Nevada is latest state to pass private school choice program

Nevada’s legislature has passed a law meant to help low-income students pay for private schools, making the Silver State the latest in a growing number of states to offer private school choice programs.

The bill passed both houses on party-line votes and now heads to Gov. Brian Sandoval (R), who proposed the legislation and hailed its passage as a “great day for students across Nevada.”

The program will offer businesses a total of up to $10.5 million in tax credits over the next two years in exchange for donations to qualifying scholarship organizations. Scholarship organizations then may dole out up to $7,755 per student per year to help pay private-school tuition.

Eligible children would be those from families with a household income under 300 percent of the poverty level — or about $73,000 a year for a family of four, according to the Associated Press.

Republicans argued that it would offer poor children a way to escape low-performing schools, while Democrats called it a voucher program in disguise that would divert money that could otherwise be used to improve public schools.

Democrats also said the bill failed to target the lowest-income children. More than 70 percent of children statewide are expected to be eligible for the money, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

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