Question 1: Would you oppose legislation that threatens the continuation of Defined Benefit retirement plans for North Dakota’s current and future public and education employees?
“I would like to keep the defined benefit plan, but if it continues to fall farther into the red, the time may have to come to look at moving to another plan. With increases in interest rates, it may rebound, but the stock market is not looking good now either. I can’t promise what I would end up doing for new teachers or employees, but I would never abandon those that are already in the system with defined benefits. We have a contract with them that cannot be broken. I will give it careful consideration to keep defined benefit if possible. but no guarantees for new employees or teachers.“
Question 2: Would you oppose legislation that would allow the use of vouchers or tax credits to fund nonpublic education North Dakota?
“Yes. Vouchers I will not support. Tax credits are something I would not likely consider, but I think a tax deduction for parents sending their kids to private school could be something that would be fair. We have an obligation to fund free and public education. If parents don’t choose to make use of it, that is something they choose to give up.”
Question 3: Would you support a 5% increase for K-12 and state agencies salaries during the upcoming biennium?
“I would consider it. It looks like our revenue is going to far exceed the forecast. 5% is not even going to keep up with inflation so is certainly reasonable. The increase in health insurance will have to be considered, but yes, 5% is reasonable. We need to keep our teachers and employees in the classrooms in ND.“
Question 4: What types of information do you feel need to be shared with the community to be transparent but also not place unrealistic barriers on student experiences and added burdens to already exhausted educators?
“I think it should be a local decision. It should not be required in state law. If I were still a school administrator, I would not make my teachers submit all that to a public database. I, as an administrator, would keep the parents in the loop and make sure there was communication between the parents, teachers, and administration to avoid problems like many states have. I do not believe Critical Race Theory should be taught, nor do I think gender identity needs to be taught to anyone. Talking about it in a high school psychology or sociology class as something to discuss and not avoid is OK, in my book, but every school needs to decide with input from parents, teachers, administrators, and school boards and not the state legislature.”
Other: “I feel I am a strong supporter of public education. We have good schools and dedicated teachers, for the most part. With teacher shortages and lowering some requirements, we are having more problems and lower test scores, but we still provide a good education. Obviously, Covid didn’t do us any good either. At least we kept our doors open and did pretty well. I believe we still have teachers with “ND values” and common sense just like our state employees. We have great employees or things would not be as good in ND as they are. We can be better, but we have lots of successes too.”
He had a 45% voting record with North Dakota United in the 2019 session and a 59% voting record with North Dakota United in the 2021 legislative session.
Voted wrong on pensions (SB 2046) and voted right on vouchers (HB 1281, HB 1369).