BISMARCK (KFGO-AM) -- North Dakota House Majority Leader Al Carlson of Fargo would like to see the state's one and two-year colleges put under the same leadership umbrella, with each school focusing on specific skills. He says it an effort to better meet the needs of the employers in the state and to hire the students coming out of those schools.
Carlson says "If we're hiring a lot of the skilled laborers, or electricians, or sheet metal workers or welders or plumbers, a lot of those kids are coming out of Moorhead, East Grand Forks, Alexandria, Detroit Lakes and Thief River Falls". Carlson would like to see a system similar to Minnnesota's. He says "we're not talking about closing anyone down, but we need a coordinated effort, because we have a lot of job openings".
Carlson says he thinks it's the Board of Higher Education's job to react to the needs of the state's employers.
North Dakota has more than 22,000 job openings statewide.