North Dakota
Arkansas professor makes case for school choice in North Dakota
FARGO — A professor of education policy says North Dakota is “ready to pop” when it comes to adopting a private “school choice” program.
Patrick Wolf, with the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas, spoke about “School Choice in North Dakota” at North Dakota State University on Friday, Nov. 1.
He was a guest of the Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth as part of a fall speakers series.
Wolf said 34 states have implemented some form of private school choice, including Montana, South Dakota and Minnesota.
“There’s one state there, North Dakota, that is a bit of a donut hole,” Wolf told the audience, as he referred to a map on a projected screen.
But he predicts the state won’t be an “outlier” for long.
Anna Paige / The Forum
The North Dakota House put forward a bill in 2023 to offset costs of private school tuition,
but Gov. Doug Burgum vetoed it and an attempt to overturn the veto failed.
House Bill 1532 would have set aside $10 million from the state’s general fund for an educational reimbursement program.
Wolf said Burgum’s inability to get a school choice program passed during his eight years as governor of a red state hurt the governor’s efforts to become presidential nominee Donald Trump’s choice as vice president.
“That was a strike against him,” Wolf said of the governor.
In Burgum’s veto message at the time, he said while his administration supports school choice, the bill was not the comprehensive solution needed and it fell short especially for rural areas far from any existing nonpublic schools.
In opposing the bill at the time,
Nick Archuleta, president of North Dakota United,
said it was about using taxpayer dollars to allow private schools to choose the students they want to educate.
He also said rural schools would end up “subsidizing private education for urban families.”
Kirsten Baesler, who is running for a fourth term as superintendent of public instruction, has said North Dakota should not fund school choice programs at the expense of public schools.
“This cannot be an either-or conversation,”
Baesler said in an interview last month with the North Dakota Monitor.
School choice programs come in four forms, Wolf said: school vouchers, tax credit scholarships, individual tax credits and education savings accounts, or ESAs.
South Dakota and Montana both have tax credit scholarships, with the latter also offering ESAs, while Minnesota has an individual tax credit to benefit parents who self-fund their child’s private schooling, according to Wolf.
Tax credit scholarships were developed, he said, because some states have constitutional prohibitions against the government directly supporting religious organizations.
An ESA system, similar to a health savings account, would fit best in North Dakota, he said, because of its flexibility.
“They can accommodate rural areas that wouldn’t have a critical mass of students to go to a traditional private school, but also accommodate the existing private schools,” he added.
Wolf made a case for school choice by saying while the government has a responsibility to support every child’s education, it doesn’t have to control the delivery of education as a result.
He compared North Dakota to West Virginia, also a rural state with a handful of medium size cities, where an ESA program was adopted three years ago.
Based on the states’ similarities, he said it’s estimated North Dakota would have approximately 1,100 participants in an ESA program the first year, about 2,700 the second year and a little less than 5,000 the third year.
There would be net costs to the state the first two years, but by year three, Wolf said the state would get back $1.11 in savings for every dollar spent.
He also maintains his research and that of colleagues shows private school choice programs can boost high school graduation rates, thus leading to lifetime income and health benefits for those individuals and communities as a whole.
He also said studies indicate test scores of public school students go up when those public schools are pressured by the launch of a school choice program.
Two private school leaders attended Wolf’s presentation.
“He’s got a lot of evidence to put to bed some of the fears and misconceptions, stereotypes, of why we can’t possibly do school choice,” said Mike Hagstrom, president of JPII Catholic Schools.
Bob Otterson, president of Oak Grove Lutheran School, echoed that statement.
“What I think we heard today from Dr. Wolf is there’s actual research. It’s not just a feeling about what people have,” he said.
North Dakota
Runners will soon trek across North Dakota to bring awareness for families grieving the loss of a child – KVRR Local News
FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — For more than 400 miles, 12 runners will trek across North Dakota to carry the stories of love, loss, and resilience from community to community.
