Gov. Joe Lombardo on Friday unveiled his omnibus education bill, which follows promises the Republican governor made during his January State of the State address to make it easier for students at low-performing schools to transfer to a different school while extending funding for staff raises and transportation to charter schools.

According to a summary of the bill reviewed by The Nevada Independent prior to the press conference, it also establishes a new fund for bonuses for high-performing educators and includes efforts to improve student literacy a few years before a requirement kicks in that could lead to huge numbers of third graders being held back if they can’t read.

Another section of the bill focuses on increasing accountability for schools, which the governor has been calling for since 2023 when the Legislature approved a historic, $2 billion increase in K-12 education funding. That was a 26 percent increase over the previous budget cycle, although Nevada’s average per-pupil funding still remains about $4,000 behind the national average. 

He shared details of the bill during a Friday morning press conference at Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon, a K-12 charter school in Henderson, alongside interim State Superintendent of Public Instruction Steve Canavero and school choice advocate Valeria Gurr. 

Lombardo said his legislation is centered around the principle that no Nevada student “should be trapped in a failing school because of their ZIP code or held back because of how much their parents or guardians make.”

“This isn't just a policy goal,” he said. “This is my commitment to you and to every one of these kids seated here today and throughout our entire districts, throughout the state, because we know what's at stake: the future success of our students, the strength of our communities, and the long-term health of Nevada's economy.”

Lombardo did not provide a cost estimate for the bill, which still needs to be introduced and discussed in the little more than one month remaining of the Legislature’s 120-day session.

Hanging over Lombardo’s education proposal is concerns on the state’s economic outlook ahead of Nevada’s Economic Forum meeting next week, which will shed more light on revenue will be lower than expected and cuts will need to be made. 

Lombardo said he will do his best to keep K-12 education funding whole through the process. 

Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) is expected to introduce her own education omnibus bill, which includes a proposal for universal pre-K. Lombardo did not specify whether he would support her bill. 

Here are some highlights from the bill:  

Open enrollment 

Lombardo’s bill aims to expand open enrollment policies that allow students to attend a school other than the one they are zoned for based on their residence, such as a different district school, charter school or private school, and provide transportation support for students attending low-performing schools. 

It continues Lombardo’s commitment to expand school choice in Nevada after failing to deliver on a promise in 2023 to grow the Opportunity Scholarship program for private school seekers, and may be easier for Democrats to support.

Nevada law allows school boards to divide their districts into zones and assign which schools a student should attend based on where they live. State statute leaves the door open for students to attend different schooling options such as public charter schools, which are publicly funded and free to attend, or opt for private schools, microschools, online schools and more. 

Open enrollment policies already exist with some limitations across the state. Policies in Clark and Washoe counties prioritize students who are zoned for a school before allowing additional students to apply for any open seats. The districts use a lottery system when the number of applications for a school exceeds availability. 

But these open enrollment policies typically don’t offer transportation for students who don’t already live near their new schools — raising equity concerns that it is functionally not available to students who can’t line up their own rides to school.

During the press conference, Canavero said school districts would be required to provide transportation to students zoned for low-performing schools who want to attend a different school rated 3 stars or higher, or provide a subsidy to these students. Canavero, who took over as interim state superintendent on April 14, said he didn’t know enough about the bill and Lombardo's budget to answer whether the bill would increase districts’ transportation funding and he couldn’t answer how much it could cost districts to provide transportation to these students.

He added that the bill would require school districts to prioritize these students in their open enrollment application process.

Lombardo previously proposed to expand open enrollment as part of AB400, his 2023 education omnibus bill, but it was amended out.

Assm. Selena Torres-Fossett (D-Las Vegas) is pushing her own open enrollment bill, AB533, which would create a standardized process statewide. It would also include an appeals process and require more transparency around transfer acceptances and denials.

Charter school funding and educator bonuses

Lombardo’s 2023 education bill appropriated $14 million in one-time funding for charter school transportation. It was the first time these schools had received dedicated funding that charter school advocates said would allow them to attract students who otherwise couldn’t attend because of transportation barriers. 

Lombardo’s new education bill would increase that funding to $17 million over the next two years and would add the funding to the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan — the main funding mechanism for the state’s K-12 schools. 

The bill would also appropriate $28 million over the next two years to cover raises for charter school educators after they were left out of a 2023 bill, SB231, that created a $250 million matching fund to help districts provide raises for their teachers and support staff. 

In addition, Lombardo’s bill would establish a dedicated fund that would provide bonuses to some high-performing teachers, support staff and administrators. The Excellence in Education Fund would draw from any surplus from the state’s Education Stabilization Account, an emergency fund for K-12 schools.

Lombardo’s chief of staff told lawmakers in January that the Excellence in Education Fund would have no more than $30 million per year. 

Literacy 

To improve reading skills statewide, the bill would allocate $1 million annually so parents could access state-approved literacy services for their children. It also mandates the integration of the Science of Reading — a research-based approach to teach students how to read that emphasizes phonics and building up students’ vocabulary — in teacher preparation programs at state-funded colleges and universities and in ongoing training for elementary school teachers. 

As of 2024, 40 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws requiring schools follow the Science of Reading best practices, according to an analysis by Education Week. 

Nevada students’ reading proficiency rates suffered during the pandemic, and have yet to return to their previous levels. About half of high school students, 38 percent of middle school students and 42 percent elementary school students are proficient in English Language Arts, according to data from the Nevada Department of Education.

The initiatives build on his work last session, including reinstating a Gov. Brian Sandoval-era retention policy that would hold back students who aren’t able to read at grade level by the end of the third grade. That retention policy would begin in 2028. Lombardo’s 2023 bill also appropriated $140 million for the Read by Grade 3 program. 

Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia have similar retention policies. Some studies have found that the policies have led to improvements in student test scores and less remediation down the line. But some critics say if not done properly, the policies could have negative consequences or no effect on students.

A 2023 state audit estimated that more than half of third graders could be held back in the coming years if there’s no significant improvement in reading proficiency. 

Education accountability

Following Lombardo’s focus on increased accountability among schools, the bill would establish a framework to track and rate school districts’ performance similar to the state’s existing star rating system for schools.

Canavero said school districts deemed to be low-performing will be placed on a two-year probation. If they don’t show improvement after that time, he said school districts could be subjected to state oversight or intervention, such as assigning a state monitor for the district. He suggested cities and counties may, in some cases, assume control of underperforming schools in their boundaries. 

The bill also calls for moving up the release data for public school accountability reports so families and educators can have that information earlier in the school year. 

Updated at 4:00 p.m. on 4/25/25 to add details from Lombardo’s press conference.