How does a region adapt when nation-leading population growth for an entire decade comes to a screeching halt in a matter of one year? How does public infrastructure make the adjustment to abrupt drop-offs in property and sales tax revenue base in a state adamantly opposed to taxing income? How does an education system once from opening one new school a month to accommodate the influx of families to massive teacher layoffs and funding cuts across the board?
After spending the past decade and a half as one of the fast-growing areas in the United States, many communities in southern Nevada are asking themselves the above question. Because of the lucrative allure of the once-booming gambling industry, Las Vegas is particularly hurt by the slowdown as jobs tied to construction and the casinos evaporate.
In 1990, Las Vegas was the 53rd largest metropolitan area in the United States. By 2000, it had jumped to the 32nd largest in the country, an 83 percent increase in population. In raw numbers, it was a net increase of more than 700,000 residents, or roughly 5,500 a month over a ten year span.
Drilling down, within the 32nd largest metropolitan area in the country is the Clark County school district, which is the 5th largest in the nation, with a total enrollment of 314,000 in K-12. This represents almost one fifth of the entire Vegas area population, a ratio that indicates a heavy concentration of families.
In the past year, however, the massive growth of the 90s and first half of this decade growth came to an abrupt stop, with 2008 netting its lowest annual population growth in two decades. School enrollment, a huge barometer for per-school federal funding, is down to its lowest growth in 25 years (1.5 percent in 2008 as compared to a high of 4.5 percent in 2005).
In a state that is notoriously anti-income tax, zero population growth, massive home foreclosures, and rapid job-loss rate translates into a serious blow to tax revenue from property and sales taxes. This has created a budgetary shortfall of about $2 billion. The legislature did not create any sort of discretionary fund for education during times like these and is looking to cut at least $400 million from schools for the upcoming academic year.
A $9.5 billion bond measure for education construction in the upcoming decade was put on hold recently, with the focus shifting to existing schools.
This story will focus on the larger picture of how Las Vegas and Clark County School District are adapting (or not) to the slowdown, with an individual school profile providing specific examples of the big picture abstractions in a sidebar story.
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