Three education bills to look out for in Nevada’s 2025 legislative session

The state Legislature opens its next session on Feb. 3 but bills are already being introduced and discussed, including several related to expanding access to state-funded pre-K.

Every two years, the Nevada legislature holds a 120-day long legislative session in Carson City, where bills are introduced to make laws or amend existing ones. Among the most important — and sometimes contentious — issues legislated during these sessions is education.  

In the last legislative session held in 2023, lawmakers approved a record $2.6 billion budget increase in education funding over the biennium. In 2025, education is expected to be a button issue once again, especially as Gov. Joe Lombardo has defined himself as the “education governor.” 

The state Legislature, which consists of 63 elected members in the Senate and Assembly, opens its session on Feb. 3 but bills are already being pre-filed and many are already being discussed.  

Here are some of the pre-filed education-focused bills to watch out for — keep in mind more are yet to come and that they are just proposals, for now. 

BDR16 

Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro unveiled this week the Education through Accountability, Transparency, and Efficiency (EDUCATE) Act, a massive proposal which has five branches to help improve the education system, including continuing teacher raises and implementing universal pre-kindergarten.

“This legislation would not have been possible without the input of current and former school district leaders, educators, policy experts, and community members,” Cannizzaro said in a statement. “We all agree that our kids deserve the best possible educational opportunities, and I look forward to a robust conversation during the legislation session about making publicly funded schools more transparent and accountable to deliver for students, parents, and our community.” 

This bill does not have an official Senate Bill number assigned to it, yet. 

Here are the key elements of Cannizzaro’s proposal:

• Continue to fund raises for educators and school staff that were first passed in the 2023 education budget.
• Ensure all students have regular access to qualified school counselors.
• Set administrator-to-teacher staffing ratios and fill classroom positions before non-classroom roles in elementary schools.
• Expand Nevada’s pre-K programs to provide universal access for all 4-year-olds. 
• Mandate minimum professional qualifications for school districts when hiring superintendents and chief financial officers.
• Grant voting rights to appointed members of the Clark County School District Board of Trustees who represent municipalities. Currently, these members — who were appointed to add insight to discussions — are not unable to vote on agenda items.
• Require the State Public Charter School Authority (SPCSA) to conduct more rigorous reviews of financial plans and performance of charter schools.
• Require all teachers who instruct at a charter school to hold a license or endorsement from the Nevada Department of Education within five years of working at the school. 

SB58 

This bill would expand eligibility for free, state-funded pre-kindergarten to children whose household income is not more than 250% of the federal poverty level — updating the current requirement limiting it to households under 200% of the federal poverty level. 

The Federal Poverty Level is set by the US government to help determine which individuals and families are living in poverty. For an individual, the Federal Poverty Level is $15,060. For a family of four, it’s $31,200, meaning that under SB58, a family of four with an income of $78,000 a year or less would be able to enroll their 4-year-old in the state-funded pre-kindergarten. 

SB58 also seeks to expand the eligibility for the pre-k program to students “who have an individualized education program (IEPs), or who have a documented need for behavioral, social, or emotional supports.”

The law already requires the Nevada Department of Education to award grants to school districts, sponsors of charter schools, and nonprofit organizations to support pre-kindergarten programs. But SB58 would amend the existing law by specifying how the Department of Education should determine the amount of the grant. 

SB59

This bill outlines boundaries and regulations for teachers to prevent inappropriate behavior and grooming of students. 

“Grooming” includes flirtatious behavior, making an effort to spend time alone with a student without an educational reason, or engaging in inappropriate personal relationships. 

The bill also defines “sexual impropriety” as actions like sexual jokes and innuendos; inappropriate touching; making sexual advances, requests, or favors, either spoken, written, or electronic communication; displaying or sharing pornographic or sexually explicit materials that are not being used for literary, artistic, political, or scientific reasons; and referencing the student’s physical appearance or clothing in a way that could be reasonably interpreted as sexual.

SB58 states that even if a student consents, the teacher is not absolved from being held responsible, or any legal or disciplinary action, such as suspension or having their teaching license revoked. 

In Nevada, teachers found to have sexually assaulted students or have such inappropriate relationships already face felony charges, time in prison, and are required to register as a sex offender.