Nevada Republican Governor Joe Lombardo Challenging Democrat Lawmakers Over Education Bill

The bill, AB400, allows more low-income families to qualify for the Opportunity Scholarship to give them a choice of schools, one of Gov. Lombardo's campaign promises, but Democrat legislators are opposing the bill.

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Las Vegas, NV: When Governor Lombardo ran for office, one of his campaign promises was to enact policies to give families with school-age children a choice. As in a choice to go to a school that best fits their children.

However, this option has been limited to the wealthy and is generally out of reach for low-income families.

However, Governor Lombardo is fighting to follow through with his campaign promise by advocating for Assembly Bill 400. The bill gives low-income families an increased amount towards a scholarship so families can be able to better afford other schools, such as Charter schools.

The program currently offers scholarships for families of four who make less than $89,000. The proposed bill would increase that amount to $150,000 or less.

But time is running out for the bill and if it fails, the Governor could veto the budget bill and call for a special session.

In a press release issued by the Governor, he stated: "As the five budget bills are being fast-tracked by legislative Democrats, I will repeat what I have previously stated. I will not sign any budget bills until my priorities are addressed. Period. So, before the Senate and Assembly take final action on these five bills today, tomorrow, or the next day, I suggest they reconsider their decision and delay final passage until the policy priorities that I spelled out on day one are on my desk. If they choose to test my resolve, I'll make it easy for them. The people of Nevada hired me to protect their interests and that is what I intend to do."

School Safety Concerns

The bill has strong support from members of the community. Families have frequently expressed concerns over safety issues in public schools such as gang violence, shootings, bullying, and so on.

One of the more well-known advocates is Valeria Gurr, Founder of the American Federation for Children. The AFC seeks to empower families, especially lower-income families, with the freedom to choose the best K-12 education for their children, according to their website.

"Nevada's schools aren't safe. Instead of better grades, our kids worry about gangs, bullying, and shootings. It's time they had options. But Nevada's Democrat leaders are standing in the way. Luckily, Governor Lombardo has a plan that allows parents to send their child to a school of their choice," Gurr said in a statement.

"If you look at the Nevada report card, you'll see that our kids are not reading at grade levels. In all levels, are not performing in math. Unfortunately, our communities of color are the ones that often suffer and are the ones that often suffer the consequences of our system that has been failing us for decades," Gurr said in an interview with the media.

Valeria Gurr, image taken from the Federation for Children website.

The AFC is spending $250,000 in an ad campaign to call out Nevada legislators who oppose the Governor's proposed School Choice bill. Gurr and the AFC feel that a "lack of choice" is what's holding many children back.

"The only ones that don't have options are the ones that don't have money to afford it. And who do you think it is... it is the communities of color," Gurr added.

Awareness and Growing Support

The campaign to raise awareness of the AB400 bill is growing and gaining more support. There is an online form people can quickly fill out that will continue to support the bill.

And Valeria Gurr is optimistic.

"I've been working the School Choice for over a decade and I have never seen this much momentum," Gurr said.

This is a developing story and we will be monitoring it as it progresses.

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Joe Joe
11 months ago

Wow, this is crazy!

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Anonymous User
11 months ago

Joe Lombardo is strong supporter of school choice, he's probably the only hope Nevada has of breaking the cycles of poverty caused by the teachers unions' control of the schools.

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