rural schools fear voucher bill would shortchange their students
by Tony Bender
Rural school boards and administrations are casting a wary eye at pending legislation in Bismarck that would divert $24 million in public tax revenue to private urban schools.
Most of the schools that would be the beneficiaries of House Bill 1532, a voucher program, are nonsecular, calling into question a potential breech of church and state. North Dakota Century Code explicitly states, “No money raised for the support of the public schools … shall be appropriated to or used for the support of any sectarian school.”
The bill is being driven by Republicans which hold a 90% majority in the North Dakota Legislature, but District 28 Representatives Mike Brandenburg of Edgeley and Jim Grueneich of Ellendale, both Republicans, opposed it when it passed the House, 54-40, on Feb. 21. Wishek School Board Member Dani Goebel said during a meeting on March 13 that Lehr Sen. Bob Erbele, another District 28 Republican, has pledged a “no” vote in the Senate.
The division appears to be as much urban vs. rural as Republican vs. Democrat, although Democrats are solidly in opposition. The bill was introduced by Republican Grand Forks Rep. Claire Cory and cosponsored mostly by urban lawmakers, all Republicans. Cory says the money would come from the state’s general fund and not from the Common Schools Trust Fund. The argument essentially is that money directed toward education is not money for education.
Chris Dodson, executive director of the North Dakota Catholic Conference, is advocating for HB 1532 and has testified for the bill in Bismarck. Churches don’t pay taxes, and 501c3 organizations, which include charities and churches, are prohibited from engaging in any political campaign activity.
The mantra among Dodson and other supporters is “choice” however, rural students really don’t have the option, distance being the primary factor. Even if they apply, there’s no guarantee they’ll be admitted. Private schools are able to discriminate against applicants.
“It’s not about choice. They decide if your child is worthy,” Wishek Superintendent Shawn Kuntz, said. Ashley Superintendent Jason Schmidt added, “They can pick and choose.”
During the March 13 school board meeting in Wishek, Kuntz read a denial letter from a faith-based school in North Dakota to a family member whose child requires special education, something public schools are required to do, a responsibility and a challenge they take seriously, he said. “We’re lucky we have the special education we have, but all it takes is the loss of one key person (to throw things in disarray).”
Schmidt said, “We will take any child we can get and do the best we can to serve them.” To do that requires funding, especially since public schools are mandated by strict state requirements. Funding private schools who bear no such responsibility is a slippery slope, opponents argue. “We’re always fighting for money from the state to better serve our kids,” Schmidt said.
When the money doesn’t come from the state, it comes directly from local property taxes. In order to rehabilitate an aging facility, Ashley voters last month agreed to fund a $4.75 million dollar project along with the ever-increasing mandates put upon them by the state. So, directing state tax dollars to schools like Shiloh Christian School in Bismarck, where the annual high school tuition is nearly $9,000—a school that’s financially out of reach for most taxpayers—might feel like a kick in the teeth.
“When a parent chooses, let’s say they choose a private institution, and they’re told ‘no.’ Whose choice was it then? The parent’s or the school’s?” wondered Dr. Aimee Copas, executive director for the North Dakota Council of Educational Leaders during her testimony.
Adding insult to injury is the lack of accountability. “You can come to our school board meetings,” Kuntz said. “You can get our financial information. It’s public. With private schools, you’re taking my taxes, but I don’t know what you’re going to do with it.”
Is it going to new stadiums? Who knows? Frustration with alleged athletic “picking and choosing” on the part of private Class B schools was a driver in the recent North Dakota School Boards Association decision to create a three-class basketball system.
“To send public dollars, public taxpayer dollars to an entity that is not directly accountable to taxpayers is inappropriate,” Alexis Baxley, of the North Dakota School Boards Association, told legislators.
Schmidt said, “If they’re going to fund them (with public dollars), then they should have to do everything a public school does.” Kuntz encouraged school patrons to contact their legislators to express their feelings about the bill. “Public schools educate everyone,” he said. “The rules have to be the same. They need to accept everybody like we do.”
Former Democratic State Senator Dean Meyer said in a letter to North Dakota newspapers, “Whether it’s been declining population, lack of funding, or co-ops, the past 40 years have brought a lot of changes to our small town schools… And each time one of our schools has had to shut down or consolidate, we’ve lost a little bit of our history, our identity… House Bill 1532 gives tax dollars to families who send their children to private schools. While I support a parent’s right to send their child to a private school, I have trouble supporting the use of our tax dollars to reimburse them for it. I especially have trouble knowing this simply won’t help anyone in rural North Dakota and will end up hurting our small schools.”
