Voucher plan

Outside of Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval’s circle of advisers, no one knows a thing about his plan to establish a school voucher system.

But the mere fact Mr. Sandoval has advocated one has led to a predictable response from many in the public education establishment: opposition.

At last week’s State Board of Education meeting, state Superintendent Keith Rheault said the voucher system, however it might work, would be far too expensive considering Nevada’s bottomed-out economy, the likelihood of more spending reductions at public schools and Mr. Sandoval’s firm opposition to tax increases.

Because Nevada has some of the weakest school-choice laws in the country, here’s a primer on vouchers: They let parents take some tax money the state would spend to educate their child at a public campus and spend it on private school tuition instead. In other parts of the country, vouchers have succeeded in giving parents education options they otherwise wouldn’t have, and in holding failing public schools accountable for providing poor instruction.

Vouchers are one way of imposing competition on public-school monopolies — a concept that’s central to Mr. Sandoval’s plans to reform and improve Nevada’s public schools.

Using a $5,200 per year, per student funding average, Mr. Rheault calculated that the state would end up transferring $100 million to private schools to pay for the 20,000 students currently enrolled in state private schools.

It’s true that if vouchers are extended to students currently enrolled in private schools, the program could create a new expense for the state. But there are plenty of ways to minimize that cost. As conservative activist Chuck Muth points out, previous voucher proposals in Carson City have involved means testing or phasing in the credit for existing private school students.

It’s worth noting, however, that the parents of these students have been paying taxes into the public school system for years without ever taking anything out.

That Nevada finally has a governor who favors school choice is a good thing. We’d like to see him shore up Nevada’s weak charter school statute and loosen its burdensome regulatory structure, as well.

But at this point, Mr. Rheault’s criticisms are premature. Let’s have a debate on Mr. Sandoval’s plan, by all means. But let’s get all the specifics first.