EXPANDING EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES

Nevada Urged to Join National Trend in School Choice Movement

Nevada is poised to join a national trend and expand education opportunities for students. Already in 2023, seven states have passed legislation to give families additional school choice options. Nevada needs to do the same this session.

Nevada’s Opportunity Scholarship Program currently offers $8,700 scholarships to low-income students who want to attend a non-public school.

AB400, also known as the Governor Joe Lombardo Education bill, would expand the current Opportunity Scholarship Program to provide approximately 5,000 students with scholarships to attend a school of their choice. The proposal also raised the eligibility threshold to include middle-income families.

Presently, there are around 1,400 students in Nevada who are participating in the Opportunity Scholarship Program and thousands of students are awaiting access. Education freedom is changing lives - especially in the communities that often need extra support. Currently, 26 percent of the children it supports are Hispanic, while 14 percent are African American.

Minority communities need programs that expand access to individualized education. The latest National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) scores exposed major learning gaps disproportionately impacting students of color in Nevada. Hispanic and African American students in 4th grade are very behind in reading – as much as a year and half and almost three years, respectively.

But school choice is not just about academics. Families in this state want school choice for reasons beyond academic scores, like wanting to leave a school that is not meeting a student’s needs, or concerns such as bullying or safety. That’s a freedom that affluent families exercise without a second thought, but remains out of reach for families that lack the financial resources.

During a school visit with Governor Lombardo, Alicia Manzano, a Las Vegas mother, shared how the Opportunity Scholarship gave her and her children the ability to exit their assigned public school as a result of feeling unsafe attending that particular school.

“I tried putting them in a traditional public school but we needed something else. The violence and the bullying made us feel unsafe. The private school we are in now is helping them not only with their grades, but their self-esteem since one of the purposes of this school is to develop leadership in the children,” Manzano added.

Like Manzano’s family, there are many others waiting to exit a school that is not helping them thrive, and they cannot afford to continue waiting for years. No child should feel unsafe, unchallenged or unhappy while trying to get an education. If a school does not work for a family, their financial situation should not be an impediment.

But Democrat legislators are opposing this bill, even as Nevadans, including those of their own party, support school choice. According to recent polling results, seventy percent of Nevadans support Governor Lombardo’s school choice plan, including a majority of Democrat constituents.

Now is the time for Democrats and Republicans, alike, to put politics aside and step up for our students— after all, they are the future leaders of the Silver State.

~ Valeria Gurr serves as a Senior Fellow for the American Federation for Children. She is a passionate advocate for educational choice, particularly for underserved families, and founded la Federacion Americana Para los Niños. MV

For more information, visit https://www.federationforchildren.org/staff/valeria-gurr/

Ron Quince (Ron Q) has become a man on a mission. The 40-year Las Vegas businessman, and father of two young daughters realized a few months ago that building a future for them should include a foundation of giving to the families in need around him. Quince, an accountant and entrepreneur, believes that his Filipino upbringing helped to shape a desire for giving.

“We have always taken care of each other in the Filipino community, but reaching farther out has brought me great joy,” says Quince. “I have worked very hard in my professional and family life. I also have a desire to help shape the world that my girls will grow up in,” and adds, “Seeing the results of giving to others in Southern Nevada has changed the way I look at my family, my profession, and the world around me.”

Ron Quince’s first stop was at The City Impact Center, a community center with one of the largest food banks in Las Vegas. He was able to make last Thanksgiving Day a truly special one by providing whole turkeys with all the trimmings to hundreds of Las Vegas families.

Vic Caruso, the Executive Director of City Impact Center, knows that Thanksgiving is one of the most important days to meet the needs of families in the center of the Las Vegas Valley. “We had a lot of concern that the families in our area would not be able to afford a Thanksgiving dinner,” says Caruso, “but we were blessed to have Ron Quince, a great member of the community, step up and deliver thousands of dollars’ worth of turkeys to our foodbank. Plus, he stayed all day and handed them out. Nobody ever does that!”

In addition, he was involved in giving out snacks to elementary school kids at Arturo Cambeiro Elementary school in North Las Vegas. He has a passion for working tirelessly to support our troops and works with the USO to send our troops various packages during the holidays, as well as working with Troops with Paws, an organization that provides veterans with support dogs.

Immigrating to the United States from the Philippines when he was only 5 years old, Ron Q touts himself as the true personification of the American Dream. He believes he can make help make changes and help forge policies that will make our economy work again and allow young people to live that same American Dream. He is a tax expert by Trade, and built a very successful accounting firm and therefore, has the financial expertise to do so. This is one of the reasons he will be running for office. He is currently completing his master’s degree in Emergency and Crisis Management.

He also believes that as a minority, he is the new face of the Republican Party. He wants to show the world that the Republican party is a party of diversity; a party of the people.

When asked about his political platform, Ron Q believes that climate change and abortion are issues that need to be discussed. On climate change Ron states, “I am not a climate change denier. I am a climate change realist. Of course, as a father, I am concerned for my children and my children’s children. We all want a world with clean energy and less carbon emissions. It is certainly our goal. But it is not realistic to support an all-electric world at present.” He goes on to say that we do not have the infrastructure or power grid to support going fully electric, and that the impact on Americans would be dramatic. “We would face frequent blackouts, brownouts, power outages, rising fuel costs, that would do more harm,” explains Ron. “Let’s help the environment with a process that works, not ‘woke’ wishful thinking. Let’s build a path to a better environment but continue to service our country with available resources while we work on these solutions.”

Regarding abortion, interestingly enough, Ron takes issue with his own party, but holds strong to his Catholic values as a way to navigate the troubled waters, which is the abortion rights issue. “Republicans failed to properly address this issue after Roe vs Wade was overturned,” submits Ron Q. “To be clear, as a Catholic, I am personally not in favor of abortion. However, as a father of two girls, I support women’s rights to have options, certainly in cases of rape, incest and the health of the mother.” Ron views the prospect of abortion up to the time of birth as unacceptable, but also believes that this is not just a women’s rights issue or something that women should be tasked with alone. “I also believe in accountability,” he says. “Men need to step up, and no one should use abortion as birth control. I support women, but I support babies as well. This is a conversation we must have.”

Ron Q believes that the job of a public servant is to represent the values and views of their constituents. Everyone keeps talking, but Ron wants you to know that he is listening. WWW.RONQFORYOU.COM