EDITORIAL: A judge allows the Nevada treasurer to continue signing up parents interested in taking advantage of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s Education Savings Account program

The opponents of educational freedom lost another round in court last week. A Nevada judge on Friday sided with the attorney general, clarifying a previous order to make clear that the state may continue to accept applications for a school choice plan passed by state lawmakers in 2015.

That’s good news.

The state Supreme Court in September upheld the constitutionality of the concept, but ruled the Legislature had improperly funded the so-called Education Savings Account (ESA) program. The choice plan remains on hold pending a fix at the 2017 Legislature.

In the interim, the state treasurer’s office was still allowing interested parents to sign up. The ACLU and other groups that favor limiting the options of children forced to attend failing public schools argued the treasurer was misleading parents. They threatened legal action to stop the office from taking new applications.

Last month, Attorney General Adam Laxalt asked District Judge James Wilson to clarify an injunction he issued preventing the choice plan from moving forward in the wake of the state high court ruling. Judge Wilson obliged last week, making clear that Treasurer Dan Schwartz had done nothing wrong by maintaining the sign-up register

“We’re excited and relieved for Nevada parents that there’s clarity on the constitutionality of the program as it moves forward,” said Grant Hewitt, Mr. Schwartz’s chief of staff.

The choice plan will be a major point of contention during the upcoming legislative session. The ESA program — which allows parents to divert a portion of the state’s per pupil funding into savings accounts they may use for private school tuition, books, tutoring or other educational expenses — passed along a party-line vote with no Democratic support. But the political landscape in Carson City shifted in November, with Republicans losing control of both the Assembly and state Senate.

GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval has vowed to make the survival of ESAs a priority and has included them in his budget proposal, details to come. In addition, the Clark County Education Association has signaled that it might be willing to compromise on the issue in return for advancing certain aspects of its legislative agenda.

Thousands of parents have already enrolled in the ESA program. The ACLU’s effort to scuttle the process was clearly designed to ease pressure on Democratic lawmakers. But recent polls show that school choice remains popular with parents and non-parents alike. ESAs will provide children with increased opportunities to acquire the academic tools necessary for long-term success. Lawmakers voting to kill them do so at their own risk.