Some of it is that roughly 15% of the total population are in rural areas where the primary jobs available are in mining, or agriculture. Illegal immigrants mak

Some of it is that roughly 15% of the total population are in rural areas where the primary jobs available are in mining, or agriculture. Illegal immigrants make up a significant portion of the total population according to the latest numbers released by ICE. The number one industry in Nevada is tourism followed by mining. You don't need a highly skilled labor pool to fill a significant percentage of those jobs. The education budget has historically been dependent on revenues from the gaming (gambling) industry. You can guess where Nevada falls on education spending, graduation rates etc. Nevada ranks poorly in every social spending category so it's not just education that suffers. Poverty is also a huge issue, over 50% of the students in Washoe County live at or below the poverty line for example.