Key Takeaways
- “When it comes to properly funding Nevada schools, I am afraid that Adam Laxalt doesn’t understand basic math. Nevada’s schools are in desperate need of additional resources, but Adam Laxalt is focused only on subtraction.”
(Las Vegas, NV)— Nevada Attorney General and candidate for Governor Adam Laxalt may be holding a roundtable discussion with Nevada teachers this afternoon, but he has already shut an overwhelming majority of educators out of his policy-making. Laxalt’s published platform would undo recent gains for Nevada schools, including the elimination of Governor Brian Sandoval’s signature accomplishment, passage of the commerce tax for schools.
“Teachers from West Virginia to Oklahoma have taken to the streets this week to shine a light on their states’ neglect of public education,” said Ruben Murillo, Jr., President of the Nevada State Education Association and a special education teacher in Clark County.
According to the National Education Association’s rankings of the states from 2016, Nevada ranks 47th in funding per student, behind both Oklahoma and West Virginia.
Another main plank of Adam Laxalt’s backward education agenda is an expansion of vouchers. Laxalt’s proposal would strip money from classrooms to fund a risky voucher scheme to pay private and corporate, for-profit schools.
Natha Anderson is the President of the Washoe Education Association and a high school English teacher. “Nevada leaders have the responsibility to properly fund our public education system. Any effort to move public dollars into private and for-profit schools hurts kids, schools, and communities. Teachers get it, and so should our next Governor.”
In January, the NSEA Board of Directors unanimously endorsed Chris Giunchigliani for Governor. Giunchigliani has fought for public school students for more than four decades as a special education teacher, union leader, and legislator. Adam Laxalt refused to participate in NSEA’s endorsement process.
