South Dakota’s teacher shortage is so bad that we now have to import teachers from the Philippines. So says Richard Bad Milk, superintendent at St. Francis, which has hired two Filipino teachers this year:
School leaders blame a low starting salary for limiting their ability to attract educators from regional colleges. And once they’re hired, it’s hard to keep young teachers from leaving for larger, better-paying districts after the school has invested time, energy and resources into training, St. Francis Superintendent Richard Bad Milk said.
“They leave for these different school districts with that training,” Bad Milk said. “And then we start all over again.”
Officials turned to overseas recruiting for the first time this year to find qualified educators willing to work in a rural area struggling under a 45 percent poverty rate.
Hiring is a non-stop responsibility for St. Francis administrators, with openings that remain unfilled even after school starts. In September, the district posted openings for a music teacher, high school principal, special education counselor, language arts teacher, middle school dean of students, Lakota speaker, K-6 paraprofessionals, bus drivers and coaching positions [Patrick Anderson, “Tribal Schools Look Overseas for Teachers,” that Sioux Falls paper, 2015.10.19].
Anderson notes that the problem is not unique to South Dakota, with thousands of Filipino teachers filling vacancies in the U.S. South Dakota’s Republican leaders would probably prefer to see our teaching positions filled by short-term visitors with little political capital rather than well-paid professionals with deep roots in their communities and the potential to become powerful rabble-rousers and policymakers. But there’s really no substitute for a strong, permanent, professional teaching corps paid competitive wages for the foundational work it does for our state.
Is this the public school or the parochial school? Lasr i knew there werw both in that community.
this is the catholic school. they set own wages,not driven by taxation.
is their any connection between EB5 and Scenic? are any of the filipino teachers from Scenic? I have filipino grandchildren. HC-are filipinos a racial or ethnic group? :)
there. i even corrected the spelling first from thier. i am becoming a parody of miceself
leslie: i believe there is.
http://madvilletimes.com/2014/02/benda-made-four-trips-to-philippines-2009-2010-results-for-south-dakota/
CH, what a great link to the Arkansas body of government. This is so obvious that it hurts my head thinking of how in the hell the US has lurched so far off the deep end when it comes to social issues. Farmers get lucrative subsidies from the government, but they do not like to admit it. So in my opinion, they do like many others do that get something for nothing, they want to protect that from others that may also need government assistance. Instead of believing in solidarity for all, they do all they can to protect what they feel is their given right, to hell with everyone else.
Actually, St. Francis is a BIE school at the present time. There is another new elementary school affiliated with St. Francis Mission.
Jerry,
You are so right about the state hiding federal programs from tribes.
I stay pretty well informed about the state and federal government and never learned about EB-5 until the Benda suicide.
If an activist like me didn’t know about EB-5 in doubt that tribes knew. What a wonderful economic development tool EB-5 would have been for tribes, the possibilities are endless for tribal opportunities.
Even the Gear Up program, I’m certain tribes, school boards, teachers, students, etc. were familiar with the program, but did they know the amount of money the SDGOP was fiddling with? I doubt it.
Makes me wonder how much the state is hiding from tribes.
jan, thank you. still has little relevance to a state tax effort.
There is substantialculture shock there even for most south dakotans. Imagine what it must be for these folks?
Roger, I have asked myself over and over how in the hell did the Gear Up end up being in Platte, South Dakota? This program saw a considerable amount of money transferred to and fro with many thousands of dollars given to a politico in Mitchell that already was committed to a job there. No way in the world he could administer the school district and administer this multi-million dollar operation that was designed to assist Native youth. How can you administer Native youth without Native full involvement? More corruption within the republican party on who gets what part of the pie while leaving the crumbs for those they are supposed to be working for.
My first suggestion to Tehran John and his dust bunny would be to declare transparency complete for all Native programs showing exactly where the moolah is going, who is getting it and how it is working at a state level. We already know that on the federal level, a big cut of the pie stays right in Washington and that needs to change as well. Sorry for getting off track here on what this post is all about, the poor way in which our state handles the important issues of education for our young and why they need to be held accountable for that.
South Dakota has plenty of money, plenty. Why not invest it to educate all of our people instead of letting some nameless dude with a bankers cap toy with it in the stock market, at least some of it. Raise the tax to fund, take a look at what land prices are in the state for agriculture. $2,000.00 plus per acre of ground is becoming the base. If you are setting on 25 million bucks worth of land you can sell, why should you not pay property tax for that windfall?
How could a teacher from Philippines recognize if the American History they were instructed to teach [by a right-wing reformist school board] was accurate?
People from around the world know more about American History than most Americans Porter. If you have ever had the opportunity to listen to foreigners speak of America and have them question you regarding the history, you would be surprised. The Philippines were once a big part of the American Empire and there is a huge active American military cemetery there. I served with American soldiers from the Philippines in Vietnam that were as well versed as any other troops that I encountered there. The Filipino’s do know bullshit from reality as well, so I think they will be able to separate the two regarding our history.
