Rural Matters

Pre-K, mandatory kindergarten, learning plans for high school students, higher teacher salaries and performance pay are all part of the education discussion in South Dakota. But funding issues will dominate. A significant number of the state’s districts exercise the “opt out,” which enables them to exceed the state’s property tax cap for education. In addition, the South Dakota State Aid Study Task Force issued a report prior to the session. It calls for retaining the sparsity factor in the state aid formula and making it more restrictive and for retaining consolidation incentive funding. The Task Force did not make a recommendation on minimum district size. However, the education funding bill contains a provision that would require all districts with fewer than 200 students to submit a consolidation plan by July 2007. A fight is expected on this issue. The Indian Education Act would require that some American Indian culture, language, and history be taught in all public schools and would develop content standards; it would also require training on Indian culture and history for new teachers and would create an American Indian education council. Governor Mike Rounds (R) was re-elected. Rounds has not commented extensively on the consolidation provisions in the funding bill, but he has previously supported the elimination of districts that are “small by choice,” and State Superintendent Rich Melmer, appointed by Rounds, is favors consolidation.