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Article: Facing a Talent Drain on the Plains; North Dakota Ponders Giving Young Residents Financial Lures to Stay
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- October 13, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Growing up in North Dakota's capital city, Lance Jacobs attended a
private Christian school and the local junior college before going to
a state university to pursue a degree in education.
But when he graduated a year ago in May, the native son wasted no
time waving goodbye to his home state.
Entry-level teaching jobs were paying about $18,000 a year in
North Dakota, and Jacobs, now 23, was insulted.
"You can almost work a minimum wage job and make that," said
Jacobs, who now lives in Bakersfield, Calif. There he teaches English
to 10th-graders and makes roughly double what he would in North
Dakota.
"North Dakota's got to do something," said Jacobs.
North Dakota's loss of its young people is ...