State Rep. Mike Nathe, in partnership with Superintendent Levi Bachmeier and Gov. Kelly Armstrong's administration, has announced legislation aimed at paying North Dakota teachers annual retention bonuses funded by the earnings from the Common Schools Trust Fund.

That fund's balance is currently more than $9 billion and growing. For the next two-year budget cycle, it's projected to generate $718 million in earnings. Nathe's legislation takes 10% of that to fund the bonuses.

"The main point of this bill is we need teachers," Nathe said of the initiative on this episode of Plain Talk.

The bonuses would go to all educators working in a position that requires a teaching license, both in public and private schools. Nathe said both because "a teacher is a teacher" wherever they might be teaching.

Bachmeier supports the legislation because, in his tours of schools statewide, he's seen the teacher shortage firsthand. "We have too many empty classrooms," he said. "Down in McIntosh County, they didn't have an English teacher. Instead of reading novels and having debates, they were staring at a Chromebook."

"At the end of the day, we all know that the single largest predictor of learning is the quality of the instruction that a teacher provides," he continued. "Pay is not the only solution to our teacher shortage, but [ranking] 41st in the nation [in teacher pay] when we have all the resources that we do, a $9 billion trust fund, we've got to do something."

Asked if the bonuses would remove urgency for local school boards to keep up with base salaries, Nathe said his bill was written to protect against that. "We have a provision saying that this stipend cannot be used in their negotiations," he said, "and if DPI finds that they are using it in negotiations, DPI can then assess a penalty up to 10% of their per-pupil payment. Now, for a lot of school districts, that's millions and millions and millions of dollars."

Bachmeier said that raising compensation for teachers is something North Dakotans want.

"I'm seeing some flak from the left. I've seen some flak from the right. If you're taking flak, that means you're probably over the target. And our target here is the workforce shortage of teachers," he said. He also referred to a recent survey commissioned by his agency finding that "80% [of North Dakotans] think that teachers are underpaid. There aren't many 80/20 issues left in this world."

Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I talk about the failure of the wards measure in Fargo, my change of heart on Measure 2 (the school meals amendment), and the upcoming Plain Talk debates, which will begin releasing next week. We record on October 13, so be sure to get your questions for the candidates in at PlainTalkND.com.

If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It's super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you're from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below.

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Pocket Casts | Episode Archive