Incumbent Kirsten Baesler and Jason Heitkamp are running in the general election for North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction on November 5, 2024. This election is a nonpartisan election, but both candidates are Republicans.
The Dickinson Press’ James B. Miller Jr. wrote that the office has ”a pivotal role responsible for overseeing North Dakota’s public education system” and is responsible for “setting educational standards, distributing funds, ensuring compliance with educational laws and advocating for educational improvements within the state legislature.”
Baesler was first elected in 2012. She says she is running for re-election to “continue working for our students and families, supporting our schoolteachers, and ensuring our taxpayers’ substantial investment in education is spent wisely.” She is campaigning on her record in office and says she has “a proven track record of fighting to ensure that every family can choose the education opportunities their child needs.” Baesler is also campaigning on saving the state money and says she has cut costs by “reducing the number of employees at the Department of Public Instruction, eliminating the agency’s need to use leased space…while increasing the quality and efficiency of service to the public.”
Heitkamp is a former Republican state senator and is a cousin to former U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D). He says he wants “to review the teacher retirement plan, bring transparency and work with budgets, review teacher pay, decrease administration costs, and reevaluate interstate education programs.” He is also campaigning to change the curriculum of state schools and says under his tenure, the curriculum would “involve…reading, writing, arithmetic, and civics.” Heitkamp also advocates for making the state pay for public schools instead of local governments, ending their reliance on a property tax. North Dakota Monitor’s Mary Steurer wrote that Heitkamp “doesn’t have the authority to change the state’s tax structure. But he’s hopeful the office will give him the sway needed to get it done.”
Education Week’s Libby Stanford wrote the race presents a “choice for voters—a person with experience teaching in and leading K-12 schools or an outsider with a potentially new take on education policy.” Baesler says that since taking office, she had seen a “shift from our voters…being deeply focused on the technical expertise of who this leader should be…there seems to be less desire of having a superintendent candidate who is experienced.” She says she will continue to campaign by “talk[ing] about my track record.” Heitkamp, who does not have education experience, says the job is “like the sheriff…You don’t need a peace officer’s license to be sheriff—that’s a management job. This is a management job, also.” In a Facebook post, Heitkamp said, “The people are tired of failure…I have met the people, I have heard the people, and I am up to the challenge.”
North Dakota is one of 12 states that elects a state superintendent and is one of 4 states where the office is up for election in 2024. To read more about which states have superintendent elections in 2024, click here.
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