If we could take Governor Dennis Daugaard at his word, if we thought that he would accept the judgment of the people, we could think we were safe from any resurrection of his defeated and destructive education reform agenda:
But I take the fact that the sales tax increase was rejected as well as this as an indicator that voters are satisfied with the education status quo [Governor Dennis Daugaard, quoted by Peggy Moyer, "Daugaard Reacts to Defeated Ballot Measures," KELOLand.com, 2012.11.07].
Indeed, the status quo in K-12 education is better than anything Governor Daugaard has proposed. But here comes his zombie bill, creeping forward in chopped-up bits to eat our kids' brains:
In talking to voters, they didn't understand all five pieces. I think it was too much in one fell swoop. So I think if we break it down again into bite sized pieces we'll be able to make some of the same changes, but also listen to the task forces, too.... Obviously they've been working on it for a lot longer than we thought about it last session, and they're going to have some better ideas and we're going to try to incorporate them going forward [Senator Deb Peters, quoted by Kealey Bultena, "Referred Law 16 Fails This Election," SDPB, 2012.11.07].
Like Governor Daugaard, Senator Peters dismisses those who don't vote her way as uninformed.
Senator Peters and Governor Daugaard should listen to Governor Butch Otter of Idaho. Voters there got to vote on three referred measures on education: a plan to weaken labor rights for teachers, a merit pay plan, and a one-to-one laptop plan. Idahoans rejected all three measures. Governor Otter might have gotten the message:
Otter said he’d be opposed to trying to just re-pass the same laws the voters have rejected. “That isn’t a course that I think is positive, that isn’t a course that I think would be productive,” he said. “I do think what we need to do is take each prop, each idea of reform, and sit down and say, ‘What did you like about it? What didn’t you like about it? If you had a chance to change it, how would you change it?’ And those things that we can agree on, and each and every one of those … is what we ought to go forward with” [Betsy Z. Russell, "Idaho School Reform Foes Call for New Start," Spokane Spokesman-Review, 2012.11.07].
Dennis, Deb, I don't want to fight this same battle over again. But if you insist, we can do our homework and beat back your bad ideas again.
you are already killing bills before you even had a chance to read them, in some cased before they are written? Are you trying to kill them because of who submits them or because of what you fear might be in them?
The education reform bill wasn't all bad, It had some good points and some horrible parts.
Let's let the bill be written, then let's work on them together and come up with a bill that we can all live with. Of course if you HATE Republicans that much, there isn't much to talk about.
The only clear good in the ed bill was the scholarship program... and even that has costs that may well outweigh the benefits. Anything that replays HB1234 deserves to be defeated, regardless of who ignores the voters and re-proposes it.
"Let's let the bill be written, then let's work on them together and come up with a bill that we can all live with. Of course if you HATE Republicans that much, there isn't much to talk about."
That's the problem MC. the republicans don't want to work with educators or democrats to come up with a good bill. The reason they don't as well is that is that they think the people are to stupid to understand the problem. They're the only ones smart enough to come up with a solution.
Just ask the Governor.
If I read this right, you are happy as a clam with our current system, and it can not be improved in any way.
Daugaard's HB 1234 was a Pearl Harbor assault on the education community. Fortunately the people of our state saw it for the nasty sham it was.
So the state is just to give the teachers money. Meanwhile our children are ran through the school conveyor system, and are ejected in to the world barely able to read and write. Meanwhile the teacher has no accountability, they claim, 'Bad Students','bad parenting', 'not enough money' or 'bad environment'
The rest of the world bypasses us in every subject, The teachers claim they need more money, and they could fix everything.
More money isn't the answer to everything. In this case the teachers need to be taught how to teach. They must be held to certain standards. If they can live up to those standards, the go elsewhere.
I thought the bill (law) was good starting point, however I voted 'No' because it wasn't done. I applaud the Governor for taking on this issue by the horns, I am disappointed he signed it in it present form.
Cory, you should stop picking on Deb. She will use Obama's education plan to force gays down our childrens' throats. Isn't that what you New Age Theocrats want?
Some more on where the rabid SD legislation comes from.
http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/14392-focus-11-million-donation-tied-to-koch-brothers-calif-agency-alleges-money-laundering
mc...your few words speak volumes.
"So the state is just to give the teachers money."
I'm pretty sure they earn it.
"Meanwhile the teacher has no accountability"
I'm guessing that this is your opinion and not based on actual facts...unless you can provide us with facts that back this statement up. My friends who are teachers, administrators and school board members would disagree with you.
"The rest of the world bypasses us in every subject."
Seriously mc? You do know that South Dakota kids rank pretty high in national standards, and if you want to get into the international piece, we can have that discussion too.
