Why I joined the suit to stop Nevada vouchers

My three children attend Las Vegas public magnet and charter schools. Like most public-school families, we have had many good times and some not-so-good times.

But we have had great relationships with classroom teachers, school administrators and other school staff. My children have learned to read, to solve math problems, to be curious about science, history, art and music. They’ve made many friends and so have I.

I’ve also seen the other side of the coin. That’s inevitable given that Nevada is ranked last among the 50 states when it comes to public education. Our schools are under-funded, under-resourced and under-appreciated. For example, my oldest son told me he’s been assigned to classrooms in which there are not enough desks for every child.

As a parent of a special-needs child, I’ve talked with other parents and we all agree that the school district is in the unenviable position of trying to do more with less: trying to provide federally mandated, appropriate services to our children but often lacking the resources to do so.

Even with all that, I don’t want to leave the public schools. I was raised in the public schools here, and I want to help fix them. I know many parents feel as if our local schools are failing us, but we can’t just throw up our hands and give up.

The situation isn’t hopeless — we have educators and parents who are invested and who want to help our children succeed. That’s why I joined other parents in a lawsuit to stop the implementation of our state’s voucher program. I don’t want taxpayer money to leave the public schools and instead be spent on private education through so-called Education Savings Accounts.

Our schools can’t afford to lose the millions of dollars they desperately need to educate the 460,000 students in public schools. If anything, our schools need more money to provide the programs and services our English-language learners, special-education students and youngsters facing challenges — in fact all of our students — need to succeed academically.

And that’s not all. Our state constitution clearly says that the funds our legislators earmark for public education must be spent in our public schools. In addition to being wrong for our children and wrong for our schools, the ESA voucher program is unconstitutional.

A lower court judge ruled in our favor and stopped implementation of the voucher program. Now, on July 29, the Nevada Supreme Court will hear why that judge’s decision was right.

I know and value the role public education plays in Nevada and in every state. The public schools prepare our children, regardless of their backgrounds, to become productive citizens making positive contributions and wise decisions that benefit all of us. Weakening our schools will weaken our society. That’s why I joined the suit.

Jenn Carr writes from Las Vegas.