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Studer Criticizes HB 1234, Other Anti-Education Moves by GOP Legislature

Knudson, Merchant, now Chris Studer: get set for Democrats to swing the big stick of HB 1234 and elements of the anti-education agenda of their Republican opponents!

"I want my kids to grow up in a state that cares about education, that cares about quality of life, that cares about each other," he said. "I think we need to do better; we can do better."

...In the 2011 legislative session, school districts saw funding reductions of 8 percent, although with an infusion of one-time money it was actually 6.6 percent, he said.

The Associated School Boards of South Dakota, however, said the state has lost nearly 500 jobs in K-12 public education.

"Our school districts were hurt, our kids were hurt, our administrators were hurt and our future was hurt," Studer said.

Public universities also took huge hits, with SDSU losing much of its Extension service. County offices were closed or consolidated.

"The reason that we are where we are in agriculture today is because of research and education and it was slashed," he said.

...The controversial HB 1234 that opponents are trying to refer to a public vote in November could pit teachers against each other as they seek to receive bonuses and merit pay. Teachers aren't in the profession because of the money but because they love teaching and kids, but Studer and other opponents of the bill worry they may no longer collaborate in their schools [Roger Larsen, "Studer Says Education Is Key to Future," Huron Plainsman, 2012.04.09].

Studer's opponent for the District 22 Senate seat, current GOP Rep. Jim White, voted for HB 1234 this winter. Twice. Have fun running on your record, Jim.

6 Comments

  1. Steve Sibson 2012.04.10

    "Teachers aren’t in the profession because of the money but because they love teaching and kids"

    Then why whine about the 6.6% reduction in education funding?

  2. Kathy Tyler 2012.04.10

    That's the second time in 20 hours that I've heard the words teachers and whining in the same sentence. I haven't heard my teachers whine, ever; and I've been in education a long time. They don't whine, they just put their heads down and work their tails off. Eventually the frustration sets in, and they quit. There are outstanding teachers retiring early this year because of the way the legislature is treating education. It's our job as board members and citizens to be sure that our teachers are treated as the professionals that they are.

  3. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.04.10

    "Whine" is a convenient loaded word to dismiss substantive criticism.

  4. Troy Jones 2012.04.10

    I'm sure Jim White will want to run on this record. Looks like a formula to win reelection by a landslide.

    1) Creation of up to 100 free tuition scholarships to train teachers to fill critical needs.

    2) Creation of a $2,500 per teacher incentive to attract and retain math and science teachers.

    3) Equalize legal employment protections between teachers and the taxpayers who pay their salaries.

    4) Creation of a bonus pool to pay the top 20% teachers a bonus up to $5,000 per teacher using the following metrics to measure top performing teachers:

    a) Mentoring of less experienced teachers;
    b) Curriculum development;
    c) Assessment development;
    d) Data analysis;
    e) Service to the local district, state, or national committees or task forces;
    f) Leadership in a professional learning community;
    g) National board certification;
    h) Other leadership activities or recognitions; and
    i) Other additional criteria as determined by the school board.

  5. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.04.10

    Creating an incentive is nothing to celebrate if the incentive won't work. LK tells me his colleagues can hop the border to Nebraska and find $70K/year teaching jobs. $2.5K on top of $35K here isn't going to do the job.

    Ditto the scholarship. I'm all for making college more affordable. But consider the math for a college student planning to teach but debating whether to stay here or go to another state. Assume that money is the deciding factor in her choice. Her two options:

    (A) Take the scholarship, agree to teach in SD for five years. She saves $8,000 in tuition for two years. Total savings: $16,000.

    (B) Skip the scholarship, remain free to go straight to Nebraska, Minnesota, or some other good-paying state right after graduation. Assume she finds a job out-state that pays $10,000 more per year. Assume she gains enough skill and experience that she would have earned a $5K merit bonus in SD during her fifth year. Total gain in earning power from going out-state: $45K.

    Suppose our college student is financially savvy and decides that whatever financial advantage she gets from her decision, she will invest all of her tuition savings or increased earning power at 5%. If she takes Option A and stays in South Dakota, then seven years later (after her last two years of college and first five years of teaching), her net worth is $29,300 less than it would have been had she taken Option B. If at that point she makes the fiscally wise decision and jumps ship to Minnesota or elsewhere, then after a 40-year teaching career, her decision to take the HB 1234 scholarship ends up reducing her lifetime net worth by $169,000.

    (And go easy on the cost of living arguments: in Q4 2011, SD's cost of living was 99.4% of the national average. Living was slightly cheaper in ND, WY, NE, and IA.)

    The "equalize legal employment protections" bullet point is farcical, unless you intend to also equalize working conditions, degree requirements, responsibilities, political pressures....

    The metrics for measuring teacher performance are great. So what do you do when more than 20% of your teachers satisfy those criteria and deserve more pay? And remember, each one of those criteria will be worth maybe 5% or 6% of the final teacher scorecard. Troy has omitted the other 50% of the metrics, the standardized tests that we will require every child at every grade level to take to measure their teachers' skills.

    I look forward to hearing Candidate White respond to these points.

  6. Charlie Johnson 2012.04.10

    Looks like we will have a new state Senator from the Huron area. Sorry Troy!!

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