Why Can’t This Retired Us Navy Officer and Engineer Open aPrivate School in Nevada?
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pJames Lomax knew he wanted to fly in Navy fighter jets from the first time he watched the original emTop Gun/em movie as anbsp;seven‐year‐old child. It was the mid‐80s and he committed then to excelling academically, eventually earning admission to the United States Naval Academy and becoming anbsp;Weapon Systems Officer (WSO) in the FA-18F Super Hornet. Lomax earned an MBA and, after leaving active duty military service, worked as an engineer supporting electronic warfare system testing for military aircraft./p
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pWhen he became anbsp;father, Lomax was dissatisfied with the education options available for his own children. His young daughter was enrolled in anbsp;Las Vegas‐area private preschool that had anbsp;reputation for academic excellence, but Lomax felt it was lacking in encouraging creativity and curiosity. At the same time, he noticed that the young engineers with whom he worked had stellar academic records, but also lacked critical thinking skills and anbsp;sense of personal agency./p
pHe wanted something better for his daughters, so he decided to build it. Lomax discovered Acton Academy, anbsp;decentralized network of learner‐driven private schools that reflected Lomax’s preferred educational philosophy. Acton Academy was founded more than anbsp;decade ago by Jeff and Laura Sandefer in Austin, Texas and now includes nearly 300 schools across the U.S. and around the world./p
pLomax applied for and was accepted into the Acton Academy affiliate network that places anbsp;high value on entrepreneurial school leaders with accomplished and varied professional backgrounds, but he wasn’t going to be able to open his school in Nevada./p
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pNevada is an outlier with these licensing regulations that limit the supply of education options available to families and constrain the private education sector./p
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p“I was not qualified to open anbsp;private school because Inbsp;don’t have anbsp;teaching degree or anbsp;teacher or administrator license in the state,” Lomax told me in anbsp;recent interview./p
pNevada has some of the strictest regulations on private schools in the country, making it particularly difficult to start anbsp;secular private school in the state. Individuals who want to open anbsp;non‐religious private school in Nevada are required to have anbsp;state administrator’s or teacher’s license, and teachers in the school must be licensed by the state or have related education qualifications and teaching experience. Religious private schools that are operated by churches or related faith‐based organizations in Nevada are exempt from these occupational licensing regulations./p
pDespite his MBA and anbsp;B.S. degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, as well as anbsp;prestigious career as anbsp;naval officer and flight test engineer, Lomax was prohibited from opening anbsp;secular private school in the state of Nevada due to occupational licensing regulations./p
pNevada is an outlier with these licensing regulations that limit the supply of education options available to families and constrain the private education sector. Reducing restrictions on secular private schools to allow individuals like Lomax to open and operate their schools, as they can in most other states, would lead to more choices for families./p
p“Why do we limit private schools to only be started by licensed teachers?” asked John Tsarpalas, president of the Nevada Policy Research Institute that works to promote greater educational choice for families. “Requiring private schools to only be started by licensed teachers seems like anbsp;way to have less private schools. Is the real goal to protect the teacher union’s control over Nevada schools?”/p
pNot only would reducing occupational licensing requirements for secular school founders catalyze the growth of more school options, it would also be aligned with the Nevada governor’s overall deregulatory vision./p
p“Nevada’s current regulatory structure is too often unfocused and inefficient, contains regulations that are obsolete and includes regulations that are unnecessarily onerous, thereby limiting the economic potential of the State,” wrote Governor Joe Lombardo in an a href=https://gov.nv.gov/Newsroom/ExecOrders/2023/Executive_Order_2023-003/ rel=nofollow noopener target=_blankexecutive order/a that he signed last month./p
pThe governor signed an additional a href=https://gov.nv.gov/Newsroom/ExecOrders/2023/Executive_Order_2023-004/ rel=nofollow noopener target=_blankexecutive order/a to streamline occupational licensing, stating that “Nevada has been identified nationally as having among the nation’s most onerous occupational licensing requirements.” While that order did not address occupational licensing for school founders, it is anbsp;step in the right direction toward removing regulatory barriers that limit economic opportunity./p
pOccupational licensing requirements may be the biggest barrier to expanding private education options in Nevada but there are others as well. Like a href=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerrymcdonald/2023/01/25/iowa-enacts-universal-school-choice-but-regulations-will-limit-the-supply-of-options-for-families/?sh=3365e4e96935 rel=noopener target=_blankIowa/a, Nevada has some of the most rigid school accreditation rules in the country that prevent new education models from emerging. Seat time requirements in the state also prevent flexible school schedules for private schools, despite the fact that some public school districts in Nevada have a href=https://www.ecsdnv.net/news?entityid=834542 rel=nofollow noopener target=_blankadopted/a anbsp;four‐day school week. Reducing those barriers, as well as eliminating occupational licensing requirements, would lead to more education entrepreneurship and greater learning options for families./p
pAs for Lomax, he is hoping that secular private schools in Nevada are granted the same occupational licensing exemptions that religiously‐affiliated private schools enjoy. For now, he runs his a href=https://www.lifeskillsacademylv.com/ rel=nofollow noopener target=_blankLife Skills Acton Academy/a as anbsp;tutoring resource center which limits its overall reach and impact. His goal is to make learner‐driven education more widely available and accessible to more local young people. “If Inbsp;could put an Acton Academy in the East Side of Las Vegas in anbsp;lower‐economic area, those children would thrive in this environment and with the opportunities we could provide,” said Lomax. “I want to make this type of learning more accessible to more people.”/p
pMaking it easier for education entrepreneurs like Lomax to launch their innovative schools will go anbsp;long way toward expanding that access./p
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