An eager reader sends me a January article summarizing the Quality Counts report card on South Dakota’s K-12 education system. We start well, ranking 4th in getting kids off to a good start, even though we staunchly refuse to open the door to socialism by funding public pre-kindergarten. We slack off once we pack the little buggers off to school, though, ranking a middling 27th for how kids do in school and 25th in adult outcomes based on educational attainment and workforce indicators.
Maybe an exceptional start and near-average outcomes are good enough, but imagine how much better we’d be if we adequately funded K-12 education:
This year, South Dakota finishes 42nd out of 49 states receiving overall school finance rankings, with an overall score of 67.1 out of 100 points and a grade of D-plus. The nation as a whole posts a grade of C.
…The spending metrics shed light on major questions, such as:
- What does the state spend per-pupil when adjusted for regional cost differences?
- What percent of students are in districts with per-pupil spending at or above the U.S. average?
- What share of total taxable resources are spent on education?
Across the spending indicators, South Dakota finishes with an F compared with a national average of D. South Dakota ranks 41st in the nation in this area [“Educational Opportunities and Performance in South Dakota,” Education Week, 2019.01.16].
Perhaps we could start strengthening our fiscal commitment to K-12 education by repurposing the $400,000 Governor Noem has decided not to pour into a fence around the Governor’s Mansion. We can redirect another $500,000 by ending Noem’s unscientific and ineffective raccoon, skunk, and possum bounty program. Whittle down her bloated staff of image makers, and we could be up to a cool million for more real educational experiences… and I haven’t even had breakfast yet.
Keep thinking, readers: what Noem foolishness could we repeal to properly direct our fiscal attention to our most important public function, the education of our youth?
Cory, u risk upsetting Troy who insists Kristi “knew nuthin” and the fence, the furs, IM24 and the riot boosters were merely nothing burgers in the parlance of his president and con man/boy in chief.
Leslie – Troy, Powers, grudznick, Joe Nelson et al (on the bigot blog) are Catholic school people. To them (none of which competed well in youth sports) it’s public vs parochial in head to head competition. Giving adequate money to public schools is akin to ecumenical defeatism. This crowd view themselves as Kristi’s Knights Templar and she’s more than willing to reward their sub-male, overly competitive instincts. Public school kids suffering is a victory to the Knights.
I don’t know about “repeal,” but an effective, fair income tax for the state, coupled with a repeal of the sales tax on food and clothing ought to go a long way in providing a good funding level for schools.
Oh, and dump tax breaks for the corporations and wealthy individuals,
Considering bribing businesses to come to South Dakota often doesn’t end well. We could completely eliminate the GOED and redirect the entire budget to k-12. I believe the budget is somewhere close to $50 million if I have my numbers right. Investment into education is a better way to invest in economic development anyway.
I agree 100% with Justin. We would get a better return on every GOED dollar by investing it in schools than in corporate welfare.