There have been many attempts to reform and improve K-12 and higher education in North Dakota, the most recent being to repeal Common Core. But almost all of these have hit a huge roadblock - federal government funds that are part of our school and university budgets come with strings attached. These strings do not allow us to address the problems in our schools.
In most school districts, federal funds comprise less than 5% of the budget. Such a small amount can easily be replaced with wiser budgeting. Most of the federal funding requires additional hiring and reports that add expenses to an already burdened school budget. In fact, in 2013, Rep. Rick Becker (R-7) introduced a resolution to study the net cost/benefit of accepting federal funds. Even though the resolution passed, the legislature has yet to launch this study.
It's time to make North Dakota schools OURS and take control of our schools away from the federal government. Sign the petition below to stop federal control of our schools.
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Dear Senator/Representative:
There is a push to repeal Common Core in our state. There is also a great need for meaningful school reform in our state. But all of that is being hampered by the mandates and entanglements that come with federal funding. A study of school budgets shows that in most districts, federal funding accounts for 5% or less of the budget. That's such a small amount that the state could easily replace those funds with our surplus revenues. This has an added benefit of freeing up local schools to be innovative and proactively reform and improve our schools.
It's time to get the federal government out of North Dakota schools and return control to the local school boards and parents. I urge you to support a bill to end all federal funding to K-12 and higher education that come with strings attached, hampering our ability to respond to local needs, or that add costs to the administration and functioning of our schools.