After being advised by the attorney general that he can continue to administer a school choice program despite the Supreme Court gutting it, State Treasurer Dan Schwartz sent an email to applicants Wednesday telling them he is moving forward with the program.
"The Nevada ESA Portal is now Available to sign up for your Education Savings Account!," the header for the email sent Wednesday declared, less than two months after the high court declared the Distributive School Account funding mechanism unconstitutional. (A glitch caused only the email header to be sent to puzzled parents, but I obtained the full email expected to be sent later Wednesday.)
"While I know getting approved will be an exciting moment for many families, I must remind you that at this time a funding source for Nevada’s ESA program has not yet been found, until that happens while we will approve your application there is no guarantee of funding," the email said.
Indeed there is not.
The email was sent a week after Gov. Brian Sandoval reiterated his commitment to school choice and promised a line item in his budget to fund the program.
And it comes three weeks after the attorney general's office gave Schwartz the green light to continue:
"We are of the opinion that nothing in the decision prevents you from continuing to administer the ESA program, so long as no funds are drawn from the Distributive School Account," deputy Solicitor General Joseph Tarkowsky wrote to Schwartz lieutenant Grant Hewitt on Nov.4. "The Court’s decision was narrow.....The program remains on the books and is an expression of the Legislature’s will to have such a program."
Hewitt told me that Sandoval "has given us no indication he is not going to push for ESA funding, so we need to have the infrastructure." He also told me that parents are asking about their applications and how to access them.
I would guess some Democratic legislators might see this as a cynical ploy to pressure lawmakers to find money next year.
The full email from the treasurer's office is below:
ESA Parent,
I wanted to thank you for applying for an ESA Account sometime over the past year, many of you filled out paper applications, while others utilized our early online portal. For those parents who utilized our online portal, your information has been migrated to our new ESA Account System, while those who applied via mail our staff has entered your paper application into the new ESA Account System. This migration/upload is the first major step to finalizing your ESA accounts, however some additional information may be needed for our office to officially accept your application. I should note that if you applied for multiple children they will all be listed under a single log in, if you happened to apply for some children online and others by mail, your mail applications may still be uploaded, please do not add these children at this time only an Administrator in our office can ensure the application is valid on the date it was originally received.
I hope you will take a moment in the near future and to follow the instructions below to finish and verify that the information in your application is correct. It should not take very long, but will go a long way for our staff to be able to formally approve your application in the new ESA Account System. While I know getting approved will be an exciting moment for many families, I must remind you that at this time a funding source for Nevada’s ESA program has not yet been found, until that happens while we will approve your application there is no guarantee of funding.
To login into the ESA.Nevadatreasurer.gov Portal go tohttp://esa.nevadatreasurer.gov. Use the Email Address we used to contact you in this Email as your username. If you do not remember or ever have had a password to the ESA portal click on the “Forgot Password” tab and enter your email address. We will send you an email with a Link to reset your password.
THE NEVADA INDEPENDENT IS COMING SOON!
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After being advised by the attorney general that he can continue to administer a school choice program despite the Supreme Court gutting it, State Treasurer Dan Schwartz sent an email to applicants Wednesday telling them he is moving forward with the program.
"The Nevada ESA Portal is now Available to sign up for your Education Savings Account!," the header for the email sent Wednesday declared, less than two months after the high court declared the Distributive School Account funding mechanism unconstitutional. (A glitch caused only the email header to be sent to puzzled parents, but I obtained the full email expected to be sent later Wednesday.)
"While I know getting approved will be an exciting moment for many families, I must remind you that at this time a funding source for Nevada’s ESA program has not yet been found, until that happens while we will approve your application there is no guarantee of funding," the email said.
Indeed there is not.
The email was sent a week after Gov. Brian Sandoval reiterated his commitment to school choice and promised a line item in his budget to fund the program.
And it comes three weeks after the attorney general's office gave Schwartz the green light to continue:
"We are of the opinion that nothing in the decision prevents you from continuing to administer the ESA program, so long as no funds are drawn from the Distributive School Account," deputy Solicitor General Joseph Tarkowsky wrote to Schwartz lieutenant Grant Hewitt on Nov.4. "The Court’s decision was narrow.....The program remains on the books and is an expression of the Legislature’s will to have such a program."
Hewitt told me that Sandoval "has given us no indication he is not going to push for ESA funding, so we need to have the infrastructure." He also told me that parents are asking about their applications and how to access them.
I would guess some Democratic legislators might see this as a cynical ploy to pressure lawmakers to find money next year.
The full email from the treasurer's office is below:
ESA Parent,
I wanted to thank you for applying for an ESA Account sometime over the past year, many of you filled out paper applications, while others utilized our early online portal. For those parents who utilized our online portal, your information has been migrated to our new ESA Account System, while those who applied via mail our staff has entered your paper application into the new ESA Account System. This migration/upload is the first major step to finalizing your ESA accounts, however some additional information may be needed for our office to officially accept your application. I should note that if you applied for multiple children they will all be listed under a single log in, if you happened to apply for some children online and others by mail, your mail applications may still be uploaded, please do not add these children at this time only an Administrator in our office can ensure the application is valid on the date it was originally received.
I hope you will take a moment in the near future and to follow the instructions below to finish and verify that the information in your application is correct. It should not take very long, but will go a long way for our staff to be able to formally approve your application in the new ESA Account System. While I know getting approved will be an exciting moment for many families, I must remind you that at this time a funding source for Nevada’s ESA program has not yet been found, until that happens while we will approve your application there is no guarantee of funding.
To login into the ESA.Nevadatreasurer.gov Portal go tohttp://esa.nevadatreasurer.gov
If you have any problems or concerns please contact our office at NevadaSchoolChoice@
Thank you for your patience with our office over the past year.
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