Here's a statistic I don't think Governor Daugaard mentioned when he extolled the strength of our state on Tuesday: in the 2011–2012 school year, South Dakota school districts reported 2,542 homeless students. Between SY 2009–2010 and SY 2011–2012, South Dakota saw a 68% increase in the number of homeless students. The only states with higher increases over the same period were Michigan (96%) and North Dakota (224%). The nation as a whole saw a 24% increase in homeless students. Eight states saw decreases.
Here's a comparison of homeless student numbers among South Dakota's neighbors from the National Center from Homeless Education:
| Number of homeless students | ||||
| state | SY 2009-10 | SY 2010-11 | SY 2011-12 | % change SY0910-SY1112 |
| Iowa | 6631 | 7046 | 7370 | 11.1% |
| Minnesota | 9221 | 11076 | 11848 | 28.5% |
| Montana | 1445 | 1507 | 1762 | 21.9% |
| Nebraska | 2188 | 2674 | 3080 | 40.8% |
| North Dakota | 836 | 870 | 2712 | 224.4% |
| South Dakota | 1512 | 1883 | 2542 | 68.1% |
| Wyoming | 1021 | 837 | 1173 | 14.9% |
Note that this surge in the number of homeless students hit South Dakota schools hardest in the 2011–2012 school year, the same year that Governor Daugaard cut K-12 funding by over 6%. That's like seeing the Missouri River rising and spending less on sandbags.
North and South Dakota's increases in homeless students stand out in raw numbers and as percentages of total enrollment. Here are the percentages of homeless students in each state in our region, based on total enrollment figures from the National Center for Education Statistics (SY 2010 and 2011 here, SY 2012 here):
| Percent of Homeless Students | |||
| SY 2009-10 | SY 2010-11 | SY 2011-12 | |
| Iowa | 1.3% | 1.4% | 1.5% |
| Minnesota | 1.1% | 1.3% | 1.4% |
| Montana | 1.0% | 1.1% | 1.2% |
| Nebraska | 0.7% | 0.9% | 1.0% |
| North Dakota | 0.9% | 0.9% | 2.8% |
| South Dakota | 1.2% | 1.5% | 2.0% |
| Wyoming | 1.2% | 0.9% | 1.3% |
Think about your school. Pick out fifty kids. Imagine one of them is homeless. That's South Dakota. Our homeless student rate of 2.0% in SY 2012 still beats the national average of 2.4%, but it's a problem growing faster here than in most other states.
According to Governor Daugaard's Tuesday speech, South Dakota's economy is doing fine. Yet Governor Daugaard said he is going on the road during this Legislative session to meet with chambers of commerce and employers to talk up his economic development programs, which remain his overriding priority. I suppose if I were the Governor in an election year, I'd want to accentuate my positives, too. But it would be nice if, in the midst of his "Yay, business!" tour, the Governor might spend an equal amount of time visiting schools, parents, and homeless shelters to talk to the folks whom his economic development programs are leaving out in the cold.
"Think about your school. Pick out fifty kids. Imagine one of them is homeless. That's South Dakota."
Not really. Homelessness and poverty are concentrated in certain areas, leading to some schools having vastly more homeless students than 1 in 50, and most having far fewer. Averages don't tell the story correctly, which is why rating schools or teachers based on student scores is totally ridiculous.
At my daughter's old school, the now-closed E.B. Bergquist Elementary School in the North Rapid area of Rapid City, 40 percent of the student population (the school had about 300 students) moved in or out of the school in an academic year. The school was proximal to hotels, and many homeless families ended up occupying rooms there. They had shelter, but it was always short-term and subject to the demands of the tourist trade. The children went to the closest schools.
Let's look at several issues as it pertains to education.
