The Jan. 11 insidehighered.com contained the article, "State Appropriations Are Up … for Now." The article stated, "In terms of individual states, North Dakota has the largest one-year percentage increase (in higher education funding) this year (19.1 percent)." We're No. 1!

I salute Gov. John Hoeven for his leadership. His budget this session contained an unprecedented increase in higher education funding. I also salute the legislators for seeing the need to infuse higher education with this level of funding. They obviously understand that our future is incubated in our public school system, including higher education. Hoeven and legislators deserve credit for making us No. 1 - on this list.

Unfortunately, other lists demonstrate that we are far behind the rest of the nation. Recently, the Tribune reported that we received a D+ in the teaching profession category. N.D. Education Association President Dakota Draper called that grade "an indictment of the support for teachers in North Dakota." One could argue over what the D+ tells us, but the reality is that we consistently rank near the bottom of average salaries of public school teachers (No. 49 or No. 50, depending on the year).

College faculty salaries are no better. We've consistently been No. 49 or No. 50. Then, in 2005-06, we slipped to No. 51 (including the District of Columbia). And who's immediately above us? In ascending order, those states paying college faculty more are Louisiana, Arkansas, West Virginia and Mississippi.

Usually, during discussions about college employee salaries, someone will say to me that those salaries reflect the cost of living here. So I did some Internet checking. We're No. 25, right in the middle. Not surprisingly, Hawaii is No. 51 with the highest COL. Tennessee is No. 1 with the lowest COL.

The COL for those states immediately above us on the faculty salary list: Louisiana 19; Arkansas 9; West Virginia 22; Mississippi 7. The cost of living in those states is less than in North Dakota. So we don't pay faculty less because it costs less to live here.

In a recent Tribune letter, Dave Bender concluded that it must have been a typo that Valley City State University was looking for a Ph.D. to whom it would pay $38,000. Regrettably, it's not a typo. (For a complete study of N.D. University System employees' salaries, see www.ndus.nodak.edu/Upload/allfile .asp?id=736&tbl=MultiUse.)

At Bismarck State College, our average faculty salary is $43,405, and, yes, we have Ph.D.s making less than that. In his letter, Bender asked, "What are we thinking in North Dakota?" I can't answer that, but I do know that to keep our young people in North Dakota it's going to cost a lot. On Jan. 10, the U.S. Census Bureau released a report stating: "Workers 18 and older with a bachelor's degree earned an average of $56,788 in 2006, while those with a high school diploma earned $31,071." And in North Dakota, we're trying to hire Ph.D.s for $38,000.

Despite these low faculty salaries, we do well on lists of achievements: No. 1 in the percentage of eighth-graders who can perform basic mathematics; No. 2 for students who go from high school into college; No. 1 in two-year degrees produced per 100 students. As State Superintendent of Public Instruction Wayne Sanstead said, "(W)e're getting a lot for our money."

Nowhere is there a more efficient public education system than here. Despite the low pay of our faculty, they have been doing a tremendous job and the statistics about our students bear that out.

So I am pleased to see that we're No. 1, having the largest one-year percentage increase in higher education funding.

The governor and Legislature deserve our thanks. Now state leaders need to address the teacher pay issue at all levels.

While this year's increase in funding is a good start, we've a long way to go.

(Skogen is president of Bismarck State College. - Editor)