Believe me, Jerry I have a quite complete knowledge of what people around the world know and how they feel about Conservative USA politics. That’s not the question. The question is would they risk losing a job in a foreign country by standing up to a right wing extremist school board. I say, no they wouldn’t. And that’s why the TeaParty wants them hired … as if they’re indentured servants.
I agree with that Porter that most of the world is sick to death of what we have done to our world with right wing policies and politics. These problems in the Mid East, brought to us by the misguided war on Iraq, always start with thae conversation coupled with the deadly embrace of Saudi politics, have undermined us terribly. What American citizens should come to realize is that by spreading the lies of false history, you can get a modern version of a whitewash. Case in point of what happens when you try a rewrite is when the prime minister of Israel defends Adolph Hitler’s holocaust by saying the Arabs made Hitler do it. Think about that for a moment. Here is a leader of a country that is absolutely clueless on what happened to millions of his fellow citizens via the Holocaust. That is staggering. If parents pay attention to that, they should straight away start examining their children’s history books to see what they are being taught.
We need to pay closer attention to who gets to decide what curriculum is presented to our young. Why should right wing nuts ever be put in charge of anything? History only repeats itself through ignorance and lack of resolve.
I know, right? I just cast my ballot to recall three right wing school board members who were trying to rewrite AP History to, among other things, not mention unions or Vietnam War protests. Their actions caused student walkouts for almost a week and mass teacher sick day protests.
Good for you Porter, these people are a clear and present danger to democracy itself.
Bob, I’m thinking about your comment about culture shock. Is it possible that folks coming from another country (and in this case, one with its own history of interactions with imperialist America) might actually feel less culture shock entering the reservation than a member of the American privileged class? Is it possible that such outsiders, who feel similar discrimination when they go to Pierre or Chamberlain, might be able to empathize and communicate with Indians on the reservation?
Cory was their a basketball game at Pine Ridge ,Or did Thune actually come there?
Cory how come the State Auditor isnt auditing all this stuff going on.
Porter,
I seriously doubt that the teachers from the Philippines would be required to teach Lakota history and culture, there are plenty graduates from the local tribal college to do that, From what I recall, the Native American classes were taught separately from the standard classroom.
Years ago I joined the Peace Corps with training in New York City, Puerto Rico, and Colombia. The training in New York was to prepare us for culture shock going into our training and service countries. I’ll have to admit that this Indian kid right off the reservation had more culture shock in New York City than in the mountains of Puerto Rico and Colombia.
With the exception of some language barriers, I think educated Philippine teachers wouldn’t have much of a problem on the Rosebud.
No, Mr. Cornelius. I’m sure a subject as vital as NA culture wouldn’t be trusted to them. As I mentioned above, there’s a serious movement underway by TeaParty to rewrite what American history is taught. Since almost all textbooks come from Texas the pathway holds few obstacles. Polls here (CO) indicate that the school board coalition in the state’s second largest district (154 schools and 86,571 students) that tried to eliminate liberal issues from classrooms is about to be recalled/fired.
I have to agree, as usual, with my friend Mr. C. Why do some of you think that these teachers from any outside country wouldn’t be qualified or able to teach with skill and fact?
Mr. moses, I too wonder why the State Auditor isn’t auditing these things. Has anybody called him or have the newspapers reviewed what the State Auditor’s position on these things is?
Porter, unfortunately there are far too many Americans born and bred here that have very little understanding and knowledge of our history. Being an immigrant doesn’t necessarily make you less competent in the subject. A sad statement on the ignorance or our society today, but all too common these days.
Somehow my position hasn’t been presented properly by me. Let me begin, again … and I do apologize for my error. I have no doubt these teachers are competent to teach just as the thousands of traveling nurses are competent in their trade. My doubt is that these teachers will have the desire to tell their administrators that what they’ll be told to teach is not what’s good for USA students. They’ll be dupes in the right wing plan to reformulate the curriculum.
“Now I see!” said the blind man to his deaf friend. I get where you’re going now, thanks for clarifying.
I don’t know, however, if there are any administrators at the schools on the reservations that are lieutenants in the SDGOP militia… those admins tend to be in places like Mitchell, where they can be more connected and closer to the finer things all that money they “earned” by “consulting” with MCEC can buy.
Perhaps Mike from Iowa, might check out the success of the teachers from the Phillipines that were hired by the Odebolt-Arthur District in the mid 1960’s.If Mike can’t find any information about them I might have to make a future post. Check it out Mike!
I’ll simplify. Foreign teachers will be less likely to join the union. It’s poor precedent to hire teachers that will help keep wages the worst in USA.
