Just like South Dakota, North Dakota has a teacher shortage. Just like South Dakota, North Dakota convened a task force to tackle the problem last summer. Just like South Dakota, North Dakota brought education expert Richard Ingersoll to tell its task force that the teacher shortage arises from more issues than just salary.
Unlike South Dakota, where Governor Dennis Daugaard has only generally endorsed the goals of his teacher shortage task force and has yet to take any action, North Dakota saw its Governor Jack Dalrymple approve and enact one of his teacher shortage task force’s proposals, the “community expert” policy, at the end of August, in time to try solving the problem in this school year.
But in an example of avoiding the obvious problem of salary that we should hope is unlike whatever Governor Daugaard proposes in next week’s State of the State address, Governor Dalrymple’s plan made no dent in North Dakota’s teacher shortage:
In an effort to address the teacher shortage, Gov. Jack Dalrymple approved an emergency rule last August that allows school districts to issue a letter of approval to someone who isn’t a licensed educator but has a specific area of expertise related to the teaching assignment.
But only one person applied for the community expert program, and that person didn’t qualify because they wanted to teach agriculture but had a two-year degree in machine tooling, said Janet Welk, executive director of the state Education Standards and Practices Board, the state’s teacher licensing board.
The board, with counsel from the attorney general’s office, determined that it couldn’t issue temporary teacher credentials unless they were based on a bachelor’s degree in the content area to be taught, Welk said.
[State Superintendent of Public Instruction Kirsten] Baesler said she doesn’t expect the state to try the program again [Mike Nowatski, “More Than 200 ND Teacher Positions Still Unfilled After ‘Community Experts’ Program Falls Flat,” Forum News Service via Prairie Business Magazine, 2016.01.05].
Unlike South Dakota’s teacher shortage task force, North Dakota’s is still meeting. Unfortunately, their other big ideas on the table appear to focus on marketing.
Neither Dakota will advertise or substitute its way to a better, fuller teacher corps. Like South Dakota, North Dakota pays its teachers less than 90% of its statewide per capita income, compared to a nationwide teacher pay-to-per capita income ratio of 123%. If we want good teachers in every classroom, we’re going to have to pay for them.
Just like South Dakota, North Dakota shouldn’t require a task force to figure that out.
p.s.: For you defeatists out there, consider that South Dakota’s Blue Ribbon K-12 task force has recommended raising South Dakota’s average teacher pay by $8,000. That would still leave us a few hundred dollars short of North Dakota’s average teacher pay of $48,666.
Difficult to say which state would be a worse place to live and teach, for sure.
Really? Minnesota a very Democratic state is more welcoming and engaging to small business than South Dakota, a very Republican state? Ever wonder why SoDak is so Republican. Here’s my contention.
~The Dakotas have the highest percentage of voters with German heritage in all of USA and both states are overwhelmingly Republican. (contrary to ethnic lore these states are not majority Scandanavian…neither is Minnesota) There have been only four U.S. Presidents with half German heritage. (none with full German blood) Three have been Republicans and one Democrat. Can you name them?
~I contend that SoDak votes strongly to the right because of it’s heritage. The voters swallow the Republican doctrine like a bitter pill. They don’t know any other way then to do what’s always been done and have a strong aversion to change.
How about this question. Are unemployed teachers choosey as where they will go to teach? Do they choose not to teach in the small rural schools or reservations? Because they prefer to live in and work in a larger community where they can make as much money as teaching? I believe it has more to do with their higher standards of living?
Don, those are reasonable questions. I’ll note that Rapid City and other big districts in the Hills are losing teachers to smaller, more isolated towns across the border in Wyoming.
If teachers are seeking a higher standard of living than that available in rural areas and reservations, I will agree that simply raising pay is an incomplete solution (although the market does work, and money will induce more workers to make more sacrifices). But then what policies do we adopt? What do we say to rural and reservation communities? Do we tell them to open and indy cinema, an art gallery, and a Starbucks? Do we tell them to pave every street and recruit 500 thirty-something workers? Do we tell the towns to install free gigabit fiber service to every house?
Or do we tell those school districts, “We know it’s hard getting talented professionals to come live in the middle of nowhere. Here’s some more money. Offer them a big check and plenty of vacation time. Do the best you can.”?
Be sure to remind North Dakota’s marketing efforts that Mars has been usurped by South Dakota marketing efforts.