School choice isn’t a fringe idea anymore; it’s a national movement.
Over the last four years, more than half the states in the country have passed school choice legislation, propelled by families who are demanding more freedom and more say in how their children are educated and protected.
The Educational Choice for Children Act has the potential to bring school choice to every state, including ours.
But here in Nevada, Democratic lawmakers are doing everything they can to stop that momentum. Rather than listen to parents, they’ve chosen to listen to the teachers’ unions.
The latest example? Senate Bill 460 — disguised as the Educate Act — is a calculated, top-down attempt to reassert government control over public charter schools, private schools and homeschooling families.
Introduced by Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, SB 460 cloaks itself in the language of reform, but dig deeper and the real agenda becomes clear.
The bill allocates $250 million exclusively to school district teacher raises. Public charter schoolteachers, who serve more than 70,000 of Nevada students, are shut out entirely.
This is not equity: it’s favoritism for the status quo.
Even more troubling is the bill’s effort to expand state power over educational alternatives.
SB 460 would give school districts a greater voice in opposing new public charter schools, effectively allowing entrenched interests to block innovation and competition.
This might be good for stakeholders in the current education system, but it’s terrible for students and families.
The bill also imposes standardized testing mandates on Opportunity Scholarship recipients, forcing them to take the same state assessments used in public schools — the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA ) — even though private school students on opportunity scholarships already take nationally recognized norm reference tests that better match their learning environments.
This one-size-fits-all approach not only misrepresents student achievement; it undermines the very reason parents sought different education environments in the first place.
But SB 460 doesn’t stop there.
It crosses a troubling line by requiring parents to disclose their personal reasons for leaving a school or withdrawing from the scholarship program.
Public school families aren’t asked to share private information like this.
Why should those who choose alternative educational paths be treated differently? Why don’t they have the same rights to privacy as those who choose the government stakeholders’ preferred option?
This is more than bureaucratic overreach; it’s an invasion of privacy and a violation of students’ FERPA rights.
The likely outcome? Private schools may abandon the Opportunity Scholarship program rather than submit to intrusive state mandates.
Charter schools could face mounting resistance from district officials wanting to end competition that’s besting them. And homeschooling families may find themselves subject to a growing web of regulations.
Let’s be clear: SB 460 is not about accountability, It’s about control.
It’s about reinforcing a system that prioritizes adults over children, bureaucracy over innovation, and politics over parents.
Nevada families deserve better.
They deserve educational freedom, respect for their decisions, and real support; not political gamesmanship that undermines the very options so many depend on.
Senate leadership should set aside partisan agendas and work with Governor Joe Lombardo to find true common ground.
That means protecting school choice, honoring parental rights, and investing in all students; no matter where or how they learn.
Now is the time to raise your voice. The future of educational freedom in Nevada depends on it.
