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Letters to the Editor

Legislators fail fairness test with school proposals

Lee Hagen and John Lund, West Fargo Merrill Piepkorn, Fargo North Dakota Senators will soon consider, among others, two bills passed in the House. HB 1540 would subsidize parents of all 7,986 private school K-12 students starting in the 2026-27 school year. The per pupil subsidy will be about $4,000 per student. There is no family income test for this taxpayer paid handout. Every family will qualify no matter how much income each family has. The cost is $40 million in 2026-27 and it increases to $80 million in 2027-28. The other bill relevant to this is HB 1013. This is the ...

Washington chaos lies at feet of Congress

Bob McNamara, Upham Some say there is chaos in Washington and the admin is out of control. Others say you have to blow it up and start over to fix it. Both may be right or both may be wrong. That isn’t my point. My point will be that our government continues to grow with seemingly no controls. I would submit the reason our government is this way sits right at the feet of Congress. Right at the feet of John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer. The congress established these departments and agencies. The congress funds these departments and agencies every year, at least it should be every year ...

Teachers urge prioritizing public ed

Amy Neal, Sara Medalen, Kristi Reinke, all Minot; Mary Eldredge Sandbo, Des Lacs; Andee Mattson, Rugby; Bret Dockter, Harvey; Kendall Bergrud, Lincoln; Sheila Peterson, Mandan; Karyn Chiapella, Hettinger; David Volk, Moorhead, Minn. As public teachers and North Dakota State Teachers of the Year and Finalists, we closely follow legislative decisions that impact our students. At this session’s halfway point, we urge lawmakers to prioritize public education and oppose efforts to use public dollars to fund private institutions. North Dakota has never been a state to go along with the ...

Proposed bills underfund ND public schools

Brenda Seehafer, Rolla The legislature has reached the halfway point, and I worry our lawmakers don’t have their priorities straight. My biggest concern is K-12 funding. Governor Kelly Armstrong proposed 2% increases in the K-12 budget for each year of the coming biennium. The percentage the Legislature is working with now seems to be 3%, but that is simply not enough. For starters, a point of clarification: K-12 budget increases are not teacher salary increases. Since the costs of running a school increase as inflation increases, the budget increases will likely not be reflected ...

Senate bill is bad for libraries, citizens

Clarice Liechty, Jamestown SB 2307 is bad for libraries and citizens of North Dakota. It is unnecessary and costly. Hopefully by the time you see this letter, SB 2307 will have been defeated. Or if passed, our Governor Armstrong will veto it. Can you imagine all the lawsuits that would come about from passing such a bill as SB 2307? The impact of passing SB 2307 for the libraries and our citizens of North Dakota is nothing but unwise. Horrible, yes, or find me another name. It is unnecessary and costly. Yes, it is costly! Most librarians and their boards, who make the decisions ...

Thank you to Dems

Gary E. Berube, Mandan I have written many articles and have always tried to remain neutral, but thanks to the Democrats for helping me out. At the State of the Nation address on 03/04/2025 the Democrats made it very clear to the world that they are only concerned with their own selfish personal interests in power and wealth and have no concern for anybody else. Their disgusting, embarrassing, immature display on Tuesday has left me without words, but my dearest friend has helped me out. Jesus said on the cross “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” As difficult ...