Outside groups allowed more time to file briefs in ESA challenge

CARSON CITY — The state Supreme Court extended the briefing schedule in the appeal over Nevada’s education savings account to accommodate outside groups wanting to file friend-of-court briefs.

Written arguments in the case now won’t be completed until the end of April, three weeks later than originally set, the state treasurer’s office said Thursday.

Justices this month agreed to accept amicus briefs from the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Southern Poverty Law Center and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which support challenges to the law filed by a group of Nevada parents.

Friend-of-court briefs against the law also were filed by the Nevada State Education Association and National Education Association; the National School Boards Association and Nevada Association of School Boards; and five plaintiffs represented by the American Civil Liberties Union who are challenging the program in a separate lawsuit.

Another group of parents who favor the law filed a separate brief urging the court to uphold the law.

Passed by the Republican-controlled 2015 Legislature, Senate Bill 302 allows parents to tap into the state portion of per-pupil funding to pay for tuition at private schools or other educational programs such as homeschooling. The money amounts to roughly $5,100 per year, per student. It is put into education savings accounts administered by the state treasurer’s office.

Treasurer Dan Schwartz said more than 5,000 applications have been received, though the program was blocked in January by District Judge James Wilson, who ruled it unconstitutional because it took money away from funding that lawmakers deemed essential for public schools.

The law is considered the most aggressive school choice program in the nation and is being watched closely by backers and opponents around the country.

Contact Sandra Chereb at schereb@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3821. Find @SandraChereb on Twitter.