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Gillette Recruits Seven New Teachers from South Dakota

I've lived in Spearfish. I've seen Gillette. No one can convince me that Gillette is a nicer place to live and work and love than Spearfish.

But former Spearfish teacher Lynnae Fox disagrees. Wyoming's teacher pay just enticed her and several colleagues across the border:

Lynnae Fox is one of seven teachers from South Dakota who have been recruited to Gillette. Fox is a new fifth grade teacher at buffalo ridge elementary.

Fox spent the last four years teaching second grade in Spearfish, S.D., before taking her new position.

The Campbell County superintendent says a lot of out of state teachers come to Wyoming for the salary increase [Melea VanOstrand, "Wyoming Schools Recruit Teachers from South Dakota," KOTA-TV, 2014.08.27].

Just one school district pulls seven of South Dakota's good teachers in one year. That's brain drain isn't going to help our teacher shortage.

South Dakota's only hope for keeping teachers in the nation's teacher-pay gutter is stiff competition:

South Dakota teachers made up 38 percent of out-of-state applicants but the district only hired 2 percent of them. The district hired a total of 74 new staff members [VanOstrand, 2014.08.27].

The lesson for South Dakota: pay good money, and you can afford to be choosy about your teachers.

25 Comments

  1. bearcreekbat 2014.08.28

    Your recent story on candidate Chris McClure seemed to suggest the most straightforward solution. With a comment that would make William of Ockham blush with pride, McClure explained that the solution is "pay teachers more."

  2. jerry 2014.08.28

    When you have a dumbed down one party system, it is difficult for them to see why good teachers are in need. They only see a commodity that looks to them like they work only 9 months of the year, so they equate that to women and gestation. So, just like they treat women in general, legislators in this state, think that they get to much money right now. I would love to be proved wrong but all I have to do is look around at the treatment of teachers as well as the denial of Medicaid Expansion to see true republican compassion to go along with their flawed economic logic.

  3. mike fro iowa 2014.08.28

    You'd have better luck getting surrounding states to lower teacher pay to South Dakota's level.

  4. Steve Sibson 2014.08.28

    "When you have a dumbed down one party system, it is difficult for them to see why good teachers are in need."

    We don't need good teachers anymore. We need facilitators of one-size-fits-all Common Core Standards. And with more and more online stuff, the need will be even less in the future.

  5. jerry 2014.08.28

    One party South Dakota republican ideas for education...provide Skype and be home schooled, good one Sibson. The kids could then take a break from the Skype to watch Fox News and then listen to Rush for the trifecta, beautiful, problem solved. Open book tests and everyone gets a diploma.

  6. Steve Sibson 2014.08.28

    Jerry, in case you don't know, I am against the Common Core agenda and opposed to going the online route. I am promoting the Switzerland model that places the focus on true teachers.

  7. Tara Volesky 2014.08.28

    Steve, after last nights open forum, where the people finally won, I am hoping there will be a school board candidate forum and let the people decide in the Nov. election. Would you be for putting the FAC on the ballot?

  8. Bill Dithmer 2014.08.28

    It isnt fair ti compare Wyoming to South Dakota when teachers pay is concerned, especially Gillette. That county is rich in natural resources and receive most of their school budget there.

    This is nothing new. Twenty years ago Gillette tried to hire my brother in law, who was the AD at Black Hills for 20 years and head cross country -track coach for thirty. They offered him half again what the college was willing to pay and promised that my sister who was teacher of the year here in SD a similar package. They didnt go because they had 30 years invested in Spearfish.

    Unless you find more natural resources to tax, or you are willing to go after the $121 billion that the state is protecting for the banks that are hiding in Sioux Falls, the money to play catch up will be hard to find.

    The Blindman

  9. jerry 2014.08.28

    Good for you Sibson. I was agreeing with you and your internet projection and see your point as noted. Of course, I had to take some liberties and embellish it somewhat with Fox and Rush.

  10. Steve Sibson 2014.08.28

    Jerry, it has been years since I sat down and listened to Rush and Fox.

  11. jerry 2014.08.28

    Once again, good for you Sibson.

  12. jerry 2014.08.28

    Here is an idea Blindman, put the Medicaid Expansion into play for one way to generate funds. Speaking of generate, why not have the Black Hills Corp for one, start to generate wind energy here in South Dakota like they do in Iowa and Colorado. That would take a little bit of the earnings from minerals in Wyoming and kind of spread the joy. I am sure we could think of other ways to actually get serious about teacher salary if we would try. As long as a one party system remains without check, the teachers will be getting a small one.

  13. Steve Sibson 2014.08.28

    "Would you be for putting the FAC on the ballot?"

    Tara, nobody can put the Fine arts Center on the ballot, including the School Board, because the cost is less than 1.5% of the total assessed values for properties in the Mitchell School District. That is in state statute. My position is that since the project cannot be referred to a vote, the school board should not approve it in the first place. We need to have the state statute changed so the people have the option of putting something that cost as much as $13.5 million up to a vote.

  14. Steve Sibson 2014.08.28

    And related to the issue of teacher pay. I have summited an application for a spot on a vacated Mitchell School Board advocating that the money that would be used to pay the debt on the $13.5 million Fine Arts Center should instead be directed to teacher pay.

