School lunch is back on docket

January 28, 2023

Deven Mantz, Minot You know what’s cooler than having piles of cash sitting around in the state’s coffers? Feeding the next generation. Right now, we have many public-school boards that shame our children when they don’t have enough money in their lunch accounts. This needs to stop. Not only that, but kids should not have to worry about that, ever. During the pandemic, the federal government stepped in and paid for every meal for children at public school. This was an overwhelming success. Unfortunately, they stopped the funding for this. Fortunately, North Dakota has ...

Are we legendary or lost?

January 28, 2023

Kris Mount, Bismarck When Governor Doug Burgum gave his State of the State address he spoke of courage, curiosity, gratitude and humility. Ending with, “We are all here today because we love this state. Let us remember to love each other as well.” Watching bills come out of the Legislature regarding pronouns, bathrooms, books, drag queens, reproductive health care, and our LGBTQ+ community, I see fear, apathy, ingratitude, false-pride, and hate. Members of marginalized communities have been bullied our whole lives and most have tools to deal with these things as adults. The ...

ND grant to Utah university questioned

January 28, 2023

Julie Reiten, Grand Forks Most people in North Dakota know that we have a very worrisome teacher shortage in the state, and that the teaching programs at our universities are working on ways to recruit more future teachers. The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI) is also working on this issue. However, recently I was deeply saddened to learn that hundreds of thousands of dollars were awarded to Western Governors University (an online university located in Utah) when it could have been awarded to one of our own teaching colleges within the state of ND. Within the ...

Teacher pension falls short

January 28, 2023

Carol Dahlstrom, Hillsboro After teaching 34 years in secondary ed in North Dakota, I drew my pension through the ND Teachers Fund for Retirement, (TFFR.) However, in the sixteen years since retiring, over 9,000 other retired educators and I have yet to receive a COLA (cost-of-living adjustment). In my case, that means the check I receive today is worth only 40% of when I started drawing. How many people, including legislators, would accept a 60% loss in pay over a decade and a half? Inflation in the last two years alone will reduce our pensions by double digits. In the funds ...

Let’s not make it harder to vote

January 28, 2023

Carol Sawicki, Fargo Several bills have been introduced in the North Dakota legislative session that would require proof of United States citizenship to vote in our elections. These bills are unnecessary, potentially discriminatory, and may result in qualified voters deciding to stay away from the polls. Every person who comes to a polling site in North Dakota is already asked if they are a U.S. citizen before they are given a ballot. Requiring them to provide another verification implies that they are not giving a truthful answer to that question. Moreover, North Dakota ...

Shoebox gifts have global impact

January 28, 2023

Lizette Miller, Media relations manager, Samaritan’s Purse, Boone, N.C. I am writing to thank Minot-area residents for sharing the true meaning of Christmas with children in need this past holiday season. Generosity throughout contributed to a successful shoebox gift collection season at drop-off locations for the Samaritan’s Purse project Operation Christmas Child. Across the U.S., the project collected over 9.3 million shoebox gifts in 2022. Combined with those collected from partnering countries in 2022, the ministry is now sending nearly 10.6 million shoebox gifts to ...