EDITORIAL: Ebert comes out in favor of school choice

Superintendent Jhone Ebert voiced support for school choice, highlighting the Clark County School District’s new $1,000 transportation reimbursement for families zoned to 1‑ or 2‑star schools who use open enrollment to attend a 3‑star or higher campus. “CCSD’s Open Enrollment programme allows families to take the schoolhouse that works best for them,” Superintendent Jhone Ebert said successful a statement. The move is a laudable and much‑needed step. Her remarks should sound familiar to anyone who has tracked education‑policy debates over the past decade or two, echoing the language long used by choice advocates. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos once wrote that her vision for American education is “to springiness parents state to find the champion enactment and acceptable for their children.” President Donald Trump declared in a 2025 executive action promoting school choice, “Every kid deserves the champion acquisition available, careless of their ZIP code,” and added, “However, for generations, our government‑assigned acquisition strategy has failed millions of parents, students and teachers.” As we noted in 2021, “The reasoning for schoolhouse prime is straightforward: Parents champion cognize the needs of their children.” The district’s program, however, is limited to families who end up in traditional public schools. When Ebert speaks of “the schoolhouse that works best” for a family, she means a district school; the reimbursement is available only if the child enrolls in a higher‑performing CCSD campus. Yet the principle she articulates need not be confined to that narrow track. Families ought to be able to select the school that works best for them—whether that is a private institution, a charter school, a traditional public school, or even a homeschool setting. Several states, including Arizona, Florida and Texas, have implemented this approach through education savings accounts. These ESAs give parents a portion of the funds that state and local governments would have spent on their child. The money goes into a use‑restricted account that parents may draw on for tuition, tutoring, textbooks or other approved educational expenses. Currently, more than 1.5 million students participate in some form of private‑school‑choice program nationwide. The newly enacted national Education Freedom Tax Credit will extend scholarship opportunities to many additional learners. Thanks to Gov. Joe Lombardo, Nevada students will be able to take advantage of the credit as well. These options have proved beneficial for participating families and for students who remain in public schools.