Ashley Gaschk, Bismarck

North Dakota’s 69th Legislative Assembly is nearly halfway over, and lawmakers will soon decide whether to create Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), which would use taxpayer money to cover tuition at private schools.

For most North Dakotans, the prospect of spending public money on private school tuition solicits a resounding “No.” These schools are not required to open their budgets or board meetings to the public, and in a largely rural state, most families won’t even have the option of using an ESA. Public dollars from rural taxpayers should go toward keeping our public schools alive and thriving — not to private schools in a handful of our biggest cities.

Supporters argue that ESAs would cover more than just tuition — families could use them for textbooks, tutoring, curriculum, software, mental health services, and even school meals. But anyone paying attention knows that North Dakota’s public schools already provide these services, often for free. In fact, public schools are already required to provide special education services to private school students when their schools don’t offer them. And in many cases, private schools simply do not accept students with special education needs at all.

If lawmakers are serious about investing in education, the solution is simple: strengthen the public schools that already educate over 90% of our students. Instead of funneling public money to private schools with little oversight, we should be funding the teachers, programs, and resources that benefit all our North Dakota students, not just a select few.