Two Competing Plans Become One
Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro and Gov. Joe Lombardo reached a compromise on their competing omnibus education bills.
Cannizzaro’s Senate Bill 460 was amended to include components of Lombardo’s Assembly Bill 584, including his proposal to establish a statewide accountability system and a salary incentive program for educators and administrators.
What’s Actually in This Deal
The final bill includes several key parts that conservatives should care about.
First, it creates real accountability. When a school fails to show adequate student growth, the bill allows a superintendent to intervene over an administrator. It also allows the state to impose corrective actions, such as replacing school or district leadership and assuming state control over management.
This matters because for too long, failing schools have faced no real consequences. Now there will be actual intervention when schools don’t do their job.
The deal also expands school choice.
It implements a statewide open enrollment system and requires the Department of Education to create a grant program to assist students in obtaining transportation to a school they attend outside of their zone of attendance. The amendment would incorporate aspects of Lombardo’s major education bill, AB584. It would also expand eligibility for state-funded pre-K seats.
For parents trapped in bad school districts, this is huge. Your zip code won’t determine your child’s future anymore.
What Conservatives Got
Republicans secured several wins in this compromise.
The bill keeps Lombardo’s teacher bonus program for high performers. The bill includes the Senate majority leader’s Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Program and the governor’s salary incentive programs for educators and administrators.
More importantly, the deal protects charter schools. Give greater flexibility to cities and counties located in a district deemed as low performing to sponsor charter schools (from Lombardo’s bill) This means more options for parents and more competition for traditional public schools.
The compromise also requires schools to teach reading properly. Requires school district and charter school boards ensure that teachers, paraprofessionals and administrators who work with students in grades K-3 go through science of reading professional development (from Lombardo’s bill)
What Got Left Out
Not everything Lombardo wanted made it into the final deal.
The amendment cuts out other consequences for chronically underperforming schools proposed in Lombardo’s bill, including: Converting chronically underperforming schools to charter schools.
This is disappointing. Sometimes the best way to fix a broken system is to replace it entirely. But politics is about compromise, and Republicans got most of what they wanted.
The Union Power Play
One thing that should concern conservatives is how unions still have too much influence. Senate Bill 161, a Clark County Education Association priority bill carried by state Sen. Rochelle Nguyen (D-Las Vegas), passed the Legislature with some bipartisan support and was signed by Lombardo during the last week of the session.
The bill establishes an expedited arbitration process for teachers unions and school districts, and, perhaps more consequentially, establishes a pathway for K-12 public school teachers to legally go on strike.
Here’s the concerning part: The union has perfected a clever political tactic.
With the passage of SB 161, CCEA will withdraw a ballot measure it had qualified for the 2026 general election ballot. That ballot measure, if approved by voters, would have given teachers the right to strike. The teachers union had previously said it was prepared to defend the ballot measure in 2026 but would prefer to bypass it through legislative action.
This is the second time the union has pulled this move. In 2021, CCEA qualified two ballot measures: one to raise the gaming tax, another to raise the sales tax, only to pull them after the Legislature established a new mining tax that directly funds the state’s K-12 per-pupil education fund.
Think about this strategy. The union threatens voters with ballot measures that would raise taxes or expand union power. Then they offer to withdraw those threats if the legislature gives them what they want through other bills.
This tactic has been incredibly successful for them. They’ve gotten teacher strike rights and secured the mining tax for education funding without ever having to face voters directly on these controversial issues. That should worry anyone who believes in limited government and voter accountability.
Money Matters
The education budget this year is tighter than in 2023. With less funding available because of a projected decrease in state revenues, lawmakers can’t pass record-breaking increases to education funding or state worker pay raises similar to those in 2023.
But limited government conservatives should see this as a good thing. When government has less money to throw around, it has to focus on what actually works. This deal does that by prioritizing accountability over spending.
What Happens Next
The Senate unanimously passed the bill Sunday, and the bill now heads to the Assembly. Given the broad support and time pressure on the final day, this will likely become law.
For conservative parents and taxpayers, this deal isn’t perfect. But it’s progress. Schools will face real accountability. Parents will have more choices. Good teachers will get rewarded.
This article was written with the assistance of AI. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
