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Judge Puts Nevada's Education Savings Accounts On Hold

CARSON CITY — A district judge put Nevada's sweeping school choice program on hold just weeks before money was expected to flow to parents for private school tuition.

Carson City District Judge James Wilson granted a preliminary injunction Monday that orders the state treasurer to stop implementing Nevada's new education savings accounts pending further court deliberations. Wilson said the plaintiffs proved they had a reasonable chance of prevailing in the case, and ordered the parties to work out a date for the next hearing.

The program "has such a real chance of being such a harm to schools," said attorney Tamerlin Godley, who argued against the ESAs and said the 4,500 or so applicants would represent $20 million diverted away from public schools. "Those are real dollars and have a real impact."

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The Republican-backed program, authorized in the spring by the Nevada Legislature, allows parents to claim more than $5,000 in state per-pupil school funds each year and use it for qualified education expenses for their child.