The following offers highlights of the recent legislative sessions. Precollegiate enrollment figures are based on fall 2004 data reported by state officials for public elementary and secondary schools. The figures for precollegiate education spending do not include federal flow-through funds, unless noted.
North Dakota
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North Dakota teachers will get a third consecutive raise next school year, thanks to a $15 million boost in education spending for fiscal 2006.
Of the $1 billion state budget approved for next fiscal year, which begins July 1, $355 million is slated for education, a 4 percent increase over fiscal 2005. The legislature raised the minimum salary for teachers by $500, to $22,000 annually, and required districts to spend 70 percent of new state money on teacher compensation.
In its ongoing campaign to streamline school districts and school administration, the state will allocate up to $750,000 in fiscal 2006 for districts that share resources, such as administration, facilities, and school services.
Districts in rural areas that are considered to have low wealth will share another $2.5 million in supplemental funding. That supplemental money is intended to make funding more equitable for districts that spend less than the state average per pupil and collect less than the state’s property-tax rate.