Based on the scores our kids earn based on the instruction they get in the classroom, it appears we are getting a Cadillac for the price of a Yugo.
"The teachers claim they need more money, and they could fix everything."
You of course can attribute that to actual statements from numerous teachers? Right?
And I'm going to guess that your statement "More money isn't the answer to everything" applies to economic development as well...right? Kind of like sending taxpayer money out of state to recruit and compensate skilled labor and at the same time subsidize manufacturers who are unwilling to compete for labor in the free marketplace.
Like I said, your few words speak volumes.
MC, I am calling you out on your talking point: "Meanwhile our children are ran through the school conveyor system, and are ejected in to the world barely able to read and write."
First, "are ran?"
Second, that is simply not true. Especially here in SD, our students receive an excellent education. Our ACT/SAT scores are above the national average (even as we test far more students than other states test). How do you throw out such an audacious claim without backing/proof? What our students are doing in school now far exceeds what I remember doing (a LONG time ago admittedly).
The only place education clearly lags behind the nation is in state funding and teacher compensation. I am all for "fixing" education in SD, but let us at least start with the REAL problems.
A bundle of bad ideas isn't bad because they're bundled together. The individual ideas are are still bad all on their own.
MC, maybe I was unfair in my comments. I apologize if I jumped to some conclusions as to what you were thinking.
So maybe you can help us out in this debate and tell us what you see as the value of education in our state and how you see education moving us forward in a global economy.
Again, I apologize and eagerly wait your response.
Teaching a bible as fact is all minimum wage teachers need, Jana. If South Dakota really wanted to instruct students in critical thinking they should raise salaries and do it before Democrats finally get the message and flee the chemical toilet for bluer pastures.
Think about it: if people in the religion industry can force women to sit through indoctrination before medical procedures they should contract education in South Dakota.
MC, I'd still love to hear more about your take on education funding and where you get your information.
My first blush is that you are just parroting some of your conservative brethren and relying on a few selected anecdotes that have been re-crafted to make a point. I hope I'm wrong.
Keep up the fight because the voters back you on this one, Cory! The comments on the KELOLAND set a record on that website the other day. The comments from the Governor's backlash must be in the hundreds today. Yes, if Governor Daugaard can not and will not respectfully and properly recognize the will of his constituency and wants to double-down to fight them instead of work with them, he will be a one-term Governor come 2014. You can count on that!
MC, you read me wrong. I do not see the status quo as perfect. However, given the choice between maintaining the status quo or damaging it with HB 1234, the obvious choice is the status quo. Contrary to the false dilemma peddled by Daugaard, Hickey, et al., the imperfection of the status quo does not by itself justify change. First, the advocates of change must identify specific flaws in the status quo; then they must demonstrate that their proposed changes will rectify those flaws. The supporters of HB 1234 failed to do either.
South Dakota's K-12 system is a Cadillac. We are maintaining it on a Kia budget. We should spend more to maintain it, or we're going to see serious breakdowns later. But it runs. It makes no sense to drive it off a cliff and jump into the rubber-band jalopy Daugaard and ALEC duct-taped together. That thing won't even get out of the driveway, let alone keep up with our Caddy.
For as many democrats that voted against raising the sales tax to fund education because it would overly tax the poor, there are a lot of republicans that must have voted for the tax increase or it would not have gotten that far. When you split the dem vote, it just shows that even republicans are not satisfied with the current education funding.
That's an interesting point, Roger. I almost voted against IM15—and I can live with the fact that a lot of people did—because the funding mechanism is bad. But we're not going to get around that disadvantage, are we? If I propose my income tax for education, some folks who see problems with our education funding will vote against what they see as an unfair tax. If there is a majority out there who agree that education is insufficiently funded, what funding mechanism could we propose that would draw the least opposition?
Daugaard stepped in his own crap.
This Deb Peters is a real dunce. If she's saying voters didn't understand all parts of the bill after months of studying it, what does that say about Legislators who passed it with what she seems to now be admitting was very little study.
Yeah, there might be some good things in the bill, or at least some things that could be made good with a lot more study and input from teachers, as opposed to ALEC or outside consultants. The problem is neither the Governor, nor the legislators pressing this bill seemed to want to listen then.
If I were the Governor, I'd actually have people studying all the data the state has collected over the last 20 years. That data set is a gold mine, and there a way to glean a lot of interesting information there, if there is anyone of minimal competency in the Ed Department. Do those studies over a year, and come back with something that's based on facts, rather than a political agenda from ALEC.
Very good Donald, dig deep in the Ed Dept. Or maybe look to the educators to put together a study group with a few legis. Should be more on base than a friendly appointment has gotten us.