North Dakota Legalized Charter Schools: What's Next?
The movement of states turning to charter schools has reached the public education stronghold of North Dakota. The consequences of this uphaul of public education can be costly for North Dakotans.
SIENNA BOWEN
Charter School students taking an examination inside in a school gymnasium, Monkeybusinessimages
For many years, the stance of charter schooling in North Dakota has been clear. The state doesn’t want them, they won’t send funding to them, and they will fight against them. Through these efforts, North Dakota earned the Network for Public Education’s #1 spot for democratically governed schooling. However, this has sadly changed for my home state, as during our 69th legislative assembly, Governor Armstrong passed Senate Bill 2241, which has introduced charter schools to North Dakota.
These charter schools are ongoing and current threats to public education to say the least. These “schools” are run by private corporations & companies with very little transparency. These companies are known as charter management organizations (CMOs), many of which are tax exempt, even if they are corporate run or for profit. Remember: these aren’t public schools that these companies are running. They keep many aspects of management, funding, and curriculum out of the public eye, despite being run off of public money. Despite charter schools taking money and resources from public schools, more money does not come to fund the disparities faced by public schools. Schools suffer with lower budgets, less staff, and rising student populations, all because of the charter school system.
Despite these effects, the bill has passed. However, the effects that it will cause are not entirely unknown, as charter school bills have been passed previously. In these past instances, we have seen charter schools introduced to states, take their money, and leave public schools in disarray. North Dakota has now become a charter school state, and the effects will be detrimental.
For starters, charter schools drain already underfunded public school budgets. For example, the North Dakota school district of West Fargo, though it’s one of the more funded school districts in the state, still has numerous budget constraints in constructing schools, creating special education programs, and hiring bus drivers. In 2025, this district had a very narrow bond election. It was passed, however only ⅓ of the proposed bond was accepted and projects like a new elementary school and expanding special education programs had to be abandoned. While these districts struggle, charter schools will tighten budgets even more. For example, Minnesota’s charter school bill has funneled $132 million dollars annually from public schools. Looking at the budgets, the first cuts caused by charter school strain are low income/at-risk student programs, STEM classes and clubs, and special education classes. When we truly assess their impacts it’s clear: charter schools don’t help, they hurt.
While these charter schools attain public funding, they don’t act as public schools. This is visible on multiple past occasions, one of which was when Oklahoma gave a charter school grant to a religious academy. These kinds of charter grants violate our constitution. While the 1st Amendment gives us freedom of religion, it also makes sure our government remains impartial in regards to religion. In a public school setting, a student is typically in an impartial environment, and nor being shown religious bias. However, if we give public money to religious charter schools, it shows clear favoritism in our religiously-impartial school system. Therefore, they should not receive public funding. Furthermore, we can view more groundbreaking evidence that charter schools are harmful from North Dakota's eastern neighbors: Minnesota. Minnesota was the first state to legalize charter schools, and they’ve been a cause of concern. In these Minnesotan charter schools, multiple reports of embezzlement have been documented due to the lack of oversight from the Minnesotan Government, as they set up no proper systems of monitoring charter schools. This instance of embezzlement, along with multiple others across the nation, display how the trend of charter schools shows how they misuse public funds, and how they should not have a place in American education.
Looking ahead, North Dakota’s acceptance of charter schooling may show a turn in the current status quo of charter schooling. North Dakota was previously the #1 state in protecting public schooling, so if charter schools can be introduced in North Dakota, they certainly could be introduced in any state. Even if charter schools are considered public education, taking into account the concerns of transparency and funding, they should not be regarded as public education, and unless they obtain proper oversight. With another state legalizing charter schools, this brings up the question of what state will be next to lose one of the most important aspects of this nation: public, non corporate controlled education.
However, just because SB 2241 was passed, it doesn’t mean the fight is over. If you’re in North Dakota, we can continue to speak out against SB2241 through speaking with legislators, spreading awareness, and educating people on how charter schools truly operate. If you’re in another state, who may have charter school legislation on the docket for your state’s legislative assembly, remember as a U.S. citizen, you have the right to submit testimony on legislation. As students, educators, parents, or just community members, we can speak up on this matter, and we can prevent our public money from going into the hands of charter schools.
Take it from a student, we’re not done fighting against charter schools, and you shouldn’t be either.
To learn more about charter schools, read more about them here in Edisco.
