President Donald J. Trump Nominates ND Superintendent Kirsten Baesler As Assistant US Education Secretary
North Dakota Superintendent Kirsten Baesler said Wednesday she is honored to be nominated to serve as Assistant U.S. Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education. The position requires U.S. Senate confirmation, and Baesler will continue in her role as North Dakota’s superintendent until she is confirmed.
The Assistant U.S. Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education oversees the department’s efforts to improve student achievement from preschool through 12th grade.
“I am excited for this new opportunity to support the education of more than 49 million children and their families. I share a commitment with Secretary-designate Linda McMahon to create a work-ready focus in education. This is an opportunity to build on the relationships I’ve formed with fellow state education leaders over the past 12 years to implement the changes that will help our students become future-ready citizens. I look forward to working alongside Secretary-designate McMahon to deliver on President Trump’s education agenda and return education decisions to the states,” Baesler said.
Baesler has been elected four times as North Dakota’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction, first in 2012 and most recently in 2024, making her currently the longest-serving chief state school officer in the nation.
Her educational career has included more than 20 years in the Bismarck public schools as a vice principal, district technology integration coordinator, library media specialist, and instructional assistant. As a resident of Mandan, N.D., she served on the Mandan public school board for nine years, including seven as the board’s president.
As North Dakota’s superintendent, Baesler built a reputation for championing personalized competency-based learning. She implemented the "Choice Ready" accountability framework to ensure students graduated with the knowledge, skills, and experiences to be successful in work, college, or the military.
She worked in concert with the U.S. Department of Labor to create principal apprenticeships to better support students and teachers, and she led efforts in the North Dakota Legislature to approve the nation’s first requirement for K-12 cybersecurity and computer science instruction.
She also provided budget training for local superintendents and business managers to use taxpayer dollars effectively and efficiently, established a public statewide education dashboard for transparency, and streamlined the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction’s operations, reducing staff while improving service and job satisfaction, saving taxpayers millions of dollars.
Believing that “student outcomes won’t change until adult behaviors change,” Baesler launched the statewide Be Legendary School Board Training, a program that is laser-focused on “keeping the main thing, the main thing,” which is improving student academic outcomes.
Baesler, 55, has three grown sons, a daughter-in-law and three granddaughters. She is a native of Flasher, N.D., a rural community of about 215 people in southwestern North Dakota. Her name is pronounced KEAR’-sten BAYZ’-ler.
She is the youngest of seven children, and her father, John A. Schafer, was a Korean War combat veteran. “My mom and dad instilled in us three core values: God, family, country. They taught us that it wasn’t a question of if you served; it was a question of finding how you can best serve,” Baesler said. “This is my call to serve.”
The U.S. Department of Education issued a press release late Wednesday about sub-Cabinet presidential nominations for the department. The excerpt from the press release that mentioned Supt. Baesler is pasted below, along with statements from U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong.
U.S. Department of Education Celebrates Sub-Cabinet Presidential Nominations
Today, the U.S. Department of Education celebrated President Donald J. Trump’s nominations to lead the Department’s critical education reform agenda. Leaders from across the nation provided statements of support for the incoming leadership team.
Kirsten Baesler - Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education
Kirsten Baesler is currently the longest-serving chief state school officer in the nation as North Dakota’s elected state superintendent of public instruction. Baesler has built a reputation for championing personalized competency based-learning, implementing the choice ready accountability framework to ensure students are graduating with the knowledge skills and experiences to be successful in work, college, or military, and leading statewide efforts to improve student academic achievement.
1. “Kirsten Baesler is an excellent choice to deliver on President Trump’s agenda to return education to the states. We worked together to drive major change in North Dakota’s Schools and create a boom of work-ready young people to support our changing economy. Kirsten’s leadership, passion for education, and ability to get big things done will be a great asset to secretary McMahon and President Trump!” - Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior
2. “We appreciate President Trump and Department of Education Secretary-elect McMahon nominating Kirsten to this position. Kirsten has done a tremendous job overseeing the education of students in North Dakota and will be a great asset to the Trump administration. Kirsten has spent her career focused on education and has experience ranging from teaching in a classroom to leading the NDPPI. We congratulate her on her nomination and will work with our colleagues to ensure she is confirmed by the Senate as quickly as possible.” - John Hoeven, U.S. Senator for North Dakota
Statement from U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.:
Statement from North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong:
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