Education Perspectives
TALK TO YOUR LOCAL LEGISLATORS TODAY Student issues can’t be left behind! The holiday season renewed our commitment to family and reminded us of the privileges and blessings that we received in 2014. We watched our children partake in the season, and we as parents and educators talked about how our children will someday be the future of this great nation. Special announcements of two new arrivals in 2015 for my family were made during this season. According to statistics, this same wonderful news was and will be shared by many families across the state into the coming year.
By Karen Christensen Vice President of Education
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Safety and security don’t just happen; they are the result of collective consensus and public investment.”
Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa
The baby boom is on! For the last 100 years or so North Dakota’s population has remained about the same, but in the future it is expected to grow by double digits. What will North Dakota do this Legislative Session to protect the rights and provide opportunities for the potential students entering our education system? How will students of poverty be given the opportunity to fully participate in their education? Can students afford to go to college or pursue training beyond high school? Will our homeless population be given full educational consideration? Our 2015 Legislature faces issues that stem much deeper than the expectations of state standards. The increase in the number of babies being born in our state means making sure schools have enough classrooms to accommodate students, and each classroom must have a highly qualified educator in that classroom to teach our students. The Education Professional Standards Board (ESPB) has granted more teaching licenses to educators from outside of North Dakota than students now graduating from our state colleges. The best and brightest students in North Dakota aren’t pursuing degrees in education because of the lack of compensation vs. college loans debts. Classrooms are left without highly qualified personnel to develop standards for our students. This is a topic for our 2015 Legislature to address. Some of the other topics our Legislature must address are: Serious consideration for children of poverty, providing our poverty students access to breakfast when they come to school to fuel the learning process followed up by a lunch that promotes physical growth, supporting the school’s ability to expose students to a wide variety of experiences and career options in order to develop a broader spectrum of career choices as a step in meeting the state standards, and an affordable post-secondary education and training opportunities to aid in the demand for qualified employees to fill the job market. Another rising challenge in education and a topic for our Legislature to address is servicing the homeless population. Homeless children tend to deal with stress, fear, anxiety and instability. They are nine times more likely to drop out of school. With the shortage of affordable housing, we will see homeless rates increase which puts pressure on the school systems to help students accomplish state standards. In the late 1950s, the state required that oil taxes flow directly to the state. The citizens of North Dakota have placed their trust in our elected officials to appropriate funds in a manner that will meet the needs of the current citizens of North Dakota. It is time as educators to let our elected officials know what topics need their top priority. This Legislative Session, our student issues cannot be left until the end of the session to be solved. As NDU members it is our job to talk to our local legislators and let them know how serious the problem is for the students in North Dakota today. Our students can’t wait until tomorrow for these problems to be solved!
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ND United Voices