Letter: Why would North Dakota allocate funds to an out-of-state university?

Most individuals in North Dakota know that we’ve a really worrisome trainer scarcity within the state, and that the instructing packages at our universities are engaged on methods to recruit extra future academics. The North Dakota Division of Public Instruction can be engaged on this difficulty. Nevertheless, not too long ago I used to be deeply saddened to study that a whole bunch of hundreds of {dollars} have been awarded to Western Governors College (an internet college positioned in Utah) when it may have been awarded to certainly one of our personal instructing schools throughout the state of North Dakota.

Throughout the previous yr, three paraprofessional-to-teacher pathway sort packages have been funded by NDDPI, utilizing ESSER (Elementary and Secondary College Emergency Aid) {dollars}, starting from $575,000-$750,000, to help with the statewide trainer scarcity. These packages permit the trainer candidate to stay inside their very own North Dakota communities working inside their assigned colleges whereas finishing the necessities to acquire a instructing diploma.

In late 2022, the NDDPI introduced to ND universities that they might be calling for a fourth spherical of proposals for a secondary training para-to-teacher program within the new yr. These universities, which embody 11 trainer teaching programs, have been informed to attend for extra data on when proposals can be accepted. As a substitute, on Jan. tenth, NDDPI and the governor’s workplace introduced they partnered with Western Governors College and had awarded the ESSER {dollars} to a school exterior of North Dakota. It’s absurd that each NDDPI and the governor’s workplace didn’t even present a chance for our personal ND instructing schools to submit proposals and gave the cash to an out-of-state college as a substitute.

Basically, our state determined to present a whole bunch of hundreds of {dollars} to an out-of-state college, and now these paras will ultimately acquire a instructing diploma from the state of Utah as a substitute of from certainly one of our stellar in-state universities. This cash can be
significantly better spent in North Dakota.

Julie Reiten lives in Grand Forks.

This letter doesn’t essentially mirror the opinion of The Discussion board’s editorial board nor Discussion board possession.