Imagine you work in a one-star school in an underserved community in Las Vegas. Although you have a building full of passionate, talented educators, your test scores do not reflect the awesomeness of your students.
It may be the large number of English language learners. It may be because of COVID-19. It may be because students are coming to school hungry, or their parents work two jobs to provide for them, so they don’t have help at home.
Regardless, your principal decides that your school needs an all-hands-on-deck approach. A schoolwide push with intervention groups begins. Every English Language Arts classroom teaches phonics from the same program. You create a reading skills center that serves the struggling English-language learners. Everyone is part of the effort and does their job with fidelity and a drive to help these students succeed.
After one full year with this program, you have raised your rating from one to three stars. The staff, students and families are celebrating. Your school is now floating on a cloud of joy. This lasts until the reality of the next year’s budget hits. Now we’re facing drastic budget cuts, losing most of our coaching staff, and closing down the reading center that I’ve led for the last three years.
Imagine this is happening all over Nevada. You will see classrooms with 35-plus students in them, one overworked educator, and not enough desks to go around. Picture students, some struggling with learning differences, unable to access adequate support services. Envision a high school library with books in poor repair, outdated textbooks and technology from a decade ago.
For too many Nevada students and educators, this is not a hypothetical—it’s their everyday reality.
Nevada consistently ranks near the bottom in national education funding, and the consequences are devastating. Underpaid teachers are burning out; students are falling behind; and our communities are missing out on the well-prepared, capable workforce they deserve. Yet despite these challenges, there is a clear, research-backed solution on the table: the funding plan recommended by the state’s Commission on School Funding.
The plan is not just a suggestion; it’s a lifeline. It’s a roadmap to providing Nevada’s students with the resources they need to thrive—smaller class sizes, better teacher retention, updated materials and increased access to mental health support. This plan is a comprehensive, data-driven approach designed to close funding gaps and address long-standing inequities in our schools.
Opponents of the plan may argue that increased funding alone will not solve all our education challenges. While funding isn’t a magic fix, it is the foundation upon which meaningful progress is built. Quality education requires investment, and our children should not have to fight for the resources that are considered a given in other states. Also, with the recent dismantling of the federal Department of Education, public school funding is expected to further decrease, which means educators will have even fewer resources and less support in their schools.
By passing this plan, Nevada can move from being a state known for underfunding education to a leader in educational opportunity. Lawmakers have the power to reshape Nevada’s future—not just for students, but for every family, business and community that depends on a strong, educated population.
Fully funding education is how we move from surviving to thriving. It’s how we build a Nevada that keeps its best and brightest—because they see a future here. To the legislators weighing this decision: We need you to choose our children’s futures over temporary budget concerns. We need you to recognize that every year of inaction is a year of potential lost.
Educating the children of Nevada is the responsibility of all of us. We need our community to contact their legislators and encourage them to pass the plan recommended by the Commission on School Funding. It would bring our funding up to adequate levels and allow schools to get much-needed money to improve public education.
Teachers show up to work early and leave late every single day to give our state’s students a quality education. We give it our all, and it’s the Legislature’s turn to do the same. It’s time for Nevada to invest in its most valuable asset—our children.
Vicki Kreidel is a veteran educator who has been teaching for more than 20 years and advocating for public education for much of that time. She lives in North Las Vegas.