Apparently the Lord doth not provide enough.
Majority Leader Qualm withdrew his direct tax subsidy for church schools, but Governor Kristi Noem did get to sign an expansion of our stealth vouchers.
Senate Bill 96 expands the state’s stealth voucher program, whereby we launder your tax dollars through tax credits to insurance companies to pay for “scholarships” for kids to go to South Dakota’s religious schools. The original scheme gave insurers back an amount of their premium tax of up to 80% of what they paid out to private schools. SB 96 allows the state to pay 100% of that scholarship cost.
Only Democrats Foster, Heinert, and Wismer voted against this expanded diversion of public money to private schools in the Senate. SB 96 had a harder time, remarkably, in the House, where we’d expect the wacky Haugaard fundagelicals to be all about putting more state cash into exclusive Christian schools at the expense of the free, fair, and universal public school system. The House wackies won, but only by two votes.
I’m still waiting for someone to set up a madrassa and bring the whole scheme crashing down.
The state has no business funding private schools. The taxpayers’ sole obligation is to fund one great public school system for all children, regardless of race, color, creed, income, or other delineator. We should repeal the stealth voucher program, not expand it.
Great Caesar;s ghost, doesn’t Nonothingem not know the Girl Scouts support abortion rights through Planned Parenthood? This was a bigly deal a few years ago and goofy wingnut parents decided to make American Heritage girls as a rival to Girl Scouts.
https://jezebel.com/tired-of-those-slutty-girl-scouts-meet-the-conservativ-1531412704
Cory, exactly how many dollars bypassed the SD Treasury last year and ended up in private schools? Also, how did the insurance industry get the exclusive tax credit? Based on the logic, a property owner who home schools their kids should be able to withhold county property taxes from their school district for scholarships for their own kids, right?
El Rayo X, I don’t have the dollar figure handy (and I’m rushing out the door from lunch back to work!), but I can tell you why insurers are getting this break and property owners. Phyllis Heineman was the sponsor of the originating bill in 2016; her husband was an insurance agent. Imagine that.
In addition, the state doesn’t receive property tax—that’s all collected at the local level—so it would be more complicated for the state to rig up a property tax refund. Insurers pay their premium tax directly to the state, so the state can directly send that money right back to the premium taxpayers to cover their stealth vouchers.
I suppose the state could expand the stealth vouchers to the banks and offer them breaks on the bank franchise tax, since that also is a state tax.
We know why the GOP likes ignorant voters.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has a plan to actually pay Public School Teachers more. If they teach in minority, low income or certain stressed areas they’ll get even more. It’s a $3/$1 match with the state. Yes, the SDGOP would have to at least fake a little caring about public education.
goo.gl/XeyKd8
Based on glibertarian logic, maybe. Here on Earth1, schools are a public good provided to all children. It’s even in the state constitution! From Article XXII:
It’s not a haphazard “pay as you go” system where some get education and some don’t, based on wealth or luck. Our Constitution set up a functioning state, not a Dickensian lottery.
I have no children. Does that mean I should get a full refund of my taxes that would go to public schools? (Yes, I know that’s how it would go in a libertarian paradise, but I’m happy to fund the school district. Citizens funded my K-12 education; now it’s my turn. It’s my civic duty and an investment in the future.)
I once had the privilege of sitting in on a speech by a highly regarded school superintendent of a larger South Dakota school district. Every word out of his mouth was very interesting and inspirational- but this is what stuck with me the most. He said that public schools were the very essence of Christianity. He went on to say that if a child was poor, the public school would welcome them. Children who had learning difficulties, disabilities, brown skin, good homes, bad homes, two parents, no parents, etc. etc. were all welcomed in a public school, would be loved by their teachers and taught by their teachers……..just as Christ welcomed all people into His fold. By the time he was finished with his views on education, practicing unconditional love in schools, welcoming all children etc. etc. I was in tears. Then when I read about stealth vouchers I want to cry again, for very different reasons.
Chris reminds me why Noem’s civics education turned into a nothingburger: Republicans realized that when we really teach kids civics, they grow up to recognize, as Chris does, to fully support the public education system and leave the private schoolers to their own non-state devices.
Excellent note about the universality of public education, Caroline.
Hey, doesn’t catholic mean universal? How easily they forget….
Nice story, Caroline, but the kristianity he was talking about hasn’t been in practice in the wingnut party for several decades at least. I am pretty sure Raygun and Immoral Majority done killed it off.
Apparently noem and the chamber and allander are all excited EAFB in RC get new B21 bombers that look just like old B2 STEALTH bombers so we can continue threatening the world. For various reason$. Big surprise coming from disparaged NM congress woman heather wilson, yet another heather, who like sara palin except possibly smarter, just quit as Director of Dept of USAF.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch the cows all died- https://www.the-immoral-minority.com/education-secretary-betsy-devos-proposes-budget-that-slashes-funds-from-special-education-programs-and-guts-the-special-olympics/
Nothing says we love all children like slashing funds for special education and gutting Special Olympics.
I can’t say enough (really bad things) about the morals of this federal and state administrations.
Rather than damaging education, here’s a good thing Noem and the SDGOP can do for children in SD, from Axios:
“Details: Breaking with traditional schooling, these new models emphasize capabilities over knowledge — with extra weight on interpersonal skills that appear likely to become ever more valuable.
“The big picture: No one really knows what future jobs will look like or the skills that will be necessary to carry them out. But researchers and companies alike widely believe that, as a start, interpersonal and management skills will differentiate humans from machines.
“High schoolers are often being taught skills that will soon be handed over to machines, and they’re missing out on more valuable ones.”
https://goo.gl/5MLaSi