Forum editorial: North Dakota is failing its teachers, and it’s time to do something about it

People don’t pursue a teaching career in the hopes of getting rich. While the profession offers many rewards, excellent pay is typically not among them.

That said, we should not resign ourselves to the assumption that competitive pay doesn’t matter when it comes to attracting people to teach or retaining the best teachers.

So it’s frankly embarrassing and shameful that

North Dakota has fallen to 40th in average teacher pay

among the 50 states and Washington, D.C.

The National Education Association recently released its annual report of teacher pay by state.

Last year, North Dakota teachers earned an average annual salary of $58,581. The average annual starting salary was $43,734.

Average teacher pay has climbed in North Dakota by nearly 7% since 2020-21, when the state ranked 34th in the nation, but that hasn’t kept pace with nationwide growth of around 10% over the same period.

Last year alone, average salaries in North Dakota grew by 3.2% compared to 3.8% nationwide.

Salaries for starting teachers in North Dakota have also dropped from 26th nationwide in 2021-22 to 34th last year.

Meanwhile, the average teacher salary in Minnesota is $72,430, or about $14,000 more than in North Dakota. That puts Minnesota 15th in teacher pay nationwide.

Starting teachers in Minnesota earn an average salary of $44,995, only about $1,261 more than in North Dakota. Minnesota ranks 26th in that benchmark compared to North Dakota’s ranking at 34th.

So while North Dakota has tried to slowly increase teacher pay in recent years, it hasn’t kept pace with the value other states have placed upon teachers.

As a result, North Dakota is struggling to attract and retain teachers, especially in rural areas. The problem is getting more acute by the year as the core of longtime educators retire and fewer young people pursue the profession known for poor pay and challenging work conditions made worse by poor parenting and a growing distrust of education.

This also comes at a time when North Dakota’s Legacy Fund hovers around $12 billion. The 15-year-old growing pile of money gleaned from the state’s taxes on the oil and gas industry is meant as a reserve fund for when those natural resources are depleted.

The intent of the Legacy Fund, created by taxpayers, was to use the state’s natural riches for transformative change. The recently adjourned Legislature did just that when it joined the governor’s push to tap a small portion of the Legacy Fund to lower property taxes, an issue that has plagued North Dakotans for decades.

Between now and the conclusion of the next legislative session in two years, lawmakers must make it a priority to increase teacher salaries. A good goal is to get North Dakota to at least the middle ranks of teacher pay in the country. It’s hard to be happy with average, but a “C” is better than the “F” we have today.

If we truly want to leave a legacy, there is no better investment in the future of North Dakota.