Most of the homeless students came from schools outside the Rapid City district. These sending schools had different curriculum, and the students had to be evaluated to see where they fit into Rapid City's curriculum. That way E.B. Bergquist's teachers could provide the right amount of help to catch the homeless student up to what Rapid City expected them to know at grade level. That process incurred an extra expense not accounted for by the South Dakota school finance system. In fact, the education formula actually took state money away from these homeless students, because most of them came from property tax poor areas and from smaller districts, which receive more money per student from the state than Rapid City. (In fact, as I think about it now, there was a perverse incentive for state government to promote homelessness from property tax poor district to property tax rich districts.)
Second, Common Core State Standards are designed to lessen the amount of differential between districts' curriculum, thus giving students and teachers a more predictable base of what is expected to be mastered at certain grade levels. If it works as planned, there should be far less expense involved for the receiving school, far less disruption in receiving classrooms, and less need for teachers to take time out of teaching the non-homeless students to catch up the homeless students.
Staggering statistics. What we must realize is that the homeless issue (I hate calling it that) extends far below the surface question. The root cause is entrenched deep within issues of poverty. Poverty whose roots are deep in systemic ways of living--(I can afford the big screen TV today, because I have the money TODAY!....What happens tomorrow is another story, I have taken care of my needs TODAY--because that is what I understand.) Systemic poverty which impacts generations.
What we are not addressing is the reason behind homless kiddos. Are their parents or guardians also homeless? What is the reason for the homelessness? What is happening that we have homeless people (including children) in the first place.
What so often happens is a "band-aid solution" to a perceived problem because it is readily seen. The band-aid will only cover the surface, maybe eliminating the visible problem. What it will not do is travel to the cause of the illness in the first place. WHY is this happening? That is that challenge, I believe, we all face. Ask the question WHY and be prepared to LISTEN. We will find the answers will not readily come, maybe that is ok. Listen to what the kids have to say.....there is the reason they are homeless.
There happens to be a non profit in SD(albeit 3 years old) which is working in the bowels of some of the most poverty-ridden schools in Sioux Falls--Lowell and Hayward. They are also working in Rapid City and soon in Lower Brule. The work is not a traditional charity mindset, but a challenge toward empowerment. It's not always easily seen, but the impact is being made.
Homelessness is not just a surface topic, I urge us to consider how deep the infection runs.
For those interested in said non-profit: http://www.groundworks-midwest.com
Recently I was in a South Dakota medium sized city and I met with a person who was active in local government. He volunteered by saying that the unemployment rate was a I believe 3% with a great deal of pride. I almost came back with a question how many jobs are good paying living wage jobs? Unemployment figured are one thing but good paying/living wage jobs are extremely important part of the equation that is rarely mentioned.
I remember taking credit apps and wondering how in the world are these families with kids in school making it especially with kids being very active in extracurricular activities. God bless them! I had so much respect and at the same time sympathy for what parents or a single parent could do both working two or three jobs at a very low income.
Point well taken, Donald. Conditions vary widely, even among South Dakota schools. Rural and urban schools have different challenges. Gov. Daugaard needs to get out to those schools to see those problems for himself.
I would like to know how many of these homeless students are high school seniors. I met a woman who described what it was like to be in foster care and turn 18 before graduation: she came home from school on her 18th birthday and everything she owned was in black garbage bags by the curb. She lived in her car, stayed with friends, tried to stay in school, but gave up and went to work. Under current law, no kid enters kindergarten unless he has turned 5 prior to Sept 1st of that year. That means that every high school senior is already 17 before school starts. Many of them will turn 18 before they graduate, and nobody is legally required to house them after they turn 18. So, how many of those students are legally adults?
You post some statistics but lack any follow-up or delving into the numbers. You only write shit that is against a Republican. You are pathetic.
This group you post is constantly contradicting data that doesn't "paint" their picture. It's yet another liberal group with an agenda. As is Mr. Heidelberger.
Jim, calling me pathetic doesn't advance any argument about the topic. It only reminds as that you think I'm an ass. Big deal.
My agenda is to see South Dakota face its problems honestly and solve them fairly. Do you have some evidence that shows the National Center for Homeless Education presents dishonest information, or is making up a problem that doesn't exist in South Dakota?