VICTOR JOECKS: Hundreds poised to lose their Opportunity Scholarships

Gov. Joe Lombardo campaigned as a champion of school choice. But unless he does something quickly, Nevada’s sole choice program will soon shrink dramatically.

Last year, more than 1,400 students received an Opportunity Scholarship. The money helped low-income families pay for private school tuition. Unless something changes, hundreds of those families won’t be receiving a scholarship for the upcoming school year.

“I have more than 400 children who think they’re going to private school that, unless we get funding, I can’t send them,” Michele Morgan, the founder of Silver State Scholarships, said. “That is a travesty.”

She continued, “Families don’t know yet because we are desperately waiting for the governor’s office to do something to help us.”

This shouldn’t be happening. Not with Lombardo in the Governor’s Mansion. He proposed a modest expansion of Opportunity Scholarships. The tax credits for the program are limited to $6.7 million this year. Lombardo wanted to increase that to $50 million over the current biennium, with substantial growth in future years. Compared with the $2 billion-plus in new funding for public education he proposed, that was table scraps.

Shamefully, Democrats objected. Never mind that the program helps the low-income, predominately minority students they claim to care about. Many students turn to the program “to escape bullying,” Morgan said. A scholarship “opens up doors for them that they never dreamed possible.”

Lombardo was supposed to be a champion for these children. He could have used his veto pen and platform to pressure Democrats who opposed school choice. This would have been a winning political issue. Nationally, more than 70 percent of voters support it. Instead, Lombardo sacrificed the future of these children to push through a stadium subsidy for the Oakland A’s. What a betrayal.

In previous sessions, the Legislature passed one-time tax credits for Opportunity Scholarships to supplement the base level of support. That didn’t happen this year. That left scholarship-granting organizations competing over an insufficient pool of funds. Morgan said her tax credit applications were denied because another group took all the available credits.

Valeria Gurr, Nevada’s foremost champion of school choice, believes the number of kids not receiving scholarships could reach 600.

“I’m sick to my stomach,” said Gurr, also a senior fellow with the American Federation of Children. She continued, “Sending back another 600 kids to a broken public system is not part of the solution.”

Not only would it be bad for these kids, it would also exacerbate the ongoing teacher shortage.

What makes this even more absurd is that the scholarships are an incredible deal for taxpayers.

Last year, the average student received around $6,300. That’s less than half the $12,900 per-pupil Nevada will spend this upcoming school year. Nor are these scholarships going to rich families. The average household income among scholarship recipients is less than $60,000.

Morgan and Gurr both said Lombardo’s office is looking for a solution, but time is running out.

“We’re at the mercy of the governor now,” Morgan said.

Given Lombardo’s past choices, that’s a terrible place to be. Governor, please don’t abandon these children again.

Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on Twitter.