State Aid Slashed by $9 Million : North Dakota’s Schools Victimized by Drought

The drought that laid waste millions of acres of wheat and grazing land across the Midwest threatens to create a new victim: North Dakota’s already hard-pressed schools.

Few states are suffering more acutely from the drought than North Dakota, whose highly regarded schools were already reeling from a prolonged slump in crop and energy prices. Drought-affected states like Illinois, Oklahoma and Nebraska have cut or frozen education spending this year. But North Dakota’s current state appropriation of $346.4 million is fully $42 million less than it spent on public schools seven years ago.

“How serious is the drought for our schools? On a scale of 1 to 10, it is about an 8. It’s very serious. It wouldn’t have been so serious if we hadn’t been struggling for the last six years with the oil problem,” said Democratic Gov. George Sinner.

The drought has so far cost this economically depressed state $2 billion, a 10% drop in the state’s gross product, Sinner said in an interview. At a time when the push for school reform was prompting many states to boost spending, Sinner this fall had to cut school aid 2%, or $9 million, the fourth education cut in North Dakota in as many years.

Reduced State Aid

The latest cut means state aid dropped by $52 per pupil. Spending per pupil is $3,481, 31st in the nation. Six years ago, the state ranked 23rd.

Teacher salaries average $21,660, 47th in the nation. Six years ago, they ranked 30th.

But in many ways, the crisis is paradoxical. North Dakotans from the governor on down tend to regard public schools, for all their apparent troubles, as a comparative bright spot in the state’s picture.

The state’s 118,000 students generally score well in tests of basic skills. Ninety percent graduate from high school, the third-best rate in the nation, although educators concede that’s at least partly because school is the only game in town for rural youngsters, especially in hard times.

A statewide poll last September by the University of North Dakota found that 41% of respondents think schools have improved from five years ago; a comparable Gallup poll conducted nationwide found just 25% of respondents felt that way about their schools.

Demographically, the schools have much going for them. The state has fewer single-parent families than the national average. North Dakotans are ethnically homogeneous. The state has a long, ardent tradition of support for public education.

‘Prairie Ethic’

Many here refer glowingly to the “prairie ethic,” the toughness of the early German and Scandinavian settlers who a century ago turned this harsh land into the nation’s leading wheat producer.

But that very ethic may be making North Dakotans slow to react to the schools crisis, educators fear. There is practically no chance for new state taxes this year to bail out schools, said state senator Bonnie Heinrich, a member of the Legislature’s education finance committee.

“The prairie ethic is a double-edged sword because we’ve got to change. We can’t just ask, how did our ancestors tough it out before?” said David Smette, superintendent of the Dickinson school district, situated in the western section of the state hardest hit by the agricultural and energy slumps.

The biggest fear is that the drought will hasten the already pronounced exodus of teachers and young people. North Dakota has become a favorite recruiting ground for teachers, especially for districts in Texas, California and Arizona that promise higher salaries and appealing life styles, said Peg Portscheller, president of the North Dakota Education Assn.

“Right now the talk (among teachers) of leaving is more than at any time I’ve ever heard,” said James Peters, a guidance counselor at Dickinson High School.

Leaving State in Droves

Seventy percent of young North Dakotans are leaving the state after finishing school, Portscheller said. In the most depressed places like Dickinson, it’s worse. A visitor asked 50 high school seniors at Dickinson High if they would stay in the state. One said he would.

“I don’t think there are a lot of job opportunities here,” said Nicole Fruh, 17, who plans to attend the University of Minnesota at Morris next year.

Nancy Johnson, president of Dickinson’s board of education, said: “I’ve got a brother in Denver, a brother in Minneapolis, my sister left for Oregon to look for work, another sister’s in New Jersey, and my folks are in Arizona. I wouldn’t be surprised if my three kids leave someday. That’s the story of North Dakota.”

Leaving the state is “not necessarily what kids want. But we’re not giving them the opportunity to dream, to explore, to build,” Portscheller said.

North Dakota ranks 50th in the number of students enrolled in advanced placement high school classes. Many schools lack art programs and offer little or no advanced math or science. Only 19% of high school students take a foreign language, compared with a third of high school students nationwide.

In North Dakota “reform isn’t on the back burner. It isn’t even on the stove,” Portscheller said.

Children ‘Put on Hold’

“Most people in this state think schools are OK. But educators generally agree that we’re in a state of crisis. We’ve put children on hold,” she said. “We do a good job with basic skills . . . but if you look beyond the basics, like problem solving and the ability to make good decisions, I’m not sure we’re cutting the mustard.”

In Dickinson, where teachers and administrators have already been laid off, there is talk of eliminating entire programs if the economy doesn’t improve.

Science labs at Dickinson High are short of specimens, microscopes and other equipment. The elementary school has no central library and just one instructional computer.

The Dickinson district cut $1.2 million from its budget in the last two years. The current $9.8-million budget includes a $500,000 deficit that will almost certainly lead to more cuts and possibly layoffs.

As area oil jobs have disappeared and farm prices have dropped, land values have declined and school budgets heavily dependent on property taxes have suffered accordingly. Dickinson’s property tax valuations have dropped from a high of $24 million in 1984 to a current $17 million. Local real estate agent Robert Karn said homes that sold for $68,000 four years ago now go for $32,000.

May Be Last Straw

For many small districts, the drought may prove the last straw before consolidation--a dreaded step in isolated towns where having a school is what keeps them on the map. But many such districts barely meet minimum standards, according to a report on North Dakota school problems issued last January.

State Sen. Heinrich sighed when asked about the future of North Dakota schools.

“There’s always hope,” she said. “If the feds come up with a great drought program, if we can get some light industry, if OPEC lets oil prices go up a bit. And if it would rain.”