schools were poorly funded for centuries sschools stillmanaged to do a pretty good job of educating students.  In the modern era, now that we've increased funding to public schools by several orders of magnitude we have little or no measureable benefit, and many would say that the data might lead to the hypothesis that more money = worse education. 

None of the above is true. Schools in the past taught less, for fewer years, to a smaller percentage of the population. Schools are more expensive now because we teach everyone and try to prepare them to a much higher level, as the modern economy demands.