Porter hits key points on the power dynamic. Even if equal or better at the job than local workers, immigrant labor in any field (teaching, dairies, beef-packing plants…) has less leverage to fight the political agendas of their bosses.
Jerry
The man from Mitchell, Graves, was not involved in the Gear Up Program. He was running two history programs where teachers were taking work leading to masters degrees and also taking trips of historical importance. Yes, he was contracted 100% to Mitchell Schools but,also did this extra work and seems to have pocketed $157,000.
It seems Supt. Graves was a finalist for the Sioux Falls Superintendent of Schools position this spring too. For some reason the names of the other finalists were never made public, quite a change from the past.
bill f., bob, anyone,?-does grudz leave gravy stains on your shirt when he puts his greasy hand on your shoulder and calls you “my friend”
Jerry,
Super Graves was not involved in the Mid Cen Gear Up Project. Graves was running one or two History programs that helped some teachers get masters degrees. It is not clear whether Graves had completed those programs before Graves applied for the position of Sioux Falls Superintendent of Schools. In any event the finalists’ names were not made public when Maher was hired. That was a major change from other changes of superintendents!
cory. do yousuppose that native americans in st francis feel discriminated against inst francis?
or philipinos in manilla, inmanilla? populationdensity may be a significant shock, let alone language issues.
Bob, fair question. I’ll defer to locals who know the culture. Indeed, a Manilan (Manilite?) might feel like she’s going to explosivel decompress in the wide open spaces of central South Dakota in a way that an Aberdeen or Madison gal used to driving across the prairie would not.
Roger C. might be interested in what the Winner BOE does with federal impact funds intended to replace lost tax revenue on federal and Indian Land. For several years, instead of spending on teachers, education materials, books, etc. , they have been socking it away in a bank certificate now with over $2 million in it which they intend to squander on a fourth gymnasium for a school that graduates only 34 students a year. Apparently having 3 hour BB practice keeps kids around school until 9:30 at night. Shorter practice might be a solution that does not cost $4 million.
Doug,
That’s very interesting. ..maybe Dana Hanna could look into this.
Hey all, my mother graduated from St. Francis in 1940!!!! My mom n dad were raised in SF! Go Warriors!
One thing that is telling about all the school on all the rez’s….we pay our teachers well. A hellava lot better than the Rapid city school district. …
We value their efforts.
As far as foreigners coming and teaching. The ones that I know, the non-indians and the americorps teachers I know recognize how much a difference one person can make and how they are respected by the community.
By the way Hillary Clinton is b*t*h slapping some red neck repubs around right now. The witch hunters caught the wrong witch!!!! She’s got them surrounded.
@Spike … Thanks for your insight and perspective. I’d imagine schooling a blog full of wasiciu’s can be frustrating. I didn’t know Rez teachers were paid better. Must be why my NDN friends are who they are.
Doug,
Thanks for that information, I always suspected something of that nature but couldn’t quite make a connection onthe money, I suspect other Native school district across the state are doing the same thing, or worse.
American and non-American teachers that work on the reservations are often incorporated into tribal communities, they want to learn the language and culture of the Sioux.
I attended Holy Rosary Indian Mission, now Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Reservation in the ’60’s. The young Jesuits and nuns that came to the reservation were fascinated with reservation life and eager to learn, I sometimes think that they may have learned more than they taught. Many of those wrote books on Lakota culture, became fluent in Sioux and some still reside and work there today.
Rod,
So for three years: (1) Roman Catholic Reverend Joseph Graves was serving parishioner needs as the Deacon of Mitchell’s largest congregation, HFCC; (2) Concurrently, Dr. Joseph Graves was serving as the Director of the Mid Central Education Coop’s Teaching American History Grant receiving Form 1099’s totaling about $157,000 plus $19,000+ for expenses; and (3) Over these 36 consecutive months, was able to devote 100% of undivided attention and efforts in fulfilling and honoring all of the terms and conditions contained in his employment contract as the Superintendent of Schools in Mitchell receiving Form W-2’s tally about $375,000. Old school math says, Revered/Deacon HFCC, Director/TAFG MCEC Supt/MSD 17-2 Dr. Joseph Graves received $175,000+ in compensation annually over this 3-year period of time.
The word on the street in Mitchell has it that after the SD Secretary of DOE’s $52,000+ in gravy in the feed bunk had been all lapped up by Mid Central’s TAHG Director Joseph Graves his Mitchell School District $125,000+ annual salary was no longer adequate compensation in the “divinely all knowing mind” of Supt Joseph Graves. As a result, Dr. Joseph Graves applied for the Supt of Schools position in Sioux Falls, but did not place in the top four of the final applicants the Board of Education interviewed for the position.
I found this Porter Lansing, about Texas, the same Texas that teaches that Moses was a founding father of the United States. You know what William Tecumseh Sherman said about Texas, don’t you? “If I owned Hell and Texas, I’d rent out Texas and live in Hell.”