Chicago, Ill. – Over the weekend, the Nevada legislature passed AB448, a significant piece of school reform legislation that will allow the state to transition its lowest-performing public schools to charter schools under the control of a newly created, state-run Achievement School District.

“NACSA congratulates Nevada on taking this notable step towards creating better educational opportunities for children. As we’ve seen in New Orleans and Tennessee, achievement school districts can be an effective tool to improving the quality of public school education statewide,” said Greg Richmond, president and CEO of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA).

The new state-run Achievement School District will allow education officials to select up to six persistently low-performing public schools and convert them into charter schools each year.

“We join the education community in celebrating this move to create more quality seats for children and an environment where failure will not be tolerated,” Richmond concluded.

NACSA recognizes the leadership of Governor Brian Sandoval, State Superintendent Dale Erquiaga, Assembly Majority Leader Paul Anderson, the Assembly Committee on Education and the State Legislature, which made this significant legislation possible.

The closure of traditional and charter public schools that fail to live up to their promise is one of the cornerstones of NACSA’s five-year One Million Lives campaign. The campaign focuses on closing poor performing schools and creating and expanding successful schools in order to improve the educational options for one million children by the end of 2017.