NPRI believes that the way to improve Nevada education is to empower parents and give them more control over the education their children receive. Nevada's monolithic educational apparatus has for too long been impervious to the free-market reforms that are a prerequisite to a quality education system. NPRI's mission on education policy is to inform Nevada's citizens, elected officials and educational leaders of the need to inject free-market principles into this area of public policy.

When gas prices climbed over $4 a gallon earlier this summer, many Americans were outraged. Whether it is through government action or private solutions, citizens are demanding relief.  But the rise in fuel prices over the last four decades pales in comparison to increases in per-pupil spending on public education in America. From 1961-2007, per-pupil spending increased by 293 percent after adjusting for inflation.

There is a premise that leadership and success start at the top. If this is true, then it is no wonder that education in Nevada is in a shameful state.

For over four years now, Nevada System of Higher Education Chancellor Jim Rogers has been bullying, sweet-talking, threatening, celebrating, decrying, politicking, quitting, un-quitting, donating his money, un-donating his money, and, even by his own account, being regularly unreasonable – all in the service of turning Nevada's taxpayer-supported universities and colleges into research and education wonders that will spark massive economic growth in the state for decades to come.

The education establishment consistently bemoans Nevada's lower-than-average per-pupil spending on education.  Implicit in their constant return to this statistic is a misguided belief that spending more money on education naturally leads to better education results.

Almost a decade after the Clark County School District adopted Policy Governance®, the natural question is: Has it moved the district along the road to higher achievement?

Why is public K-12 education in the Silver State so resistant to genuine reform? It was designed to be that way.

While most people practice intellectual self-discipline in their day-to-day lives, they often max out emotionally once they're in the voting booth.

An inspection of school finance around the nation reveals that virtually all the arguments commonly used by unions and districts for ever-higher spending levels are baseless – literally.

A comparison between Nevada and neighboring Arizona reveals the solutions the Silver State needs to meet its most pressing challenges in education.

By embracing school choice, Nevada can duplicate the success of neighboring Arizona in addressing the biggest challenges facing K-12 education.