Plain Talk: Teacher of the Year Frannie Tunseth sounds off, plus our final ND election predictions

MINOT — It is easy for politicians and voters to talk about education from 30 thousand feet, but the view from the front of a classroom looks a whole lot different. On the latest episode of Plain Talk, we were joined by Frannie Tunseth, a reading and math teacher at Mayville-Portland-Clifford-Galesburg, which is about 60 miles northwest of Fargo, and the 2026 North Dakota Teacher of the Year. She brought a grounded, candid perspective on what educators and kids are actually dealing with. Tunseth has spent the past year inviting decision-makers into her classroom — including Sen. Kevin Cramer, Lt. Gov. Michelle Strinden and local lawmakers. "Advocacy without a relationship is simply noise," Tunseth told us. "It s not come and watch me teach. That s not what this is about at all. Come and talk to my students. Come and have conversations and see what are their lived experiences." The conversation quickly turned to the state s mounting teacher shortage. In an infor