Lance Izumi of the Pacific Research Institute explains in a Daily Caller column why Nevada is offering a great example for states interested in pursuing school choice.

With a landmark stroke of his pen, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval recently signed legislation establishing the nation’s first statewide school-choice education-savings-account program available to all parents, regardless of their income level. With new studies showing widespread underperformance among middle-class children across the country, other states should implement similar programs immediately.

Under Nevada’s new program, for parents earning above the low-income level, the state will deposit funds, totaling 90 percent of the average statewide support per pupil, or roughly $5,100, into education savings accounts (ESAs). For parents earning below the low-income level or who have children with special needs, the state will deposit 100 percent of the average statewide support per pupil, around $5,700, into parents’ ESAs. Parents can then withdraw funds from their ESAs to pay for a variety of educational services such as private-school tuition, distance-learning online programs, and tutoring.

Giving all parents, regardless of their income level, the opportunity to choose the best education for their children makes sense, not only because many middle-class parents, struggling from paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet, don’t have the resources to afford private-school tuition or tutoring services, but also because many public schools are failing to raise the performance of middle-class students.