Legislative Money Panels Approve K-12 Spending Plan
On Friday, the Legislature’s two budget committees approved a public school spending plan that establishes $2.8 billion in general fund support for the next two years.
The plan largely follows Gov. Brian Sandoval’s recommendations budget proposal for K-12 education, which also designates basic state support of about $5,500 per pupil over the next two years — an increase of about $200 over existing funding levels.
The Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means committees approved the school spending plan nearly in its entirety without opposition. Now, all-day kindergarten will be expanded to 75 more schools, for a total of 201, with an addition of $80 million given over two years.
During his news conference on May 14, Sandoval noted that his projected budget has added almost $500 million for K-12 education in comparison to the previous biennium budget.
“We have put a monumental marker down to show that education is a huge priority in this state,” Sandoval said.
The approvals made by the panels will be drafted into a bill, which lawmakers plan to revisit on June 3.