The free-market grassroots group Americans for Prosperity (AFP) today announced it has granted an unpaid leave of absence, effective immediately, to Duane Sand, the director of the group's North Dakota state chapter. Sand requested the unpaid leave of absence in order to campaign for elected office.

It has been six months since Ed Schafer signed our petition to cut state income taxes.

There has been an outpouring of support for this effort, and rightfully so. We have an opportunity to change a tax policy that has done little to retain North Dakotans, both young and old.

Not only does everyone deserve to keep more of their own money, but with nearly a Billion Dollar surplus of taxpayer money sitting here in Bismarck the urge for elected leaders to spend is proving to be overwhelming.

You may have heard about new government spending programs, and new requests from the multitude of special interest lobbyists, in the past few months. We can not let them win, and squander this opportunity for taxpayers to not only have a better standard of living but also allow government to grow and be even more intrusive in our lives.

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Americans for Prosperity of North Dakota has obtained a copy of the contract between the Grand Forks School District and recently hired Superintendent Dr. Larry P. Nybladh, Ph.D. The following is a breakdown of the contract that Dr. Nybladh has received. This should not be viewed as an attack on him, rather a questioning of the Grand Forks School Board's judgment and hiring procedures.

The governor's plan takes control away from local officials — and more importantly it takes control away from local parents — and it puts that control in Bismarck. Do we really want nameless and faceless bureaucrats making decisions about our children's education rather than local officials and local parents who know what their kids need?