Matt Liebel, a field consultant for North Dakota United, speaks during a meeting of the interim Special Education Funding Committee on March 4, 2026. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
By: Michael Achterling
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota special education teachers and paraprofessionals are reporting burnout, citing increased workload, safety concerns and low pay, according to a survey presented to lawmakers this week.
More than 150 North Dakota special education professionals responded to the survey conducted by North Dakota United, a union representing educators and public sector employees.
The survey resulted from the passage of House Bill 1530 during the 2025 legislative session that commissioned a study to look at the needs of special education teachers and how to better retain them.
Educators brought up safety of students and staff during debate on the bill last year and during a Wednesday meeting of the Legislature’s interim Special Education Funding Committee.
One Mandan special education teacher said in submitted written testimony she had been injured multiple times over the past 10 years with some incidents requiring trips to a medical clinic.
In the survey, about 44% of respondents said there are rarely options for taking paid leave if they’re injured during a crisis at school.
“It’s not very much fun when a teacher gets injured on the job and they are forced to take their own sick leave by something that happened when they were working,” said Matt Liebel, a field consultant for North Dakota United.
Paraprofessionals also play a key role in special education by being present with students to assist them during coursework.
About 74% of respondents said pay and benefits for paraprofessionals rarely keep pace with the cost of living.
Jessica Van Winkle, a special education specialist in Bismarck Public Schools, told lawmakers she started as a paraprofessional in special education and would have stayed in that role if she could have earned enough to support her family.
“There is something deeply impactful about being the consistent adult sitting next to a child or young adult who needs support,” Van Winkle said. “But like many paraeducators, I had to think about how to provide for my family long term.”
She said paraprofessionals are among the lowest paid employees in school districts and include some who are on government assistance programs.
“They support students with complex disabilities that may require nurse-level knowledge, behavioral challenges that are more therapeutic in nature and academic needs,” Van Winkle said. “They should not be expected to carry professional instructional responsibilities without professional pay, preparation and protection.”
About 86% report they feel overwhelmed by their special education workload, and 44% report they are considering leaving special education.
“I’ve had colleagues leave special education, leave teaching all together, because those duties just got to be too much and they kind of got burnt out and done with it,” said Nathan Horgeshimer, a 15-year special education teacher from Killdeer.
Horgeshimer said one option to help special educators was to have scheduled paperwork days where a substitute could teach while the primary educator and caseload manager completes the required paperwork. He also suggested having scheduled time during the school day to coordinate and hold meetings with students and parents on their child’s individual education program instead of those meetings occurring outside of school hours.
Rep. Eric Murphy, R-Grand Forks, said the survey’s use of the word “rarely” as a response instead of more definitive terms, such as “never” or “always,” leaves the data muddled and open to interpretation.
North Dakota United recommended to lawmakers that funding to special education units should be increased statewide to promote retention of special education staff.
“Without structural changes to time allocations, staffing levels and compensation practices, burnout and retention challenges are likely to continue,” said Amber Haskell, a field consultant for ND United.
Rep. Karla Rose Hanson, D-Fargo, said she knows from her own family’s experience that the challenges mentioned by special educators are not new.
“A special ed teacher can make all the difference in the world for a student,” Hanson said. “We need to make sure that we’re properly empowering them to do the best they can.”
It may not be the job of lawmakers to dictate how much funding needs to be used on special education in each school district, said Sen. Michelle Axtman, R-Bismarck and vice chair of the committee.
“I trust that our districts, and those closest to those students and teachers, know best on exactly how the funding should flow to the special education units,” Axtman said. She added, if the lawmakers do begin to dictate how that funding is used, it then becomes the Legislature’s problem to address the issue for all school districts.
Rep. David Richter, R-Williston, chair of the committee, said lawmakers are still gathering information and it was too early to determine if the committee will make a recommendation to the full Legislature on special education funding.
“We can do everything from nothing to a complete overhaul and anything in between,” Richter said. “I don’t even want to speculate.”
Comments