Merrill Piepkorn on Education

Money for vouchers means less money for public education

[Republican U.S. Rep. Kelly] Armstrong said he believes in school choice but doesn't think vouchers would be a good approach because private schools could raise their tuition to take advantage of the new state money. "It doesn't need to be either-or," Armstrong said. "We can fund our public school system and we can have the best public school system in the country, and we can still allow for significantly more parental autonomy in school choice."

Expand apprenticeships and paid internships to students

Piepkorn agreed, pointing out that with state support in recent years, businesses have been expanding apprenticeships and paid internships to students. "Our Legislature does not always put as high a priority on higher education as we two gubernatorial candidates do," Piepkorn said. He added local unions have ramped up their apprenticeship training programs geared toward younger workers to get them into high-paying career fields sooner.

Armstrong said he doesn't have the "silver bullet" to fix complicated workforce issues, but addressing housing, health care and educational needs would be a good start to drawing more potential to the state.

Would have vetoed the state's book banning bills

Piepkorn said he would have vetoed the state's book banning bills and the state's abortion ban. "In some of these things, they are making an issue out of things that are not an issue," Piepkorn said. "I think some of these things are being brought into the Legislature from outside sources, national organizations, who have pinpointed the Legislature to carry forth this agenda." He said in the year since the book banning bill went into effect, only one complaint was made against one book, after it was reviewed by the library board, the book remained in the children's section.

Support public education, school lunches for all students

• Supporting public education, our students, families, and educators--including school lunches for all of our students.
• Innovating solutions to quality childcare access for our working families.

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ND Gubernatorial: Doug Burgum Kelly Armstrong Rick Becker ND Senatorial: John Hoeven Katrina Christiansen Kevin Cramer Michael J. Steele Rick Becker	Gubernatorial Debates 2023: KY: Incumbent Andy Beshear(D) vs.State A.G. Daniel Cameron(R) vs.Ambassador Kelly Craft(R) vs.State Auditor Mike Harmon(R) LA: Incumbent John Bel Edwards(D,term-limited) vs.Jeff Landry(R) vs.Shawn Wilson(D) vs.John Schroder(R) vs.Sharon Hewitt(R) MS: Incumbent Tate Reeves(R) vs.Bill Waller(R,withdrew) vs.Brandon Presley(D) Gubernatorial Debates 2024: DE: Gov. John Carney (D, term-limited); vs. Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long (D) vs. County Exec. Matt Meyer (D) vs. State Rep.Mike Ramone (R) IN: Gov. Eric Holcomb (R, term-limited); vs. Sen. Mike Braun (R) vs. Suzanne Crouch (R, lost May 7 primary) vs. Eric Doden (R, lost May 7 primary) vs. Attorney General Curtis Hill (R, lost May 7 primary) vs. Jennifer McCormick (D) MO: Gov. Mike Parson (R, term-limited): vs. Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) vs. State Senator Bill Eigel (R) vs. Lt.Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) vs. House Minority Leader Crystal Quade (D) MT: Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) vs. Ryan Busse (D) vs. State Rep. Tanner Smith (R, lost June 4 primary)	Gubernatorial Debates 2024 (continued): NC: Gov. Roy Cooper (D, term-limited); vs. Lt.Gov. Mark Robinson (R) vs. Attorney General Josh Stein (D) vs. Treasurer Dale Folwell (R, lost March 5 primary) vs. Justice Michael Morgan (D, lost March 5 primary) vs. State Senator Andy Wells (R,withdrew) vs. Rep.Mark Walker (R, withdrew) ND: Gov. Doug Burgum (R, retiring) vs. State Rep. Rick Becker (R) vs. U.S.Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R) vs. State Sen.Merrill Piepkorn (D) NH: Gov. Chris Sununu (R, retiring) vs. U.S.Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) vs. Mayor Joyce Craig (D) vs. Acting Gov.Chuck Morse (R) vs. Exec.Councilor Cinde Warmington (D) UT: Gov. Spencer Cox (R) vs. State Rep. Phil Lyman (R) vs. Minority Leader Brian King (D) VT: Gov. Phil Scott (R) vs. Lt.Gov.David Zuckerman (D, withdrew) vs. Selectman Peter Duval (D) vs. Commissioner Esther Charlestin (D) WA: Gov. Jay Inslee (D, retiring); vs. Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) vs. U.S.Rep.Dave Reichert (R) vs. State Sen. Mark Mullet (D) vs. County Chair Semi Bird (R) vs. Hilary Franz (D, withdrew to run for U.S.Rep.) WV: Gov. Jim Justice (R, term-limited) vs. WV Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) vs. Huntington Mayor Steve Williams (D) vs. WV State Auditor JB McCuskey (R, withdrew) vs. WV Secretary of State Mac Warner (R, lost May 14 primary) vs. State Del. Moore Capito (R, lost May 14 primary)	Abortion Budget/Economy Civil Rights Corporations Crime Drugs Education Energy/Oil Environment Families/Children Foreign Policy Free Trade Govt. Reform Gun Control Health Care Homeland Security Immigration Infrastructure/Technology Jobs Local Issues Principles/Values Social Security Tax Reform War/Iraq/Mideast Welfare/Poverty [Title9]