The Nevada Independent team interviews Meredith Levine, Director of Economic Policy, and Nancy E. Brune, Ph.D., Executive Director about the implication of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s possible decision to include a question about citizenship as part of the 2020 census.
Michael Brown, President of Barrick Gold USA, identifies the Guinn Center as an important state resource. He states that “Unlike the last round of growth, this time we will have resources like Brookings Mountain West, the Guinn Center, Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, and Council for a Better Nevada to help address the challenges.”
Jim Clark, president of Republican Advocates, discusses how federal changes to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid provisions could impact Nevada, and references the Guinn Center’s analysis.
The Reno Gazette-Journal refers to the Guinn Center’s report that examined the potential impact of the tax reform bill on Nevadans.
The Reno Gazette-Journal refers to the Guinn Center’s analysis that examined how the federal tax reform bill could impact Nevadans.
KUNR’s Paul Boger interviews Meredith A. Levine, Director of Economic Policy, to discuss how the new federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) might impact Nevadans.
Mason Valley News references the Guinn Center’s report that discusses mental health workforce shortages in Nevada.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal discusses school funding and includes a Guinn Center analysis of per pupil funding over time.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal interviews Nancy E. Brune, Executive Director, about K-12 school funding in Nevada.
Following the October 1 shooting, Executive Director Nancy E. Brune, Ph.D. discusses the mental health infrastructure in Nevada.
The Las Vegas Sun discusses the reconfiguration of Clark County School District and references the Guinn Center’s 2015 report, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do.
Executive Director Nancy E. Brune, Ph.D., and Board Member Dan Hamilton, Ph.D. summarize the recent criminal justice reforms implemented by state legislatures in several states, including Nevada and Louisiana.
Bob Conrad interviews Meredith Levine, Director of Economic Policy, about property taxes and how state revenues fund social services.
Megan K. Rauch, Director of Education Policy, and Executive Director Nancy E. Brune, Ph.D., explore how proposed amendments to the Achievement School District expand the options that parents and school communities will have to design and implement programs and interventions that best serve the specific needs of their students with the goal of improving their educational journey and academic success.
Executive Director Nancy E. Brune, Ph.D. and Senior Fellow Victor Wakefield outline a three-pronged approach to ensure that any new funds are directed in ways to improve student outcomes and address the needs of students in our high-need schools.
Chip Evans talks with Meredith Levine, Director of Economic Policy, about property taxes in Nevada.
Executive Director Nancy E. Brune, Ph.D., and Brian Davie, who worked at the Legislative Counsel Bureau for 28 years, discuss the rise in partisanship in Carson City.
The Las Vegas Sun discusses educational outcomes for students in foster care in Clark County School District and references a Guinn Center report, At the Tipping Point: Educational Outcomes of Students in Foster Care in Clark County School District.
In an editorial for the Elko Daily Free Press, Guinn Center Executive Director Nancy Brune discusses rising instruction-related costs in the Silver State’s K-12 public education system. In Elko County School District (and Nevada), personnel costs (salaries and benefits) account for almost 80 percent of education expenditures. Brune summarizes the recommendations of the Center’s recent report, which identifies possible models the State should consider to control costs.
In an editorial for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Guinn Center examines the policies in Nevada that offer better student outcomes than class-size reduction (CSR), despite CSR being a popular–and expensive–tool for education reform. Nevada invested $306.3 million over the biennium in CSR, but educational and policy experts are in broad agreement that it less effective (and more expensive) than other programs and strategies.
Education Week‘s Denisa Superville reports on the new plan proposed by Michael Strembitsky to reorganize Clark County School District into 350+ autonomous schools, leaving the district intact. The Guinn Center discusses the importance of having a robust system in place for recruiting, training, and supporting highly-effective principals, which will be given greater autonomy in the new system of organization.
In an editorial for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada’s U.S. Congressional Representative Crescent Hardy (R, CD-4) cites the Guinn Center’s research on Nevadans’ access to mental health providers. In the 2014 report, the Guinn Center noted that 1.4 million people in our state live in an area designated as a Mental Health Professional Shortage Area. That includes our rural counties and 36 percent of Clark County.
Northern Nevada public radio station KUNR examines the economic boom effects of the new Tesla Motors plant on the economy in the greater Reno-Sparks area and explores how transferable tax credits, which Tesla received from the State and then sold at a lower rate to a casino, could impact state revenue. Guinn Center Executive Director Dr. Nancy E. Brune offers some remarks on how we should evaluate the Silver State’s development incentives as an economic development tool.
An article in the Las Vegas Sun discusses a recent blog post from The Guinn Center, “Growing Childhood Poverty Could Undermine Recent Educational Investments.” As the Guinn Center reported, “The number of children living in poverty in Nevada is at 22 percent, up from 15 percent in 2008. Similarly, the number of children whose parents lack stable jobs has risen 6 percentage points to 32 percent.”
This is Reno reports that $20 million in transferable tax credits were sold by Tesla Motors to the MGM Grand for gaming license fees. This is Reno explores the impact of this transaction and cites the Guinn Center’s 2014 report, Development Incentives: A Guide for Nevada Legislators, which analyzed Nevada’s development incentive package offered to Tesla.
The Guinn Center discusses a new national report, which reveals that students of color, which now comprise 49.7 percent of K-12 pupils in the country, continue to face significant disparities in school discipline, as well as access to high quality teachers and advanced coursework. The Guinn Center discusses these disparities in Nevada and offers some policy recommendations.
The Guinn Center draws attention to the number of special education teacher vacancies in Nevada and offers a number of solutions to attract and retain special education teachers. Thirty-eight percent of teacher vacancies in the Clark County School District’s elementary and middle schools are special education vacancies, and many of these are for autism specialists. Additionally, 83 percent of special education teacher vacancies are in Title I schools, which serve our community’s most under-resourced families. This crisis in the supply of special education instructors is not limited to the Clark County School District. The Washoe County School District has more than 240 job openings, more than 40 percent of which are for special education instructors.
In an opinion piece for the Reno News and Review, Former Nevada State Senator Sheila Leslie calls the Guinn Center’s policy report, “School Facilities, Construction and Maintenance” a must-read for all state legislators for policy solutions to address many aging school buildings across the state.
The Las Vegas Sun provides an update on the legislative conversations to consider the reconfiguration of the Clark County School District, the fifth largest district in the U.S. The Guinn Center notes that there appears to be consensus around the idea of decentralization of authority to local communities, rather than a real break-up of the district into smaller districts or precincts.
The Guinn Center appears on KNPR’s State of Nevada to discuss the reorganization of the Clark County School District and the latest plan to explore decentralized or autonomous schools. The Guinn Center notes that strong school (principal) leadership and weighted student funding are critical components of successful efforts to decentralize decision-making authority to schools.