Leaving Equity Behind?: A Quantitative Analysis of Fiscal Equity in Nevada’s Public Education Finance System

Over time, issues of justice and fairness in education finance have been addressed by the courts in all but five states. The key focus has been on illegitimate disparities in funding between rich and poor school districts caused by the happenstance of unequal local wealth. Recently, attention has turned to the relationship between funding gaps and the opportunity gaps that have real and important impacts on student outcomes. This research addresses finance equity by providing a comprehensive analysis of the State of Nevada’s public education funding system. Thus far, Nevada has not been the subject of a judicial decision nor has a comprehensive analysis of school finance equity been completed. Fifteen quantitative statistics, including univariate and bivariate measures, weighted for high-cost students, sparsity and district size, are calculated and discussed, to determine horizontal and vertical equity, as well as equal opportunity, in the Silver State. It was found that there are large gaps in funding among school districts and they are linked to local wealth. This makes the quality of education in Nevada a function of local wealth that abridges equal opportunities to learn and be successful for children and youth in schools and classrooms.