NORTH DAKOTA (KXNET)-Governor Doug Burgum announced the members of a newly formed task force for teacher retention and recruitment.

The executive order for the task force was made back in September to address the state’s chronic teacher shortage.
With a total of 15 members from across the state, including Doug Burgum and state superintendent, Kirsten Baesler and 13 others, all have been appointed by the governor.
He says each member represents stakeholders across the education community.
We had the chance to speak with one member, Jenny Bladow, who says each member sees education from different lenses.

“I’m thinking about what can we do to get middle school students interested, what can we do to get high school students interested in teaching but I maybe am not the most up to date with what school boards are thinking about or what principals and superintendent are thinking about. I also saw there’s a couple teachers and instructional coaches, special education teachers I think it’s really gonna be important to get their perspective, they’re in the schools they’re hearing from teachers or they are teachers that maybe are considering another pathway because teaching has become more challenging or whatever the reason is right? So I think it’s going to be really important to hear from those teachers, from those principals, because again, I think we all have our area of specialty and what we’re experts in so now’s our time to really come together to hear each other out and listen to all the different perspectives, “said Bladow.

The Task Force is to provide a final report with recommendations to the governor and superintendent by September 30, 2023, and identify partners to sponsor legislation during the 2025 legislative session.

View the full taskforce list and more at governor.ND.gov .