The sequester will deny some 200 South Dakota kids the benefits of Head Start. It didn't have to: Senator Stanford Adelstein (R-32/Rapid City) proposed an amendment to the general appropriations bill in March that would have filled the sequester Head Start gap with $1.36 million in state money. The Daugaard Administration, however, had other priorities:
I submitted this specific data in good time and prepared an amendment (HB1185MX) to the general bill appropriation bill, HB1185.
The governor’s office still opposed the amendment, preferring instead to take back $4M that had been removed from his appropriation to the Future Fund for the development of the state. What could have been more important to South Dakota than to have children succeed in school? [Sen. Stanford Adelstein, "Cuts to Head Start Could Have Been Avoided," A Way to Go, 2013.05.02]
Ah, the Future Fund, just another example of our state's commitment to doing corporations' work for them over helping kids learn.