After 30 years in education, Laird proved how committed he is to his cause. Laird now wants to add state superintendent of public instruction to his legacy. He is running as an independent after garnering enough constituency support to be petitioned onto the Nov. 4 ballot.
Among Laird's priority is to bring change to the Department of Education, which he believes has failed to meet the standards and demands of a 21st-century generation.
"I have felt in the last 10 years, a growing level of frustration as to what I believe to be an outdated way that our state department of education is functioning relative to the needs of schools in our state," he said.
Laird plans to improve the way the federal No Child Left Behind mandates operate within the state while the program is revised at the federal level. Another priority is to ensure that every child in North Dakota has access to quality education regardless of that child's economic and social background. He believes the public school system is responsible to provide an education that can propel students forward.
Laird teaches science for at-risk high school students in the Grand Forks Public Schools.
"I love my job, I love what I do," said Laird. "I have the ability in my world – because I work with smaller numbers and more serious issues – to literally see kids learn one at the time. It's something I've really gotten my arms around, and now I'm at a point of my career where I'm ready to take that passion and move it to a different place."
Laird believes students in alternative high school are often disregarded when it comes to public policy, mainly because they don't have many advocates.
"I decided to run for this office to address the issues of all kids, but sort of keep a third eye on a population that doesn't have someone speaking for them," he said.
In addition to being an educator, Laird is a regular at school board meetings. Through his involvement in school board meeting over the last 10 years, Laird realized he had little to no control over classroom decisions.
"Everything from the textbooks you buy to the curriculum you use, to decisions about graduation, the courses kids take, special needs and all those things are often controlled by folks that are outside your specific arena or classroom." he said. "I bring a huge amount of passion for kids, a lot of experience right straight out of the classrooms, not from inside the walls of the Capitol for three decades."
Laird obtained bachelor's and master's degrees from Iowa State University. He spent several years in the field of athletic training and sports medicine and moved to North Dakota to work as the first head athletic training for the Grand Forks Public Schools and as a science teacher.
Regarding his decision to run as an independent, Laird said, "It's pretty simple. The Democratic party made the decision to endorse Mr. Sanstead; the Republican party made a decision to endorse no one."
Laird is pleased with the fact he is running as an independent, however, as he strongly believes the office of superintendent of public instruction needs to be, "a no party office."
He believes the state's Department of Education needs a leader from within the educational system, as well as someone who is passionate and has currency in the world of public education.
"I also think when we have good news, we need to celebrate and need to acknowledge the people that made things happen. And when we have things that are not working so well, we need to figure out what we need to do to fix them," he said.
"This office is far more important than it's realized today," Laird said. "I hope that win, lose or draw that people will push state government to reflect those issues of currency, passion and experience, regardless."
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