Rare compromise on school policy puts students over partisanship
SUN EDITORIAL
CHRISTOPHER DEVARGAS (2023)
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, center, and Jhone Ebert, right, then Nevada’s superintendent of public instruction and now the superintendent of the Clark County School District, visit a pre-K classroom at Mater Academy Mountain Vista in 2023. Senate Bill 460, which Lombardo signed into law at the end of the 2025 legislative session, provides for the expansion of eligibility and funding for prekindergarten and early-childhood educational opportunities in Nevada.
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, center, and Jhone Ebert, right, then Nevada’s superintendent of public instruction and now the superintendent of the Clark County School District, visit a pre-K classroom at Mater Academy Mountain Vista in 2023. Senate Bill 460, which Lombardo signed into law at the end of the 2025 legislative session, provides for the expansion of eligibility and funding for prekindergarten and early-childhood educational opportunities in Nevada.
Education policy is a minefield that too often prioritizes partisan political gamesmanship over the needs of students. But with Nevada’s K-12 public education system consistently ranking near the bottom among U.S. states, the time for policy leadership that placed student needs first was long overdue.
This week, Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro and Gov. Joe Lombardo took a significant step forward by coming together for the ceremonial signing of an education reform bill that puts students’ needs at the center of reform.
Senate Bill 460, hammered out in the closing days of the legislative session, is not perfect. No sweeping education package ever is. Yet the fact that Nevada’s Democratic-controlled Legislature and a Republican governor with often-diverging visions of public education found common ground is worth celebrating.
Most welcome is the expansion of eligibility and funding for prekindergarten and early-childhood educational opportunities.
The law broadens eligibility to children from low-income households, those with disabilities, English learners and other underserved groups. It also allocates $9 million to expand early childhood facilities.
This is not just compassionate policy, it is smart policy. Research consistently shows that investments in early childhood education yield the highest returns of any education spending, setting children on a path toward greater achievement and stronger long-term outcomes. Nevada has lagged other states in access to quality pre-K services. This law signals the state is serious about catching up.
The bill also strengthens accountability, creating a framework for state intervention in chronically underperforming schools.
Clark County School District Superintendent Jhone Ebert praised the changes as “the framework that helps us get better at getting better.” Honest evaluation, paired with clear steps for progress, is exactly what Nevada’s families deserve.
Other provisions focus on fundamentals: requiring K-3 teachers to train in the “science of reading,” giving staff more protection when acting to keep students safe on campus and requiring the Clark County School District to offer incentives to teachers who take hard-to-staff positions. None are silver bullets, but together they reflect a willingness to address systemic challenges, even at the expense of partisan talking points.
Like many policymakers on the right, Lombardo has long advocated for sending a larger and larger share of taxpayer dollars to private and charter schools, an approach that is unsupported by consistent evidence to result in better educational outcomes.
He was wise to recognize that his proposal to convert failing public schools into charters was not the proverbial hill upon which to make his last stand. Such an experiment would have drained even more resources from public schools that often are already the most in need.
In exchange, Democrats gave ground on Lombardo’s legitimate requests to meet the needs of students currently attending charter schools, accepting taxpayer-supported transportation for them and preserving some of Lombardo’s proposed education-accountability measures. Both sides compromised, and the end result reflects balance rather than winner-takes-all partisanship.
Of course, one bill will not transform a system where only one in three middle schoolers is proficient in reading and only one in four is proficient in math. Teacher shortages persist, achievement gaps remain wide and funding still falls short of what is needed to ensure equity.
But SB 460 is a start, and perhaps more importantly, a lesson in governance. In an era when lawmakers at every level of government are too often gridlocked, Nevada has shown that leaders with divergent ideologies can come together and craft something meaningful.
At the signing ceremony, Cannizzaro called the measure “one of the most comprehensive and impactful education compromises that has been passed by the Nevada Legislature in recent memory.”
She is right. And Lombardo, for his part, acknowledged that reforming a vast public school system is like trying to turn a battleship — slow, difficult and requiring patience. That humility, paired with legislative leadership’s pragmatism, should inspire continued collaboration.
Compromise rarely leaves anyone completely satisfied. But if Nevada’s leaders continue to put children ahead of political talking points, the state’s classrooms — and a future generation of Nevadans — will be far better for it.
This week, Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro and Gov. Joe Lombardo took a significant step forward by coming together for the ceremonial signing of an education reform bill that puts students’ needs at the center of reform.
Senate Bill 460, hammered out in the closing days of the legislative session, is not perfect. No sweeping education package ever is. Yet the fact that Nevada’s Democratic-controlled Legislature and a Republican governor with often-diverging visions of public education found common ground is worth celebrating.
Most welcome is the expansion of eligibility and funding for prekindergarten and early-childhood educational opportunities.
The law broadens eligibility to children from low-income households, those with disabilities, English learners and other underserved groups. It also allocates $9 million to expand early childhood facilities.
This is not just compassionate policy, it is smart policy. Research consistently shows that investments in early childhood education yield the highest returns of any education spending, setting children on a path toward greater achievement and stronger long-term outcomes. Nevada has lagged other states in access to quality pre-K services. This law signals the state is serious about catching up.
The bill also strengthens accountability, creating a framework for state intervention in chronically underperforming schools.
Clark County School District Superintendent Jhone Ebert praised the changes as “the framework that helps us get better at getting better.” Honest evaluation, paired with clear steps for progress, is exactly what Nevada’s families deserve.
Other provisions focus on fundamentals: requiring K-3 teachers to train in the “science of reading,” giving staff more protection when acting to keep students safe on campus and requiring the Clark County School District to offer incentives to teachers who take hard-to-staff positions. None are silver bullets, but together they reflect a willingness to address systemic challenges, even at the expense of partisan talking points.
Like many policymakers on the right, Lombardo has long advocated for sending a larger and larger share of taxpayer dollars to private and charter schools, an approach that is unsupported by consistent evidence to result in better educational outcomes.
He was wise to recognize that his proposal to convert failing public schools into charters was not the proverbial hill upon which to make his last stand. Such an experiment would have drained even more resources from public schools that often are already the most in need.
In exchange, Democrats gave ground on Lombardo’s legitimate requests to meet the needs of students currently attending charter schools, accepting taxpayer-supported transportation for them and preserving some of Lombardo’s proposed education-accountability measures. Both sides compromised, and the end result reflects balance rather than winner-takes-all partisanship.
Of course, one bill will not transform a system where only one in three middle schoolers is proficient in reading and only one in four is proficient in math. Teacher shortages persist, achievement gaps remain wide and funding still falls short of what is needed to ensure equity.
But SB 460 is a start, and perhaps more importantly, a lesson in governance. In an era when lawmakers at every level of government are too often gridlocked, Nevada has shown that leaders with divergent ideologies can come together and craft something meaningful.
At the signing ceremony, Cannizzaro called the measure “one of the most comprehensive and impactful education compromises that has been passed by the Nevada Legislature in recent memory.”
She is right. And Lombardo, for his part, acknowledged that reforming a vast public school system is like trying to turn a battleship — slow, difficult and requiring patience. That humility, paired with legislative leadership’s pragmatism, should inspire continued collaboration.
Compromise rarely leaves anyone completely satisfied. But if Nevada’s leaders continue to put children ahead of political talking points, the state’s classrooms — and a future generation of Nevadans — will be far better for it.