EDITORIAL: Expanding school choice for the poor

Nevadans want more school choice. The long waiting lists at magnet schools and charter schools are more than enough proof of demand for public education options beyond traditional neighborhood schools. But some families have more choices than others, and it’s up to state lawmakers to guarantee that all Nevada children have educational alternatives.

Charter schools are public schools that receive roughly the same amount of per-student funding from the state as district-operated campuses, but charter schools have more freedom to innovate and operate under a different educational focus. Many charter schools have opened across the Las Vegas Valley in recent years, but as Clark County School District Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky noted last month during a NewsFeed panel discussion sponsored by the Review-Journal and the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce, those charter schools largely are opening throughout middle-class and upper-middle-class suburbs.

Because charter schools are not obligated to provide transportation to students, these campuses are too far away from many struggling neighborhoods — and the underperforming schools that are located within them — for low-income families to seek enrollment.

Senate Bill 491, under consideration in the Nevada Legislature, would help remedy that. SB491 would allocate $20 million during the 2015-17 biennium to a nonprofit organization dedicated to recruiting proven, high-achieving charter schools to poverty-stricken neighborhoods. The bill would require the selected nonprofit to raise a matching $20 million — meaning the effort would get at least $40 million in funding.

One of the great challenges all charters face, however, is securing a classroom building. The state provides charter schools with per-student funding for instruction, but charters do not get capital funds for construction (although they now have access to state bonding). They must repay construction debt or pay building leases from their per-student funding. One reason (beyond demand) that charters are locating in the Las Vegas Valley suburbs: The availability of existing, vacant commercial and office space for conversion to classrooms. The urban core lacks so many suitable locations.

Assembly Bill 448, which would create Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposed Achievement School District for consistently underperforming schools, includes a provision to eventually convert these public schools into charters. We think that transition should be allowed to take place more quickly through a “parent trigger” law that allows families to vote to convert public schools to charter schools — and spares charters from construction costs.

But SB491 is a good start toward spreading charter schools to every part of every Nevada city. The Legislature should pass it.