Democrat Rory Reid on Wednesday fired the opening salvo in his gubernatorial match-up against Republican Brian Sandoval.
Reid said Sandoval "wants to balance the budget on the backs of our children."
Cuts to education, he said, will never bring businesses to Nevada because the state won't be producing the workforce they need. He added that workers for those firms won't come if the state doesn't have good schools for their children.
"I am the one candidate who understands that strong schools are the key to a stronger economy - with real plans to transform our education system and bring new industry to our state," Reid said in a strategy paper. "This is a sharp contrast with my opponent who is only proposing more of the same Jim Gibbons-style leadership, including devastating cuts to education."
He said Sandoval's plans would cut teacher salaries 20 percent, lay off some 5,000 teachers and make similar cuts to higher education.
Reid said his plan is similar to programs implemented in New York City and Oakland, where they have cut administrative costs up to 20 percent.
"It gets bureaucracy out of the way," he said. "It empowers teachers and principals to innovate."
Both Reid and Sandoval have charged that the other has not introduced a real plan to bring Nevada's budget within the available revenues.