  15. bearcreekbat 2014.08.28

    As usual Jerry has another great idea. In a prior post I pointed out that accepting the Medicaid expansion would have generated $1.31 billion dollars in financial activity based on an economic multiplier of 5.

    https://madvilletimes.com/2014/08/susan-wismer-on-fire-new-democrat-goes-on-offense-at-dakotafest/

    That would have generated about $52,400,000 in sales tax returns to the state at the 4% rate. Funneling this revenue into our education budget would provide a substantial source of funds to increase teacher salaries. Jerry's idea works wonders!

  16. JeniW 2014.08.28

    Steve S. --- I appreciate your willingness to serve on the School Board.

    We rarely agree on anything, but I appreciate the fact that you have taken that first step to try to make changes you want to see happen.

  17. Bill Dithmer 2014.08.28

    " why not have the Black Hills Corp for one, start to generate wind energy here in South Dakota like they do in Iowa and Colorado."

    Jerry, thats simple, no incentives. Its one of the reasons we live in Mo.we just ordered a 50kw solar system for our business. In good old SD that same system would cost 30% more just because of the incentives, let alone the buy back rate from the power company. here we at least get what it cost the power company to produce that same amount of power.

    I have been wondering what happened to the tribes partnership with wind energy companies. Big news at the time but not a word in months.

    The Blindman

  18. Tara Volesky 2014.08.28

    Excellent idea Steve, I hope you have an OP/ED ready to go. Since there are 5 candidates the board needs to let the people select the next board member in Nov. Right now Steve, you don't stand a chance because you don't drink the Kool-Aid.

  19. Steve Sibson 2014.08.28

    BCB, your Keynesian based economic analysis is fantasy. WE have been using it since the 1930s and we still don't have full employment. But we do have a loss in freedoms and crony capitalism.

  20. Steve Sibson 2014.08.28

    Economists call this increase in aggregate income the “multiplier” effect. One dollar of government spending, the theory goes, ends up creating more than a dollar of new income. It’s a rare free lunch.

    As appealing as the Keynesian story sounds, many economists have long doubted it. In 1991, looking across 100 countries, Robert Barro of Harvard presented historical evidence that high government spending actually hurts economies in the long run by crowding out private spending and shifting resources to the uses preferred by politicians rather than consumers. For a dollar of government spending, we end up seeing less than a dollar of growth. Can long-term poison be short-term medicine?

    Read more: http://reason.com/archives/2009/10/19/the-myth-of-the-multiplier#ixzz3BibKsjQv

  21. Roger Cornelius 2014.08.28

    Meanwhile, the Republican state legislature and government will continue to deny that there is teacher shortage or that teacher pay is substandard.

    like most problems that are ignored and resolved, they will only get worse, and knowing how our state functions, they will apply a Band-Aid approach that will be too little too late.

  22. Rorschach 2014.08.28

    Bill Dithmer, apparently those teachers thought it was fair to compare their SD teaching salaries to those in Gillette. I believe that Wyoming has a statewide minimum teacher salary of $40,000 (somebody correct me if I'm wrong). The bottom line is that we will continue to export teachers to other states. Republicans offer no solutions to the pay gap.

  23. jerry 2014.08.28

    Of course Blindman, you are correct on the incentives from the federal government. I also speak of the parity that does not exist between the electric companies that serve us by not purchasing back the unused power at the same rate as charged. That would and could be an incentive for folks like yourself for example, to make the investment into green energy on their own. All of these simple ideas as well as the biggest one of all, Medicaid Expansion, would generate sales tax dollars as bearcreekbat mentions, which in turn should be able to give our teachers the pay scale that would make sense to them. Also, something else could certainly be revisited and that would be gambling. Remember we put that in the state to further the education of our children not to further the bank balances of the wheeler dealers that control it now.

    I would hope that some republican could explain to me in their way of explaining things, how in the world you cannot see what this would bring to the state in business man's terms. Republicans have beaten the pro business drum for decades and here is the opportunity to prove your case, but alas, we now know that you guys don't know a damn thing about business. You can always prove me wrong though, I eagerly await that chance to eat crow.

  24. Don Coyote 2014.08.29

    @bearcreekbat Seriously? A multiplier of 5? Even the vaunted Obama economic stimulus of '09 promised only a multiplier of 4 and probably delivered less than 1. Some economists eventually calculated a negative stimulus once all the data was in. Good laugh. Thanks.

  25. jerry 2014.08.30

    @Don Coyote, the stimulus package set forth by the Obama economic plan of '09 was indeed set at high marks and would have achieved that and much more had it all been put into play. I am not sure that you quite understand that your party pitched such a bitch about this that much of the stimulus was left on the table along with the hoped for second phase of the stimulus.

    I think I am more comfortable with the figures that bearcreekbat has put forth than your very amusing use of "some economists eventually calculated a negative stimulus once all the data was in". I find that to be what is known as a huge belly laugh. Bless your heart for trying though.

    Side note, please note the "some economists" you quote. Remember they must be legit, not your drinking buddies.

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