Nevada Democrats are criticizing Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo after he supported President Donald Trump’s effort to close the U.S. Department of Education.
Last week, Trump signed an executive order to eliminate the department.
“Closing the Department of Education would provide children and their families the opportunity to escape a system that is failing them,” the order says.
Once this order was announced, Lombardo wrote an op-ed calling it “one of the most influential reforms yet of [Trump’s] presidency.”
“Funding for the Department of Education has more than doubled since 1980 – yet billions more in funding hasn’t contributed to better education results. In fact, it’s done the opposite,” he said in his op-ed.
The governor stated that returning curriculum decisions to the state level will allow for moving “past outdated national standardized testing.” Instead, he said, this allows “focus on fresh accountability for academic achievement and new choices for students and parents.”
“Education should be about opportunity, and this move will empower states to deliver unprecedented opportunity for every child, regardless of household income or where a child lives,” he wrote.
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford on Monday criticized the governor’s support of Trump’s executive order.
Ford’s comments on social media follow his press conference where the Democrat critiqued the governor last week.
On X, Ford said he previously taught public school math. He added, “Gutting the Department of Education isn’t about efficiency — it’s about abandoning our students.”
Ford also said that when Lombardo talks about “local control,” he is really talking about being “loyal to Trump, no matter the cost.”
“Lombardo wants to kiss up to Donald Trump? Fine. But he doesn’t get to do it at the expense of Nevada students,” he said on X.
The same day, Ford posted another post on X stating that Lombardo had sold out “Nevada’s kids.”
Ford recently joined a coalition of other Democratic attorneys general in suing the Trump administration to stop the Department of Education’s shutdown.
The Nevada Democratic Party released a statement on Monday saying Nevada residents know the governor will not stand up for the state’s students. The party accused Lombardo of prioritizing Republican efforts to give “tax handouts to billionaires like Elon Musk.”
Nevada Democrats said many school programs will be cut if the U.S. Department of Education closes.
Meanwhile, The Center Square previously reported that Nevada students scored below the national average regarding reading comprehension and mathematics.
