Last updated on 2015-10-30
The Blue Ribbon Task Force on Teachers and Students is meeting in Pierre right now. You can listen online as the panel tries to produce solid recommendations for improving K-12 funding in its final meeting.
Steve O’Brien, one of only two teachers sitting on the 26-member panel, remains hopeful that the panel will act to raise teacher pay:
“We know it’s not the only issue. It’s not the only reason people go into education. It’s not the only reason people leave education but it is the elephant in the room,” O’Brien said.
…He says members have also noted that other states with higher salaries are also facing shrinking teacher applicant numbers.
“But it’s unique to South Dakota because as the lowest paying state, we are becoming the pool that other states can easily fish in,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien is pleased with discussion so far and is hopeful they’ll lead to solutions. In his opinion, there have been clear differences with this committee that could lead to more results than committees in the past.
“We started it with the support of the public. We started it by bringing more than just legislators to the panel,” O’Brien said [Erich Schaffhauser, “Teacher Discusses Task Force Ahead of Final Meeting,” KELO-TV, 2015.10.28].
Blue Ribbon co-chair Senator Deb Soholt (R-14/Sioux Falls) puts a price tag on competitive teacher salaries:
Soholt says the panel finds that, on average, South Dakota teachers are $8,000 to $10,000 out of market.
“And certainly it’s more than just pay that brings somebody into education, but we are spending a lot of time looking at that slice of the pie, because we don’t want pay to be the barrier,” Soholt says. “So in order to move us from where we are to be competitive with our neighbors, we’re probably talking about something about infusing somewhere between $50 million to $70 million new dollars into our education system in order to accomplish that move” [Kealey Bultena, “Final Blue Ribbon Education Task Force Meeting Thursday,” SDPB Radio, 2015.10.28].
Given that we have 9,362 K-12 teachers, $50 million to $70 million means $5,340 to $7,480 more per teacher, meaning Senator Soholt is assuming that South Dakota can compete for talented teachers by still hanging back more than $2,000 from the prevailing wages in neighboring states.
In the hearing just now, Senator Soholt said her target would be to increase the statewide average teacher salary from $40,000 to $48,000, placing us at 39th in the nation.
Alas, Senator Soholt seems to be bracing us for something less than a resounding, unified call for action:
Soholt says task force members must set recommendations for Governor Dennis Daugaard on options for increasing teacher pay. The state senator says the group may not come to consensus, so the final report may include multiple ideas from different stakeholders [Bultena, 2015.10.28].
Mitchell Superintendent Joseph Graves, who’s really good at increasing (if not remembering and explaining) his own pay, offers no specific plan for increasing teacher pay, but huffs and puffs that we are at a historic moment of political possibility in which South Dakota might buck its resistance to higher taxes and its fiscal negligence of public education:
Yet, just now, there seems to be at least the possibility that such a supermajority could be mustered to raises taxes in order to improve teacher pay. In my memory, I can remember no other time in which this was the case. We talked about low teacher pay in the past. We lamented it. We despaired over it. We vilified it. But we never really thought there was anything much that could be done about it.
Until now. The window is open.
But it may not be open for long and it may not be as wide open as some people seem to think. Therefore, we need to move deliberately and expeditiously to make the best use of the current political will to raise teacher salaries [Joseph Graves, “Teacher Pay: Fix It Now—Finally,” Mitchell Daily Republic, 2015.10.27].
Given Graves’s sycophancy to the GOP regime, perhaps his well-timed op-ed is really a signal that the Daugaard regime is ready to act. But notice the wedge Graves throws into his argument for bad ideas:
First, we need to work with our legislators and the Daugaard Administration to find those compromises necessary to approve a very significant increase in teacher salaries. This may mean accepting some things we don’t want. So be it. Enhancing teacher compensation in South Dakota is too important to flounder on the rocks of even the most sacred of cows [Graves, 2015.10.27].
Like Rep. Lee Schoenbeck (R-5/Watertown), Superintendent Graves seems to think it necessary to pry the door open for bad ideas instead of focusing strictly on convincing people of the one good idea South Dakota schools really, really need right now: competitive wages for teachers.
