I must start this narrative by eating a little crow. After the last Governor’s Task Force meeting on Teacher Pay and the news stories which followed, I jumped on the band wagon complaining about a lack of substance. My apologies to Senator Deb Soholt and the other members of the Task Force.

The report is now available to us. I hope you will take the time to read, think about, and communicate your reactions to your local school board members and the people we send to Pierre.

It is a very comprehensive offering of options which if implemented will lead to solutions. It also has too much wiggle room for legislators to talk, gab, pontificate, and do nothing.

Hopefully, that staple of Legislative inaction won’t work this time.

This report compiled by legislators, educators, and a healthy balance of thinking citizens takes away the option of uttering, “We need to study this before we act.”

I do not agree with some of the ideas, such as shifting local capital improvement levies to pay teachers, and having legislative limits placed on local reserve funds. The view from the comfort of the state capitol is much different than the front lines where education is actually delivered. I believe those decisions should be left to locally elected school boards. Legislators are no smarter nor are they better money managers than locally elected school board members.

To raise teacher pay, we must raise taxes. I know, you may hate to hear that. But it is reality. The problem of lack of teachers is real, and it is getting worse. If our elected leaders in Pierre had done something about this, three plus decades ago, we probably wouldn’t be in this mess. They didn’t. Subsequent governors and legislators have done no better.

It’s my second choice, but I support a raise in the state sales tax by 1%. It is quick, easy to implement, and produces instant results. According to people in Pierre a 1% raise will bring in about $200 million.

The money not needed to raise teacher pay to put us with North Dakota salaries, I would send to more fully fund Medicaid, improve the woefully inadequate mental health services in our state, and send money to county governments to assist them with the challenges of paying for law enforcement, prosecutors, and public defenders. I would also encourage creative use of funds to deal with addiction issues, and also more cross county line cooperation in all areas of county government.

My first choice to fund teacher pay is a business income tax. It won’t happen now, but I believe it is coming.

My legislative district is 12. My legislators are Dr. Blake Curd, surgeon, Arch Beal, beer distributor, and Alex Jenson, a realtor. I am sending them a copy of this op-ed piece with these additional words:

“I expect you to initiate, support, and vote to implement solutions to the teacher salary and availability problem. I will be paying close attention to your actions on this subject.

I also expect you to allow your fellow elected officials at the local level to manage the other resources in their custody without interference from you.

If you are not in the group voting to fix this much talked about but long neglected issue, I will vote for somebody who will. That is not a threat. It is a promise. “

More From KXRB