Well folks, the Democrats’ brain trust in Carson City is at it again. And this time, they’ve cooked up a steaming pile of “reform” – SB460 – a bill that makes government bigger, schools dumber, and parents poorer.
If you love red tape, union power grabs, and sticking taxpayers with the tab, you’re gonna love this 167-page monstrosity.
But if you believe in local control, personal responsibility, and school choice, you better buckle up — because this thing is a disaster wrapped in a diploma.
And before we even dig into the dirty details, here’s the kicker:
This bill violates Nevada’s Constitution.
Breaking the Law Before the Ink Dries
Nevada’s Constitution has something called the “single-subject rule” – right there in Article 4, Section 17. It says:
“Each law enacted by the Legislature shall embrace but one subject, and matter, properly connected therewith, which subject shall be briefly expressed in the title…”
Translation: One bill, one topic. Period.
This rule is supposed to stop politicians from shoving 20 different pet projects into one bill, calling it something innocent like “education,” and sneaking it through when nobody’s looking.
But guess what? SB460 doesn’t just break that rule — it sets it on fire and roasts marshmallows over it.
The bill’s title says it “revises provisions relating to education,” but what’s actually inside?
- Charter school crackdowns
- College student ID data sharing
- FBI fingerprint surveillance
- Preschool grant expansions
- State takeover boards for school districts
- Teacher pay collective bargaining mandates
- Testing hour tracking
That’s like calling a junk drawer a filing system.
It’s a political garage sale where nothing matches, nothing makes sense, and the only thing you’re guaranteed to lose is your money.
And Why the Big Push?
Because Democrat Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro – the bill’s main sponsor – wants to run for Nevada Attorney General in 2026.
And she needs a shiny “big accomplishment” to slap on her campaign fliers.
Forget helping students. This bill is about helping Cannizzaro build a political trophy case.
Now let’s break this abomination down…
New Commissions, More Bureaucrats, Zero Results
The bill creates not one, not two, but multiple new commissions, boards, and “task forces.”
Because nothing says “fixing education” like hiring more people who’ve never taught a day in their lives to sit around expensive conference tables and write reports nobody reads.
One of them, the “Commission on Recruitment and Retention,” is supposed to fix the teacher shortage by — wait for it — studying the teacher shortage.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, teachers are quitting because they’re buried in paperwork, not because we lack committees.
Big Brother Takes Over Your Local Schools
The bill lets the state take over entire school districts if there’s an “emergency” — and you better believe the politicians will decide what counts as an “emergency.”
Did test scores drop?
Did parents complain too much?
Did a principal say the wrong thing?
Boom – state takeover.
And when that happens, these new “Oversight Boards” don’t even have to follow Nevada’s Open Meeting Law.
So while you’re sitting in the PTA meeting with stale donuts, the bureaucrats are making secret decisions behind closed doors.
Charter Schools Get Kneecapped
This bill kneecaps charter schools — the lifeboats for families trying to escape failing public schools.
- Districts can now veto new charter schools in their area (Section 19).
(That’s like letting McDonald’s block new Chick-fil-A locations.) - Charter school teachers must now jump through the same licensing hoops as unionized public schools (Section 28).
(Spoiler alert: It’s not about quality. It’s about protecting union turf.)
School Choice Under Attack – Again
It gets worse.
The bill slaps new government testing mandates on private schools that take money from the Nevada Educational Choice Scholarship Program (Sections 30–33).
If they don’t comply, they risk losing funding.
And if they do comply, they risk getting strangled by red tape.
Either way, it’s an attack on school choice – pure and simple.
Meanwhile, a 2023 Harvard study found that school choice programs boost academic performance and graduation rates, especially for low-income students.
(You know – the kids Cannizzaro claims to care about.)
Unfunded Mandates Galore
Sections 14, 15, 28, 30, and 34 force local schools to hire more counselors, track more data, and meet new staffing ratios — without sending a penny to pay for it.
Classic government move:
- They hand out a laundry list of demands…
- Smile for the cameras…
- And leave local taxpayers holding the bag.
If a business pulled this stunt, it would be called fraud.
When the government does it, they call it “reform.”
Union Sweetheart Deals
Oh, and there’s a lovely little provision (Sections 55–56) that forces large districts to create new pay programs – but only if they negotiate them through the teachers’ union.
And those programs?
They’ll become mandatory topics in collective bargaining (Section 66).
Which means salary incentives – something that should reward excellent teachers – just become more union slush.
It’s like handing out participation trophies at the spelling bee. Doesn’t matter who actually deserves it.
Testing, Testing, and More Testing
And because no government boondoggle would be complete without paperwork, the bill demands more reports, assessments, and classroom time spent prepping for exams (Section 34).
Teachers already complain they don’t have time to teach. Now they’ll have even less.
Meanwhile, your kid still can’t write a full sentence without using autocorrect.
Bottom Line: This Isn’t About Education. It’s About Power.
If you wanted to design a bill that:
- Keeps bad public schools bad
- Crushes charter schools
- Hammers private schools
- Guts local control
- Buries classrooms in red tape
- And hands even more power to unions and bureaucrats
Congratulations. This is it.
This bill isn’t about kids. It’s about politics. It’s about Nicole Cannizzaro’s next election. And it’s about unions keeping their stranglehold on education.
Final Word: Tell Your Legislator – “NO” to SB460!
If you believe:
- Parents should run schools, not politicians…
- Charter schools should compete, not beg for permission…
- Local schools shouldn’t be forced to pay for mandates they never asked for…
Then this bill belongs in the shredder, not the statute books.
Tell your legislator: Enough is enough.
Fix the schools — not with more government, but with more freedom.
Let’s stop letting bureaucrats who’ve never taught a class dictate how kids learn.
If we want real reform, it starts by saying NO to this garbage bill and YES to common sense.
This article was written with the assistance of AI. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
