LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Governor Joe Lombardo on Thursday doubled down on his first-term pledge to be the "education governor," saying schools will be a top priority if he's re-elected to a second term in November.
The governor's comments came at a town hall with education advocates, moderated by Latin Chamber of Commerce President Peter Guzman. The panel included several advocates for school choice, including Valeria Gurr, a senior fellow at the American Federation for Children, and Erin Phillips, president and CEO of the group Power 2 Parent.
Lombardo touted some of his first-term successes, including a massive $2 billion boost to school funding passed by the 2023 Legislature. But he said education wasn't just about money, it was also about the accountability that came with the new dollars.
"And we invested in the education system, one of the largest investments in Nevada history in the education system," Lombardo said. "We've provided accountability, from the teachers all the way up to the district directors and administrators and the superintendents, and holding them accountable for performance, for student performance."
Part of that accountability includes reports about statewide and local education performance. Reports released this week showed some progress, but officials acknowledged there was still work to do.
Lombardo said another big achievement in education was school safety.
"More importantly, we gave the kids in the classroom the ability to feel safe," he said. "If you have a bad actor, we're able to remove that bad actor. Previously, the bad actor stayed in the same environment. Now we're able to remove them, give them a performance plan, bring them back into the environment once we're satisfied with that performance, and give to other kids in that environment the ability to feel safe so they can learn."
WATCH | Gov. Joe Lombardo talks about progress in education
Several of the panel members, including Gurr and state Sen. Carrie Buck, R-Clark County, thanked Lombardo for opting in to the Education Freedom Tax Cut, in which individuals can get a tax cut of up to $1,700 for donations to scholarship-granting organizations, which use the money to help kids with tuition at private schools, tutoring, or help for disabled students. Governors in about 30 states opted in to the program.
Lombardo said, if re-elected, he will try to adjust the state's funding formula so no teachers are laid off, despite falling enrollments. Lombardo said school districts could take advantage of fewer students to lower class sizes.
"First, you've got to go through the legislative process to adjust the funding formula," he said. "But the silver lining in this is classroom sizes. One of the detriments to education, you'll see in every study, is there's too many kids for an individual teacher to perform."
Lombardo said he wouldn't take his eye off the issue if he's re-elected.
"I want everybody to realize how important education is," he said. "I will continue to make it a priority for the next four years, as we work through this process. ...It's not anything that goes away, you know, like we're satisfied. Oh, we passed a significant piece of legislation. OK, we're done. Let's look at some other venue. Education will always be first and foremost in the core of what I'm hoping to accomplish as your governor."
Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford, who is challenging Lombardo for re-election, criticized Lombardo's education record in a statement.
"Nevada deserves better than more empty promises from the man who backed Donald Trump’s gutting of the Department of Education and depriving our state of $1 billion annually in education funding – our students, their teachers, and their families need real solutions and someone who produces real results," reads the statement from Ford, who once worked as a middle school math teacher.
"That’s why my education plan focuses on increasing our per-pupil funding to the national average, making teacher salaries competitive with those in other states, reducing class sizes, and supporting the public schools that Lombardo wants to defund. As Governor, I will also pass guaranteed school meals for every student, to put money back in parents’ wallets at a time when the Lombardo-Trump economy has run them dry.”
Lombardo vetoed a bill that would have provided universal school meals, saying it would lead to food waste. Currently, school meals are available to any student who qualifies for that assistance.
Do you have a question about Nevada politics? Ask Steve at Steve.Sebelius@ktnv.com, or by clicking the banner below.
