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Committee hears proposal to restore first‑year signing bonuses to help rural teacher recruitment
Summary
Supporters told the House Education Committee that restoring a first‑year signing bonus would help small and rural districts recruit teachers; unions and others urged limits or targeting to hard‑to‑fill positions to avoid bidding wars and inequities.
House Bill 1498 would restore authority for school boards to pay a first‑year signing bonus to newly hired licensed teachers, Representative Roger Mackey said in opening testimony.
Proponents told the House Education Committee the tool is intended primarily to help smaller and rural districts recruit new teachers and to retain staff who take on hard‑to‑fill roles. Amy Copas, executive director of the North Dakota Council of Educational Leaders, and multiple small‑district superintendents described situations in which a signing bonus helped a district recruit a teacher who otherwise would not have accepted the position in a small community. Rick Diegel,…
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