“After having run Haven since 2017, the 10.15 Project came, and it just is so exciting because it’s really looking at pregnancy and infant loss and putting it in a new light. And really giving people the opportunity to do something that you can see and it’s meaningful,” said Jen Burgard, Founder and Executive Director of Haven.
The 10.15 Project was co-founded by Haven, an organization that supports grieving families. The relay begins on International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. And during the four days, the team hopes to bring awareness to families.
“It gives you pieces of solitude, of quiet, of reflection, and also a purpose. It gives you meaning, and I think endurance is one of the biggest pieces of this. It’s the endurance required to navigate pregnancy and infant loss is extreme. And I think this really mirrors that,” said Burgard.
While many of the runners come from different fields, many have also experienced a loss themselves.
“When it happened in my family, it was kind of something we were all struck by. You realize how common it is. And you know, I want to bring light to that,” said Ty Casey, Runner and Learning and Development Specialist at TrueNorth Steel.
Casey has multiple runs planned over the next few months, but with this run in particular, he hopes this will bring awareness.
“If this is one thing that can help bring light to it and help people be more open and help people to talk about it, and take some of the grief away that would be totally ideal for us just to help out a little bit,” said Casey.
The relay begins on October 15 in Medora and will end on October 18th in Fargo.
Spring Fever
District Game Warden Sam Feldmann
As winter begins to fade and ice fishing begins to slow, everyone gets the itch to be outside on nice days when it’s warming and the sun is shining. People are beginning to think about their garden or outdoor projects around the house they have been pondering all winter.
While others have been thinking about open water fishing, getting the boat ready, hitting the field to look for shed antlers in a favorite spot they’ve been watching deer all winter, or slipping into the field to lure a spring gobbler into shotgun range with a new call they’ve been practicing with all winter.
With the excitement of warm weather and getting out to enjoy everything a spring day has to offer, I would like to remind everyone of a few things while enjoying what North Dakota has to offer.
This year is a registration year for all motorized watercrafts. This doesn’t just mean you have to renew your registration. It means that when you get the new red stickers sporting “28” on them that they must be affixed to both sides of the bow of the boat.
Another reminder is that if you are going shed hunting, there are a few things to remember. Shed antlers are legal to possess. This time of year, our officers receive lots of calls about shed hunters locating “dead heads,” which are animals that have died and the antlers are still attached to the skull plate.
If you happen to locate a dead head, you cannot possess it without contacting your local game warden and receiving a permit for the animal. Also, if you are going to shed hunt on posted private property or a Private Lands Opens To Sportsmen tract, you need to obtain permission to do so. Wildlife management areas and other state and federal lands are open to shed hunting, but a good rule of thumb is to check the regulations on public property before heading out.
If you are going to be chasing turkeys this spring through the timber, there are a few things that should be remembered. Make sure you have your tag with you when you are in the field. Remember that your tag is only legal for one bearded wild turkey. If you are lucky enough to harvest a turkey you fooled into coming to your calling and decoy, you must tag it before doing anything else.
One last reminder for the spring activities. Remember that all licenses, whether it’s a hunting license or fishing license, expired March 31 and needed to be renewed as of April 1, 2026
With these few reminders out of the way, remember to have fun and enjoy what the great state of North Dakota has to offer.
MANDAN, N.D. (KVRR-KFGO) – Former North Dakota Game & Fish Director Terry Steinwand has been charged with molesting a child.
The Class “A” misdemeanor was filed after a Morton County District Court judge rejected a proposed plea agreement to a felony charge and prosecutors dismissed the charge while retaining the right to file an amended charge.
Steinwand is from Mandan. The 72-year-old is now charged with one count of sexual assault-offensive contact. The charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail.
Steinwand was originally charged in September, 2025, when police say he admitted to sexual misconduct.
Steinwand worked for the Game & Fish Dept. for 40 years. He led the agency for about 15 years and retired in 2021.
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