Jennifer Wolf’s third grade son is a vocal student with a budding interest in fairness and social awareness, she told The Nevada Independent. On multiple occasions, she said “he has approached his teachers to talk through situations and share his perspective on how certain classroom moments unfolded.” Wolf’s view is increasingly popular: Enrollment in Nevada’s state charter school network is up 2.3 percentage points this year. When Nevada’s State Public School Charter Authority (SPCSA) was founded in 2011, it oversaw approximately 11,000 students. Today it oversees more than 70,000.

A decade-long slide in high schoolers’ reading and math performance persisted during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 12th graders’ scores dropping to their lowest level in more than 20 years, according to results released Tuesday from an exam known as the nation’s report card.

When Principal Anthony Nuñez first arrived at Cheyenne High School in North Las Vegas three years ago, the school was in crisis. About 40 percent of the school’s 100 teacher positions were vacant — causing larger class sizes and a heavy reliance on long-term substitute teachers.

Megan Griffard’s early education career included a stint teaching at Mojave High School before she left to pursue her doctorate out of state. She returned in 2022 to find the Clark County School District battling a staggering 1,367 vacant teaching positions.

The Mitchell family is part of an increasing population opting for charter schools over traditional public schools. Between the 2019-2020 school year and the 2024-2025 school year, the number of students in Clark County attending charter schools grew by 26 percent, to 64,128 students, according to the Nevada Department of Education. In that same time period, Clark County School District enrollment declined by over 8 percent, while Southern Nevada’s population increased by 5 percent.

A new parent-led nonprofit aims to provide reliable transportation for school kids, especially those who are not eligible or do not want to ride the school bus.

The NAACP chapter in Las Vegas is voicing strong opposition to President Trump's recent executive order aimed at dismantling the U.S. Department of Education. The chapter is urging that education equity remains a national priority, emphasizing the importance of maintaining progress in educational opportunities for all students.

Five years ago, Covid-19 drastically changed lives all over the world. The pandemic also presented unique challenges for Las Vegas. We discuss how Nevadans continue to be impacted in a special collaboration with KNPR’s State of Nevada. We then meet Libby Hausrath, a UNLV professor and lead researcher on a Mars project. She explains what samples being collected now may tell us about the Red Planet.