Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick has been named a fellow at the same education policy-focused institute that Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has been part of.
The state treasurer’s office announced Wednesday that Fitzpatrick had been named a Hunt-Kean Leadership Fellow for the program’s sixth cohort.
Established in 2001, The Hunt Institute describes itself as an independent nonprofit partnered with the Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy. The Institute mandates itself “to inspire elected officials and key policymakers to make informed decisions that result in improving the lives of all children through quality education,” by bringing together “the right people and resources to facilitate critical dialogue and mobilize action on the issues that matter in education,” according to its website.
The Hunt Institute’s fellowship program is co-chaired by and has an advisory board of states’ former governors.
The program “will provide political leaders with the core knowledge they need to cultivate smart and effective education agendas,” by exposing fellows “to the best research and analyses on innovative and successful education policies and practices,” providing an environment for discussion and introducing fellows to “other leaders directing successful reform efforts across the nation,” according to the fellowship’s website.
However, “participation does not require fellows to adopt any particular policy position or ideological framework,” the program’s website adds.
That’s something Ashcroft attested to in November, when at a two-day retreat for leaders of the Senate’s education and House workforce development committees held by the Hunt Institute at Lincoln University, he said the institute did not push certain policy solutions or agendas over others, but instead highlighted “what was working where, and not working elsewhere.”
That retreat was the second of its kind at Lincoln, the first being last January. Ashcroft was a Hunt Institute fellow in 2017, in the fourth cohort of the program.
Fitzpatrick is one of 23 bipartisan fellows in his cohort, which also includes the lieutenant governors of Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin, the attorney general of New Jersey, and the state treasurer of California.
“Education policy is important to me, not only as the administrator of MOST, Missouri’s 529 Education Plan but also as a parent and a taxpayer,” Fitzpatrick said in the news release from his office, adding “I am honored and grateful for the opportunity to learn from this diverse group of education policy leaders and experts from across the country.”
MOST refers to Missouri’s program for accounts, known as 529 plans, that are designed to help families save for K-12, college, trade or technical school costs. The plans also have federal and state tax benefits on earnings, withdrawals and contributions.
The news release added the fellowship would kick off Wednesday “with a three-day visit to Washington, D.C. during which the fellows will explore the importance of K-12 standards and assessments, school funding, early learning, school choice, and effective teachers and school leaders with some of the nation’s leading experts in education, policy, and politics.”