The Reports Nobody Was Reading
Nevada eliminated 26 mandated reports and consolidated 22 more. Here's why that's an accountability story, not a deregulation one.
Outcomes for kids matter. All kids. And so does being a responsible steward of public funds.
That's the balance we aimed for in 2015, when Nevada enacted a requirement for periodic review of what charter schools and districts are expected to report. This month, that effort bore fruit.
The Nevada Department of Education, working with WestEd and APA, just completed a comprehensive audit of more than 200 mandated reports. Their recommendations: eliminate 26 reports, streamline or consolidate 22 more, and reevaluate the rest with an eye toward usefulness, not just compliance.
Let's be honest: there's probably still more that could be trimmed. But those of us who've sat through appropriation hearings know how tempting it is to focus on the quantifiable inputs — more teachers, more counselors, more hours of training — because they're easy to measure in the short term.
The real return, though, is in student outcomes. Not the paperwork.
This effort isn't about lowering expectations. It's about building systems that work better, so teachers aren't buried in duplicative reporting and leaders can focus on what actually moves the needle for kids.
Yes, tracking where every student went, how they're doing, and whether public investments are delivering results is bureaucratic. But it's also essential, especially for students who've been historically underserved or invisibilized by systems not designed with them in mind. We can't fight for equity if we don't know who's missing, or how well they're doing.
As someone who helped lead the legislative push for this accountability review a decade ago, I'm proud of this milestone. But I'm even more focused on what's next. Because the real work isn't about checking boxes. It's about designing systems that serve students, respect educators, and honor the public trust.