Major education reform bill passes Nevada Assembly
CARSON CITY — Lawmakers passed major education reform legislation that headed to Gov. Joe Lombardo’s desk in the final hours of the 83rd legislative session.
The Assembly passed in a 38-4 vote Senate Bill 460, the merged version of Democratic Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro and Lombardo’s sweeping education bills.
Democratic assemblymembers Natha Anderson, Selena La Rue Hatch, Brittney Miller and Erica Mosca voted in opposition.
A heavily amended bill, SB 460 was the result of compromise from Democrats and Republicans in an effort to make meaningful reform to the Silver State’s education system, which has consistently ranked near the bottom in the U.S.
Cannizzaro originally proposed legislation that would expand pre-kindergarten programs, hold charter schools accountable and establish a teacher-to-administrator ratio. In Lombardo’s original legislation, he pushed for transportation for charter schools and expanded open enrollment.
But with Democrats as the majority in the Legislature and the Republican governor with his veto power, compromise was necessary to successfully pass legislation.
On Sunday, a 154-page amendment to Cannizzaro’s bill was released, with parts of the governor’s Assembly Bill 584 absorbed into it. The Senate passed the bill unanimously Sunday though further changes were expected.
The Assembly Committee on Education approved it Monday afternoon, with additional changes that included reducing the fiscal impact from $135.5 million to $42.6 million in the general fund, and removing Cannizzaro’s proposed requirement of a 17-to-1 teacher-to-administrator ratio.
Democratic Assemblymembers Selena La Rue Hatch and Reuben D’Silva — both educators – were the lone no votes in the committee, citing concerns including the proposed state takeover of underperforming schools.
“I think if we had more time, we probably could have worked to get a much, much better bill,” La Rue Hatch said in the hearing Monday. “We don’t have that time, so unfortunately even though I appreciate the work that the chair and others have done, I am going to be a no on this bill.”
Senate Bill 460 focuses on increasing transparency and accountability of school districts, improving recruitment and retention of teachers, providing funding for literacy intervention programs and expanding pre-K options and open enrollment.
The legislation creates a statewide accountability system for school districts and charter schools, and gives rankings to both the district and individual schools. The state would intervene in districts and schools that consistently underperform and provide them with support. It also allows the state to impose corrective actions, such as replacing school or district leadership and assuming state control over management.
The bipartisan legislation also aims to lower vacancy rates in school districts; Clark County, for instance, has consistently struggled to fill positions, with over 1,000 vacancies reported in the 2024-2025 school year.
It creates the Commission on Recruitment and Retention, which will recommend strategies to address Nevada’s teacher shortage and high turnover rate. The legislation also creates a system of open enrollment, which includes transportation for students in low performing schools to a school outside of their zone of attendance.
Once passed, the bill would create the Education Service Center, a state agency that would manage and provide services for school districts. Steve Canavero, interim superintendent of public instruction, said Nevada is one of 11 states that doesn’t have a federally recognized intermediary that sits between the state department of education and local agencies.
About 53 percent of Nevada schools currently would qualify as underperforming and be given a one or two-star status, according to Canavero. But it’s unclear how many schools would be underperforming by the time parts of the bill go into effect. Schools would be identified as Around 2029 or 2030 is when schools would be identified as persistently underperforming, he said.
The goal is for schools to show improvement over the next two years, and those that later qualify as a one or two-start school would have to develop an improvement plan and would be eligible for additional state support provided through the Education Service Center.
The bill proposes changing existing law that states that each public school in a district of more than 100,000 students can be deemed to be a “local school precinct,” which can operate using site-based decision making in which some responsibilities are transferred from the district to the individual school precinct. The bill proposes repealing that authority.
Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.