Hutchison plans education reforms with Sandoval
State Sen. Mark Hutchison says he and GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval will propose a package of education reforms — from ending social promotion to giving parents a choice about whether to send their children to taxpayer-subsidized private schools — in exchange for increasing K-12 spending.
Hutchison, R-Las Vegas, who is strongly backed by Sandoval in his bid for lieutenant governor, said he and the governor also will operate as a team, leading the state toward more economic prosperity.
“I think the most important things that we should be focused on is education and jobs,” Hutchison said in an interview with the Review-Journal editorial board Wednesday. “Education is to the state what defense is to the federal government. We ought to get something right.”
Hutchison is the GOP nominee for the state’s No. 2 job. He’s being challenged by Assemblywoman Lucy Flores, D-Las Vegas, who is backed by U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Sandoval has said he plans to serve out his second four-year term if he wins re-election on Nov. 4 as expected with the Democratic Party putting up no strong challenger. But Reid is taking no chances, hoping to sideline a potential Sandoval bid when Reid runs for re-election in 2016.
Sandoval, a former federal judge, also could receive another judgeship, Cabinet post or run for vice president, but would only consider such plans if a GOP governor, such as Hutchison, would take over.
In the Review-Journal interview, Hutchison talked as if he and Sandoval would enjoy a governing partnership with the governor possibly delegating issues for him to take on. Now, the lieutenant governor serves as president of the state Senate and sits economic, tourism and transportation boards.
During the 2013 legislative session, Hutchison noted, the governor was able to pump another $500 million into education funding, to add $50 million for English language learning. The money also expanded all-day kindergarten. The 2015 legislation could make game-changing moves to boost education while making reforms, Hutchison said.
As an example, he said the Sandoval team would find revenue to increase education spending, although both men oppose Question 3 on the Nov. 4 ballot. The so called education initiative would create a margins tax on companies making $1 million or more in annual revenues whether or not the companies are profitable.
Hutchison said economic growth in Nevada already is boosting revenue, including the drone industry after Nevada was chosen as one of top testing states in the nation.
But Hutchison said increasing education spending alone isn’t enough to improve the quality of teachers, students and the classroom. Instead, he said he backs higher starting salaries for teachers who come from the best schools and show a record of achievement. He also backs merit pay.
As for students, they should be able to read at grade level or higher by the time they’re in third grade.
For teachers, he said it should be easier to fire bad ones and hire those just out of college or in the “Teaching for America” program that sends the best and brightest to schools that need help.
And parents should be given a choice between sending their children to public schools of government-subsidized private schools to encourage competition.
Hutchison said he and Sandoval will not back more spending without simultaneous reforms.
No state “has ever been able to get enough education funding to solve all the problems — or reforms to solve all the problems,” he said. “It’s always been a marriage of the two.”
Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Find her on Twitter: @lmyerslvrj.
