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First in Quality, But 50^th in Pay

Shaken by a growing exodus of teachers from their state, North Dakota NEA members support governor's plan to boost salaries.

Despite a heavy snowfall, NEA members pack Fargo's civic center to rally for public schools.

Not long ago, a newly hired teacher in North Dakota's rural Sims School District No. 8 received a gut-wrenching phone call from her NEA state affiliate. It notified her that her 2000-01 starting salary, at just $15,100, made her the lowest paid public school teacher in the United States.

The North Dakota Education Association isn't bashful about sharing statistics like this. North Dakota teacher pay ranks 50th in the nation, and according to NDEA President Max Laird, many of the state's districts have salary scales with a $18,700 minimum and a $29,600 maximum. "A career salary gain for many of our teachers is just $10,000," he says.

Contrast grim stats like these with North Dakota's glowing record of student achievement, and you can see that the state's taxpayers are getting quite a bargain. North Dakota has the greatest proportion of high school grads going on to college, and its eighth grade math and science scores consistently tie for first place in the nation.

What does all this have to do with education in your state?

North Dakota's subsistence salaries "don't help other states push the envelope on teacher pay," warns Laird, a science teacher on leave from Community High School in Grand Forks. "Sooner or later, legislators in other states are bound to ask, 'Why scream about higher teacher pay when North Dakota delivers on standardized tests, yet pays its people next to nothing?'"

NEA Executive Vice President Reg Weaver, left, urges ralliers to educate legislators on the need to boost teacher salaries.

Rest assured, those lawmakers won't probe the hidden costs of the North Dakota Miracle. Teachers are working extra jobs to survive, college education majors are leaving the state after graduation, and entire high school departments are being courted by out-of-state recruiters.

"We've become a fertile recruiting ground," notes Laird, "especially for school districts in Nevada, South Texas, and Minnesota. While North Dakota teachers were historically rooted in their communities, younger teachers today aren't terribly interested in staying to work for next to nothing, even if they were born and raised here."

Even many veteran educators--the folks who put North Dakota students on the top of the national charts--are starting to polish their resumes.

"I have two good friends, excellent educators with master's degrees, who are leaving the state this year," laments Ellen Dunn, a work experience educator in Fargo. "They're tired of the low pay, lack of respect, and lack of support. They feel that education is not valued here."

Fortunately, Dunn and many other members of the Fargo Education Association aren't quite ready to write off their home state. Even while wearing "Tell Them" buttons to protest the "chipping away" of health care benefits in their district, they donate one dollar from the sale of each button to a scholarship fund for district graduates seeking to major in education in college.

"North Dakotans are positive people," stresses Dunn, an NDEA regional director. "We want to retain quality teachers so that this state's kids can continue to be first in the nation."

Slowly but surely, NDEA's positive attitude is shaping public debate over education in the Peace Garden State.

Some encouraging signs:

• North Dakota's new governor supports a teacher raise. Throughout Election 2000, NDEA worked diligently with both candidates for governor to make public education and teacher recruitment/retention the top campaign issues.

  Now newly elected Republican Governor John Hoeven, with NDEA support, is proposing the creation of a $50 million state fund to raise teacher salaries by $3,500 over the 2001-03 biennium.

  "North Dakota ranks at the bottom of teacher salaries nationwide, and for many districts it is becoming increasingly hard to recruit or retain educators," Hoeven said when announcing his plan. "It is time to make a serious commitment to improving teacher pay and benefits."

  While the governor's plan, which enjoys bipartisan support, is "not the be-all and end-all," says NDEA President Laird, "it moves us in the right direction and provides hope for the future."

• NEA members are saying, 'Enough is Enough.' Alarmed by their states' growing disinvestment in public education, NDEA and Education Minnesota affiliates in the bi-state Fargo-Moorehead region organized a citizen's rally for public education on a snowy weekday evening in January.

  Carrying handmade signs, some 1,500 educators, parents, and NEA Student Program members jammed Fargo's Centennial Hall, where they heard Association leaders--from NEA and two state affiliates--urge them to persuade North Dakota and Minnesota legislators to pass budgets that invest in public schools and alleviate the teacher shortage in both states.

  "You can't expect to pay people the worst and get the best," said NEA Executive Vice President Reg Weaver. "I'm tired of seeing the best teachers leaving.

  "What are we going to do after the rally?" Weaver asked. "We've got some persuading to do. It's not right to freeze North Dakota teachers at 50th in the nation. Let's get behind Governor Hoeven's pay plan. He can't do it himself--he needs your help!"

  This event was a "shot in the arm" for teachers, says Ellen Dunn, a member of the rally planning committee.

  "When members ask me, 'Now what?' I encourage them to come to forums with legislators sponsored by the League of Women Voters and to NDEA's Lobby Days, where they can speak positively to legislators about what's going on in our public schools."

• The public is learning about the crisis in North Dakota schools. Through an imaginative media campaign financed jointly by NEA and NDEA, taxpayers are learning about the need to recruit and retain quality educators and to support Governor Hoeven's teacher pay plan.

  NEA's financial contribution to this ad campaign sends a signal to North Dakota members that they don't stand alone. "We feel incredibly good about having a national organization that's there when we have needs," stresses NDEA President Laird. "We're grateful that NEA colleagues across the U.S. appreciate what we're trying to do."

  "We need their continued support," adds Ellen Dunn. "This isn't just about salaries. It's about the survival of quality public education in this state."

For an update on the status of North Dakotaa teacheer pay legislation, go to www.ndea.org/legislative.html.

Iowa NEA Members Go Public on Critical Teacher Shortage

Iowa educators march to their state capitol in Des Moines.

Iowa, the state with the second-highest proportion of high school grads going on to college, is ranked 35th in educator pay and has a teacher turnover rate that's twice the national average.

Small wonder that this high-achieving state has a critical teacher shortage.

On February 3, Iowans for Public Schools--a broad coalition that includes the Iowa State Education Association--publicized this crisis during a media-friendly town meeting in Des Moines. Present, along with reporters and camera crews, were more than 800 educators and concerned citizens from across the state.

Speakers, including everyone from Governor Tom Vilsack to Iowa Teacher of the Year Gail Wortmann, reinforced the message that the teacher shortage threatens the quality of education that Iowans have come to respect.

"It's time to put things back in balance and make sure that quality education continues to happen," ISEA President Jolene Franken told the crowd. "It's about respect. It's about priorities. It's about time."

The first step, she said, is to bring educators' salaries up to a more "professional and competitive" level.

Following the town meeting, some 500 sign-carrying ISEA members walked to the state capitol, where they delivered 2,000 postcards and letters urging lawmakers to take action.

"We presented a positive message that won't be forgotten," said event co-chair Mike Beranek, an elementary teacher from West Des Moines. "Now is just the beginning. We have to keep this issue at the top of discussions in the legislature."