Beadle: We need a Treasurer that believes in Public Education

The State Treasurer has more influence over education than one might think. It is critical that we have a Treasurer who believes in our public education system.

The Treasurer serves on multiple major boards that impact our students in North Dakota. Among these are the State Investment Board, the University and School Land Trust Board, and the Teacher’s Fund for Retirement board. The State Investment Board oversees the investment and management of the Common Schools Trust Fund, an endowment that funds 10-15% of the cost of our K12 system. The University and School Land Trust endowment contributes millions towards our higher education system every year. The Teacher’s Fund for Retirement helps ensure our educators have security for the end of their careers.

It is important that we have a Treasurer who seeks to manage these funds wisely and wishes to support our education system rather than gutting it. We have a great education system in North Dakota with tremendous work being done by our teachers, administrators and staff in setting our kids up for success, and this pandemic shows that our educators are some of the most agile and innovative people we have. I’ve got a track record of investing in our students, supporting our educators and bringing more technology into the classrooms of our universities. Our investments at the state level have helped improve outcomes for our students, and significantly lowered property tax mills for the majority of our school districts.

My opponent has repeatedly voted against our K12 and Higher ed schools and hasn’t been willing to invest even $1 from the state budget on our students.

I don’t believe government is the enemy, but I want it to be as efficient, effective, and transparent as possible. I hope as the next North Dakota Treasurer to oversee that taxpayer investment in education to provide the best results we can for our students and future.

Thomas Beadle