Public Education Advocates Speak Up for Public Schools, Respond to ‘School Choice’ Rally

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Las Vegas – Today, supporters for “school choice,” gather to support vouchers in Nevada. This event coincides with National School Choice week. A coalition of organizations supporting public education released the following statements:

“Parents and educators are in agreement – the best choice for Nevada is a quality public education for all students regardless of zip code or family income. We should not be committing public dollars to unaccountable private schools when that revenue can be better invested in strengthening our public education system with proven programs that help all students,” said Ruben Murillo, Jr., NSEA President.

Amy Rose, Legal Director of the ACLU of Nevada said: “Many of the ESA eligible schools engage in discriminatory practices on a daily basis. Private schools in Nevada will reject or dis-enroll a student who is LGBTQ, or whose parents are LGBTQ. As one ESA eligible school puts it, students must ‘refrain from participating in. . . homosexuality or other sexual perversions.’ Another will refuse admission to any student for simply ‘supporting or condoning . . . homosexual activity.’  Moreover, many of these schools refuse to accommodate students with special needs, and will not accept a student unless they adhere to a certain faith.”

Sylvia Lazos, Policy Director of Educate Nevada Now stated, “Nevada has one of the most regressive school funding formulas in the nation, and it shows when we see reports on how our students perform, especially students who are English language learners, or come from low-income families. Educate Nevada Now is encouraged by recent accomplishments by Governor Sandoval and others who have fought for additional funding for public schools, but the work has just begun. Private school vouchers will only drain resources from our already-strapped public schools. And they’re set up to benefit only the wealthiest Nevada families who can supplement the vouchers to pay for private school tuition. Let’s ensure that all Nevada children and families do have a choice — to attend quality public school.”

Annette Magnus, Executive Director of Battle Born Progress stated, “vouchers are wrong for Nevada. Public schools have been in desperate need of funding for years and giving that money to private schools is not the answer. Nevada’s education system constantly ranks last in the nation and Nevada’s top priority needs to be fixing and funding our public schools properly. The Nevada Legislature needs to ensure that our public money stays with our public schools.”

Contact for Educate Nevada Now:

Sylvia Lazos, Policy Director

Sylvia.lazos@gmail.com

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