Public Comment: 2.11.25 Subcommittees on K-12/Higher Education/CIP

NSEA is concerned about the fast-growing budget of the State Public Charter School Authority (SPSCA) and schools under their purview. 

Since 2017, NSEA has been asking for greater control and oversight of charter schools, especially given the separate and unequal dynamics between charter schools and neighborhood public schools. In 2019, NSEA sponsored and the Committee on Education introduced AB462, a proposed moratorium on new charter schools in Nevada. In a political compromise, the legislature amended AB462 to require the Charter School Authority to develop and implement a growth management plan. However, since its passage, the growth in charter schools has been supercharged. Since the spring of 2019, SPCSA schools have grown by over 25,000 students, or 57%. In that same time, district schools have lost over 40,000 students, about 9%. The State Public Charter School Authority is now the second largest school district in the state. It’s clear the Charter School Authority has not honored the legislative intent behind AB462 to manage charter growth. This was glaringly apparent last year, when the Charter School Authority approved a 1460 student school right next door to Alice Smith Elementary School, a WCSD school at 72% capacity. WCSD has indicated this action will force the closure of at least one WCSD elementary school. 

Meanwhile, NSEA has also advocated to level the playing field between charters and neighborhood public schools. While the legislature has taken some action over the years, there remain fundamental inequities. For example, 100% of full-time teachers at traditional public schools are required to be fully licensed. Not so with charters. 

When a student leaves a neighborhood school for a charter school, the public funding for that student goes with them, but the neighborhood school’s overhead costs remain. Charter schools can exacerbate existing inequities by creating barriers to entry for vulnerable students. This could be as simple as students with the greatest support self-selecting into charters, effectively siphoning away students with the most engaged parents, leaving students with greater needs and fewer resources. Also, charter schools are much quicker to expel students with behavior problems and/or other issues, sending these students back to their neighborhood public schools. This has created a two-tiered system of public education. While the SPCSA has worked on inequities in their student population, charters educate a significantly lower percentage of students with IEPs, students who are low-income, and English learners. 

As the Charter School Authority comes before this committee for their operating budget, NSEA encourages the committee to ask these tough questions and demand greater accountability from the SPCSA.