Nevada passes open enrollment, charter pay raises in education bill but no private school choice 

Public school students can choose which public school they want to attend, and charter school teachers will receive raises, after Nevada passed a sweeping education bill. 

Following a contentious battle between Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo and the Democrat-controlled Assembly, the two sides reached a compromise that granted some – but not all – of the reforms Lombardo was seeking. 

While he got public school open enrollment and charter teacher pay raises, along with greater transparency and capacity for state oversight, his attempts to pass private school choice failed. 

The Silver State has a robust charter school network with more than 61,000 students, more than all but the largest school district of Clark County. 

After the state previously approved raises for public school teachers, Lombardo insisted charter teachers receive similar increases. The Legislature approves such raises, since charter schools are state-funded. 

The accountability measures that passed include a ranking system for school districts and charter schools, coupled with an increased ability for the state to intervene in – or even take over – districts that chronically underperform, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. 

Under the new ranking system, about 53% of the state’s schools would currently be rated one or two stars, or underperforming, the state’s interim education superintendent says. That number could change between now and 2029 or 2030, when the designation “persistently underperforming” will be used. 

Since taking office in 2023, Lombardo’s efforts to expand school choice have met resistance from Democrats. 

The state has a small tax credit Opportunity Scholarships program, which is capped at $6.8 million and serves only about 1,800 students. Lawmakers also approved education savings accounts (ESAs) in 2015, but the program never got off the ground due to legal challenges and resistance to funding it in the Legislature. 

This year, bills to raise the scholarship cap and reinstitute ESAs “didn’t even get a hearing in committee,” Anahit Baghshetsyan of the Nevada Policy Institute told The Lion in an interview. 

Lombardo is expected to sign the education bill, which passed at the end of the legislative session.