EDITORIAL: Choice battle

The foes of educational freedom are up in arms that the state treasurer hasn’t held a wake for the governor’s school choice plan. In fact, there’s no need to do so.

An attorney representing the hand-picked parents who challenged Nevada’s school choice legislation in court has warned of legal action against GOP Treasurer Dan Schwartz, who is still signing up potential participants for the state’s “educational savings account” program even though no money currently exists to pay for it.

The threat smacks of desperation.

Nevada lawmakers in 2015 — at the urging of Gov. Brian Sandoval — passed Senate Bill 302 allowing parents to divert a portion of the state’s per-pupil school funding into “education savings accounts” they could spend on private-school tuition, tutoring or other learning-related expenses for their children. The intent was to provide an escape hatch for families looking to flee struggling public schools — and to put pressure on traditional campuses to boost achievement.

Defenders of the failing status quo sued to block the ESA program and the matter eventually ended up in front of the Nevada Supreme Court. In September, the justices upheld the constitutionality of the choice plan, but ruled that lawmakers had illegally shifted money into the endeavor.

The ruling set the stage for the 2017 Legislature to satisfy the court’s concerns. But last month’s elections, in which Democrats retook majorities in both the Assembly and state Senate, put the short-term future of the ESA program in doubt. Not a single Democrat supported the choice model in 2015 and the party has a long track record in Carson City of taking its orders on education issues from teacher unions and other entrenched interests.

Nevertheless, some 8,000 parents have signed up for the stalled ESA program since its creation and Gov. Sandoval insists he will fight next session to ensure the state’s families have more educational opportunities. Mr. Schwartz continues to accept applications in case lawmakers revive the choice option. The more parents who sign up, the more difficult it becomes politically for Democratic lawmakers to fiscally starve the measure.

Perhaps that explains the letter from Las Vegas attorney Bradley Schrager to the state attorney general demanding that Mr. Schwartz shut down the application process. Mr. Schrager, whose firm led one of the legal challenges to the ESA plan, argues the treasurer’s efforts are “deliberately misleading” and an illegal attempt to unilaterally “implement” SB 302 in violation of a District Court order.

The implication coursing through Mr. Schrager’s letter is that the state Supreme Court ruled ESAs to be illegal. That’s a profound misreading of the decision. Furthermore, Mr. Schwartz isn’t implementing anything and has no power to do so. He’s simply allowing parents seeking options for their kids beyond a foundering school system to express their interest in this specific reform.

In response to Mr. Schrager’s missive, the AGs office has asked the District Court to clarify the matter. Fine. But all this hand wringing seems more an effort by school choice opponents to mute parental support for the ESA plan than a legitimate legal concern.