Joseph Nesdahl, Minot

North Dakota is proud of our rural communities. Many families and friends of mine choose to live in rural towns for the deep sense of community and the opportunities for our children to be nurtured and thrive. Rural and small-town public schools do far more than just educate children. They serve a critical social and economic function as a major employer in small communities, as the place where people gather for community meetings, to participate in athletic and artistic events, to shelter during natural disasters and as the hub of rural community life.

Sadly, for years now our rural schools have been fighting for survival as the population decreases. We see communities be forced to close or consolidate their schools. HB 1532 will be yet another attack on our remaining rural schools, one that will be very harmful.

HB 1532 would create a school voucher scheme in the form of an “education reimbursement program.” For rural families, vouchers don’t provide an actual choice. They don’t have access to private schools in their area. Further, those rural families would be forced to endure long, costly commutes.

Vouchers are especially harmful to the public school systems serving large rural areas because these schools rely more heavily on state funding. Rural districts often struggle financially because they are forced to spread the same fixed costs for facilities, transportation, administration, and instruction with a shrinking revenue stream.

I urge the North Dakota legislature to reject HB1532 to save our rural schools and communities.