Public Money Should Only be Spent on Public Schools
(Carson City, NV) — The ACLU of Nevada celebrates the 2017 legislative session’s protection of taxpayer dollars and safeguarding of students and funding for public schools in Nevada.
The ACLU of Nevada filed the first lawsuit against the 2015 voucher program (SB 302) on August 27, 2015, and after the Nevada Supreme Court found its funding mechanism unconstitutional on September 29, 2016, the ACLU of Nevada declared it dead. While many legislators thought the program should be restored, the ACLU of Nevada stood with our coalition members to oppose diverting Nevadans' public money for discriminatory private school use.
"Nevadan's can be proud that the privatization scheme forwarded by some in the Nevada Legislature will not be used to fund discrimination by private schools,” said Tod Story, executive director. “No public money will be diverted to satisfy the private choices of the few at the expense of the many. Public schools must accept every student regardless of their ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or disability, and these students deserve the equal opportunities public schools provide them."
Prior to the 2017 legislative session, a coalition of organizations opposed to vouchers in Nevada joined forces to stop the voucher scheme started in 2015.
“Our coalition partners have fought to keep public money for public schools. Period. We thank them for all their hard work to ensure that public school funding is protected and that Nevada’s schools be funded and supported properly,” said Holly Welborn, policy director.
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