Rise up, Steve O’Brien. Sit your fellow panelists down for lunch, tell them that your consensus today on one focused, straightforward plan is crucial to beating back the naysayers, the saboteurs, and the opportunists who would turn a teacher pay raise into a vehicle for who knows how many bad ideas.
I know how they could increase teacher pay, we could pass video lottery and the state share of that money could go toward education. Another idea would be to let them build casinos in Deadwood and that money could be used for education. A third option would be, when we get the tobacco settlement from the giant tobacco companies, we could use that money for education. And the last option, that I would suggest would be to raise the tax on cigarettes to a buck a pack and that money could be used for education. Oh wait a minute, we already proposed doing all of those things, what ever happened to that money?????
Or the state could begin to collect some of the over 10 million dollars in sales tax that it fails to collect EACH year from retail sales over the internet. That could provide up to approximately $5,0000 per year for each and every public school teacher. However, does anyone think our state legislature would really collect those dollars that are legally owed, and would they ever allow that money to go to public education?
The nail was pound square herein when reference was made to the flapping jaws of the governor’s mouth organ — the Double Dipping, Employment Contract Violating, Never Sleeping, $30,000 Annual Compensation Quoting – Fraudulent Interviewee and HB 1234 Educator Tenure Stealing Lackey — Mitchell’s Supt of Schools Joseph Graves.
Supt Joe’s over-inflated, self-evaluation of his divinely superior book-smart intellect continues to impair his ability to relate to common, ordinary people without insulting them with his gross superiority complex disorder; his cronyism & nepotism infested lack of professionalism; and his lack integrity, honor, candor and courage.
In the referenced Graves Op Ed, did the governor pull the strings on Puppet Joe’s fingers as Graves tried to record his twisted thoughts promoting “sacrificing sacred cows” in bartering with one-party rule party bosses for higher teacher salaries?
How will this Crony Joe’s pockets be greased by the Board of Regents with GEAR UP funds after Supt Joe has once again loyally supported securing more power and control in a second attempt to replace the teacher tenure system (the sacred cow) with an expand application of one-party rule rewards and corruption in exchange for significantly increasing teacher salaries?
The people have already spoken on the teacher tenure system issue — Game Over! What follows would surely rattle the cages of those holding the big pile of chips and real power in this state. How about a minimal state income tax on non-profit (except for non-profit community welfare services entities — Red Cross, Salvation Army, Disabled Vets …) and for-profit corporations to be used only to pay teacher salaries.
Badger, Out!
Going off or rsterling – provide lots of inventives for Amazon to place a customer service center in SD (Former capital one building?) and then we can start collecting tax on all of the amazon purchases. Sure it doesnt cover all online sales, but it gets a lion’s share.
Amazon has looked towards smaller states for their locations to cut down on the tax burden. They have a pretty big operation in ND already. They provide some decent paying jobs as well.
Mr. rsterling, can the legislatures just start taxing people in other states over the internet or is there some obstacle at the higher government level that is blocking them from doing that? If they could tax other state people I bet they’d be doing it right now. I’m just sayin…
However, I was told that Mr. O’Brien, who is a really really good teacher and on the BluRT-F for just that reason, strong-armed outwitted or out-debated many others there to agree to a $75 million dollar increase for the good teachers. I find this heartening news.
(Now I understand Mr. Guymon. The badger may be out now, but for 10 days he was locked up for illegal voting and is very angry about it, like a honey badger with a jar on its head.)
Grudz … nights are getting pretty damn cold for snakes like you — suggest you slither back under your rock into your earthen dwelling and hibernate until spring … in the spring when you slither back out of your hole, hopefully authorities will have your buddy Jason Gant in an orange jump suit making license plates due the crimes he committed from June 6, 2012 thru Sept 14, 2012 when he orchestrated, launched, coordinated and promoted an elaborate cover-up ruse that corruptly duped the voters with regards to the June 5, 2012 Davison County primary election having been rigged. Grusz, you must be a cowardly bull snake — have not heard ya rattle — only smelled all the ignorant bull your single-digit IQ continuously pitches.
Just leave it alone my children need other teachers to join them on the east coast where they make good wages, SUPER RETIREMENT AND BENEFITS MORE THAN THIS STATE DOES.