Latest news with #NickArchuleta
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
After North Dakota falls in national report, teacher's union says falling pay ranking is dire for teacher retention
May 1—GRAND FORKS — The union representing North Dakota's teachers is raising the alarm about a new report showing continued declines in North Dakota's teacher pay relative to other states. North Dakota ranked 40th among U.S. states and Washington, D.C. for average teacher salaries last school year, according to a report released this week by the National Education Association, a national labor union representing K-12 educators and college faculty and staff. That's the lowest ranking for the state in at least four years, based on prior NEA reports. "North Dakota is going backwards," said Nick Archuleta, president of statewide teachers union North Dakota United. "If we're serious about recruiting and retaining the very best teachers, we're going to have to invest in their salaries too." Last year, North Dakota teachers made an average of $58,581 while the average starting salary came out to $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, average salaries in North Dakota grew by 3.2%, compared to 3.8% nationwide. Starting teacher salaries in North Dakota have dropped from 26th nationwide in 2021-22 to 34th last year. The state is suffering from a particularly acute case of the teacher shortage that's being felt nationwide. The state Educational Standards and Practices Board in February declared a "critical shortage" of teachers in all content areas ahead of the 2025-26 school year, the sixth year running that it found deficits in all teaching areas. North Dakota has been looking to fill open teaching positions with its Department of Labor-funded teacher apprenticeship program, ESPB Director Becky Pitkin said. So far, "we haven't had as many calls of desperation as we have in the past," she said, but noted the board won't have a complete picture of teacher demand until the Department of Public Instruction compiles its Teacher Shortage Report from school districts in the fall. Archuleta says legislators have to get serious about increasing teacher pay if they want to keep teachers in North Dakota, pointing to states like Idaho, which boosted its teacher salaries by 9.1% to $61,516 last year — passing North Dakota in average pay. House and Senate lawmakers appear poised to approve a 2.5% year-over-year increase in the student per-pupil payment for the next biennium, a figure Archuleta points out struggles to keep pace with current inflation. The Consumer Price Index climbed 2.4% over the last 12 months; Midwestern states saw slightly higher inflationary increases to consumer goods, up to 2.7%. "We understand that we're probably not going to pay an average salary of $101,000 or whatever it is in California," Archuleta said. (It's $101,084, the highest in the nation.) "We get that. But we can certainly do better than No. 40." The NEA notes that even with record-level increases in some states, average teacher pay has still fallen short of inflation over the last decade. Teachers are making on average 5% less in real wages than 10 years ago, per the NEA's report. Adam Tescher, DPI's school finance director, says addressing the teacher shortage is about more than just salaries, pointing to the quality of schools and supportive administrators as other important factors to consider. He did say, however, that the 2.5% per-pupil increase fell short of DPI's own hopes of a minimum 3% increase. "School districts will have to make difficult decisions on where those increases will happen, or where they may have to potentially make reductions for other increases in spending," Tescher said.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
North Dakota lawmakers consider bill that could lead to state employees paying for health premiums
Nick Archuleta, president of North Dakota United, speaks during a committee hearing on Jan. 21, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) A committee of lawmakers on Tuesday endorsed a bill that would allow the state to shift health insurance premium costs onto employees. Senate Bill 2160, sponsored by Rep. Kyle Davison, R-Fargo, would change the state employee health care plan to comply with the federal Affordable Care Act. This change would be irreversible. The House Appropriations Committee voted 15-7 to give the bill a do-pass recommendation. It will soon go to the House floor for a vote by the whole chamber. More 2025 legislative session coverage Supporters cite two main benefits to the policy. For one, it would cover a greater swath of services for employees — including contraception and preventative procedures like colonoscopies and mammograms. Under the new plan, co-pays would also apply toward out-of-pocket maximums. The new plan would cost about $6.6 million to implement for the 2025-2027 budget, according to an analysis attached with the bill. It says it would cost more than $25 million for the 2027-2029 biennium. One of the more divisive components of the proposal is that it'd give the state the ability to make employees pay a portion of the insurance premiums. Right now, the state covers that cost. Some said this would allow the state greater flexibility to address rising expenses for medical care. 'We have to start looking at ways to make a change for our budget, because we are not going to have the revenue coming in next time that we've had in the past,' said Rep. David Monson, R-Osnabock. 'To ask people to kick in a little more out of their pocket, put some more skin in the game, I don't think that's unreasonable.' Critics have said there isn't enough concrete evidence to suggest the policy change is a good idea. Molly Herrington, chief people officer of the state's Office of Management and Budget, submitted testimony last month in opposition to the bill. She said the state doesn't have data on how many employees would prefer to change to an Affordable Care Act compliant plan. 'Funding increases for the upcoming biennium are planned to be covered through PERS reserves, but we are concerned with how future costs will be covered long term and the risk that costs would be paid by employees,' Herrington wrote, referring to the North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System. 'If increased costs are pushed to employees, this would significantly dilute the strength of our total rewards package.' Her testimony included survey results from 2022 and 2024 that indicate employees consider health insurance the most important benefit offered by the state. 'I think we're treading down a very treacherous path that we may not fully appreciate with regards to retention and employees,' said Rep. Eric Murphy, R-Grand Forks, who voted against the bill. North Dakota United, the union that represents public employees, said he opposes the bill. President Nick Archuleta said the state Legislature should study the issue during the upcoming interim session to field more thorough feedback from state employees about what kind of health insurance they want. 'They should not fear taking the time that it takes to get the information needed to make a good decision,' he said. Some have testified that they believe the new policy could be a draw for state employees, however. 'We see this bill as, frankly, a retention tool for some of our employees, for the different benefits that are covered that are not covered right now,' Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread told lawmakers at a previous committee hearing. In written testimony, Insurance Department Deputy Commissioner John Arnold elaborated that the agency still worries about the long-term impacts of changing the plan. 'A shift in costs could create an additional financial burden on state employees, ultimately affecting the workforce's morale, retention, and the state's ability to attract top talent,' he wrote. Arnold said the department would support adding an Affordable Care Act plan as an option for employees if it also allowed them to remain on the existing plan. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
