BISMARCK – Eighty-eight percent of North Dakota teachers feel that school districts will have a harder time keeping enough staff next school year. That’s according to new a poll issued this month. The survey is from the statewide union North Dakota United. It says the results show that teacher retention is a bigger threat to the profession when compared with other recent polls on the topic.
Monica Klein is a Mandan elementary school teacher who feels the state shouldn’t lose sight of giving incoming educators a boost, noting that added support might not have them thinking about switching professions.
She says, “not only learning how to teach the curriculum, not only learning how to implement the strategies, not only learning how to be a teacher but experiencing it because I can tell you that in the first five years of my career, I learned so much and it wasn’t things that I learned in my college education.”
According to the poll, 19 percent of educators younger than age 30 and 24 percent between 30 and 39 say they plan to retire as teachers. Survey authors say that represents a sharp contrast to the outlook young respondents have when first entering the profession.
