Annual bonuses proposed for ND teachers

BISMARCK - North Dakota lawmakers and state officials announced Monday, Oct. 5, a proposal that would award yearly bonuses to teachers to boost recruitment and retention.

Estimated bonuses for the first year would be about $3,400 per teacher, if lawmakers support the proposal during the 2027 legislative session.

The Support Teachers and Youth Succeed stipend, or STAYS, would use 10% of the earnings from the Common Schools Trust Fund, divided evenly among the state's full-time public and private school teachers.

The bonuses, awarded each fall, would increase as the fund's earnings increase, said Rep. Mike Nathe, R-Bismarck.

"The teacher shortage in North Dakota is an urgent, statewide workforce issue and it deserves a statewide response," Nathe said during a press conference at the Capitol.

Full-time teachers would qualify for the bonus after they fulfill their teaching contract. Bonuses would be capped at 25% of a teacher's salary, he said.

"You can't even leave a day early," Nathe said. "You have to fulfill that contract until the end."

The proposal is backed by Gov. Kelly Armstrong's office and Superintendent of Public Instruction Levi Bachmeier.

"The hardest part of this job is stepping into classrooms that are empty and have been repurposed into storage rooms because they can't hire an ag teacher," Bachmeier said Monday.

He said he just visited a school in Nelson County that didn't have a science teacher and students were doing their science coursework online, which can make it hard to participate in labs. More than 230 North Dakota teaching positions were unfilled in 2025, according to the Department of Public Instruction. The figure is not yet available for 2026.

"We know the science of learning is clear, the quality of the instructor standing in front of the classroom, pushing students to engage in meaningful, hands-on learning is the single greatest predictor of learning," he said. "So, we have to fill these classrooms."

The Common Schools Trust Fund was valued at more than $9.1 billion as of May 31, according to the North Dakota Treasurer's Office. Revenue in the fund comes from mineral rights leasing, oil and gas royalties, rent from agricultural land leases and a portion of the oil extraction tax.

Distributions of the fund are based on a five-year average of earnings and are designated to benefit K-12 education. For 2025-27, the distribution was $585 million, which paid for about 24% of the state's K-12 education budget, State Treasurer Thomas Beadle said.

The fund earnings are projected to be $715 million to $720 million for 2027-29, Beadle said. The fund is projected to have enough earnings to support the teacher bonus proposal without taking away dollars for the K-12 education budget, Beadle said.

Bachmeier said the projections for increased earnings in the Common Schools Trust Fund could turn the bonus into a substantial yearly stipend.

"Before my two daughters graduate from a North Dakota high school, that annual stipend could be over $10,000," he said. "This is a serious and meaningful policy that can change the narrative on education as a financially sustainable profession here in North Dakota."

Nick Archuleta, president of North Dakota United, which represents teachers and public employees in the state, said the organization supports the proposal. He added the bill draft has a provision that would not allow school districts to use the bonus program in negotiations to decrease teacher salaries.

"Our teachers, the ones that I've spoken to about this so far, are excited about it," Archuleta said. "We don't want to see people leaving the profession once they are here and we want to do everything we can to recruit the best and the brightest into the profession. This bill goes a long way to doing that."

The bill is expected to be introduced when lawmakers convene in January.

North Dakota teacher pay ranked 41st in the nation in 2024-25, according to the National Education Foundation.

The North Dakota Retention and Recruitment Task Force, commissioned by then-Gov. Doug Burgum in 2024, recommended improvements to retirement, health benefits and pay structures for teachers to "maximize lifetime earnings."

In the 2026 North Dakota Community Survey on Education, more than 80% of the 2,200 respondents said they believe North Dakota teachers were somewhat or significantly underpaid.

Nathe said the bonus proposal includes both public and private school teachers because he didn't want to discriminate with the bill.

"Private school teachers also pay taxes and are citizens of North Dakota," Nathe said. "We also didn't want to create an uneven salary field."

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Kathy Hogan, D-Fargo, said she's excited for the proposal because securing and maintaining teachers in the state is critical. However, she does not think private school teachers should be included in the bonuses.

"I haven't heard as much recruitment problems there," Hogan said. "They have different funding streams and they have different alternatives, so I think we need to think about the public-private discussion and have that during the session."

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