North Dakota governor calls for universal school choice in budget address 

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has called for universal school choice in his budget address Wednesday, meaning the Peace Garden State could finally enter the school choice realm. 

Burgum, a Republican, vetoed a school choice bill last year claiming it did “not go far enough,” Corey DeAngelis, a leading school-choice advocate, posted on X. 

“I didn’t really believe him at the time – it sounded like an excuse to side with the defenders of the status quo. But Governor @DougBurgum is standing by his word,” DeAngelis posted. 

The northern state is one of only two states in the nation with no school choice programs of any kind, and, according to DeAngelis, it doesn’t even have charter schools. But that will likely soon change. 

Last year, the Legislature passed a school choice bill by wide margins, but it received Burgum’s veto. The measure would have created an “educational reimbursement program,” DeAngelis writes, but Burgum Wednesday called for education savings accounts, or ESA’s, which DeAngelis called “the gold standard of school choice.” 

Florida, Arkansas and Arizona are among the 17 states with ESA’s, which allow parents greater flexibility in how they use school choice funds.  

With Republicans continuing to hold strong majorities in the Legislature and Burgum on board, there’s a good chance of passing an ESA law. 

His action comes a day after South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem called for investing $4 million in that state’s ESA program.

“My hope is that these ESAs will ultimately be available to every student in South Dakota,” said Noem, a Republican who President-Elect Donald Trump has said he will nominate for Homeland Security secretary.