McFeely: Right-wingers want your tax money to send their kids to private schools

FARGO — Maybe the timing was coincidental, but it's doubtful. Nothing in politics happens by accident. Recently, three things happening in three consecutive days was enough to raise a red flag that right-wing ideologues in North Dakota again want taxpayer money to pay for private schools.

That's nothing new. There have been seven bills introduced in the last four legislative sessions that would've diverted public money — your tax money — to help people send their kids to private schools.

But this felt like a full-court press, laying the groundwork for what's to come the next time lawmakers gather in Bismarck for their regular session.

One day, an announcement that Capstone Classical Academy was opening this fall in Fargo . It will be affiliated with the right-wing Hillsdale College in Michigan.

The next day, a column in this newspaper by right-wing radio host Scott Hennen touting Capstone and blaming public education for Hennen's perceived downfall of America's young people.

The third day, a letter to the editor in The Forum from North Dakota State University professor Jeremy Jackson calling for "education freedom" — a conservative euphemism for school vouchers and tax credits for those sending their children to private school.

What they want, folks, is your money. They want it to subsidize sending their children to ideologically driven schools like the Capstone Classical Academy or parochial schools like Shanley High School.

Oh, and home-schooling. They want your money for home-schooling their kids, too. One bill introduced in a recent legislative session would've used tax money to pay parents who home school their children.

Subsidizing private schools with public money has long been a conservative goal. It's been successful in many states. "School choice," "parental choice" and "education savings accounts" are also euphemisms for the scheme of diverting money meant for public education into the pockets of those who don't send their kids to public schools.

Private schools, religious-affiliated or otherwise, are justified. If parents or guardians want their children to have a faith-based education, that is their right. If parents want their children to be indoctrinated in the gospel of Trump, that is also their decision.

But it's up to them to pay for it. Period. Or for them to fund private scholarships for students who can't afford tuition.

It's not up to taxpayers to fund private education.

North Dakota's legislature thus far has resisted the pressure of the private- and home-schooling super-minority. Common sense has prevailed. One of the reasons is North Dakotans' love of their local public schools. Some polls have 90% approval for public education in the state.

Let's hope that support remains. Education has become hyper-partisan, just like everything else. Republicans have waged a decades-long war on public education, sadly aided by the pandemic. North Dakota is a deeply red state politically, and so maybe opinions have changed.

Public money should not fund private schools. If some want to send their kids to private schools, fine, but they should pay for it themselves. Always and forever.