Republicans like to squawk that high taxes make rich people move away. The evidence on that claim is dubious at best.
But a new survey by Ithaka S+R indicates that Republican policies restricting academic freedom may be driving more than one in ten academic researchers to move away:
Our survey shows that 10 percent of faculty from states with laws restricting academic speech reported trying to find out-of-state academic positions, and 6 percent reported seeking to leave the academy. In open-ended comments, others volunteered that they were considering early retirement due to the current political climate. However, our questionnaire differed from the studies cited above in that it specifically excluded those whose decisions were due to factors other than laws or policies restricting their ability to conduct research. Four percent of all respondents indicated that they had actively sought employment in another country in 2025 due to restrictions on their research activity. Overall, 11 percent of all respondents indicated that they were seeking to leave the academy or obtain an academic position in another state or country [Dylan Ruediger, Chelsea McCracken, and Jonathan Barefield, “The Impact of State and Federal Policies on Academic Researchers,” Ithaka S+R, 2026.04.20].
The Ithaka S+R authors include South Dakota on a list of 21 states that have “enacted legislation limiting postsecondary instruction on a range of topics, while imposing new requirements and restrictions in areas such as curriculum and shared governance.” They point to work by PEN America that notes South Dakota’s 2019 House Bill 1087, a sham-intellectual diversity bill that was followed by a push to close campus diversity offices and hire conservative profs, and 2022 House Bill 1012, a Kristi Noem bill banning “divisive concepts” from campus trainings and orientations. PEN America also includes South Dakota on a list of states where university faculty were punished for saying things Republicans didn’t like about Charlie Kirk. USD professor emeritus of education administration Karen Card has said that South Dakota’s anti-diversity stance has deterred more applicants for higher ed positions than even the contentious issue of post-tenure review.
Professors and researchers drive real economic development, especially in rural communities. The impact of state politics on academic flight are clearer than claims that tax policy driving millionaire flight. So when will pro-economic development Republicans express concern about state policies hindering South Dakota’s ability to recruit and retain the best higher education workforce?
Why does a welder or a coder or even a registered nurse need a liberal arts education especially when the English Language Holy Bible and The Turner Diaries are all you need to read in South Dakota?
Would teaching about George McGovern be a divisive concept in South Dakota?
If your SD sixth grader isn’t getting a full hour of “AI prompting class”, five days weekly, move to a BLUE state or end up raising another SD child whose core knowledge is fifteen years behind their peers.
AI ISN’T A PREDICTION MACHINE. Labeling it such is a textbook example of a Straw Man, that Cory can hate on, without rebuttal because a Straw Man can’t be defended. It’s just Cory’s imagination. (I read the book he wrote about it.)
AI IS A CONTEXT MACHINE. The more you give it (your job, your industry, the stakes, the audience, the history), the sharper its output. AI can respond like a juvenile or AI can respond like Einstein. If all you do is drive it into a ditch it’s your own darn fault for being a lazy prompter.
– From AXIOS: A proper prompt: “I am the CEO of Axios writing to an audience of smart professionals with mixed AI feelings and experience. I want to write a Finish Line column in Smart Brevity style that provides specific, actionable ways to instantly improve someone’s AI prompting skills. 500 words tops.”
Then question yourself. One of the biggest mistakes users make is trying to think of everything themselves. AI is actually better at figuring out what it needs from you than you are. So ask it.
The above is a proper prompt that nearly every sixth grader has the communication skills to accomplish.
UNLESS … you believe AI will just disappear because German-American Midwesterners; well you know.
Porter, more often than not AI has been totally wrong about my questions. Certainly no Einstein is behind that. For instance just today I asked when Laurie Anderson performed in Sarasota. I went to the performance and wondered what year. Of course I was told that she’s never played in Sarasota. Now it gets annoying because it happens all the time.
I also typed in Clay Yarborough would make a pretty lady. I’m not going into why I typed that but I was lectured that it wasn’t very nice. I mean really! Who needs to be lectured by AI?
You didn’t learn much from my post and that’s fine with me. You’re old. I’m trying to address the problem of “brain drain” and why it’s occurred for 75 years in SD.
@Mark … AI isn’t a search engine. Do you think all this excitement would be about something that already exists?
@Mark – I improved your prompt to “Has Laura Phillips “Laurie” Anderson performed in Sarasota, FL?”
Yes — Laurie Anderson has performed in Sarasota. A documented example is a performance at the historic The Ringling’s Asolo Theater (often called the Historic Asolo Theater), where she appeared as part of contemporary performance programming.
She’s also been associated with Sarasota’s experimental/avant-garde arts scene through venues connected with New College of Florida and the Ringling arts community.
If you’re wondering whether “Laurie” was billed specifically as Laura Phillips Anderson (her full name) in Sarasota programs, I can help look into specific dates or performances too.
*looks like pilot error or outdated software
Mr. Lansing, I remember being given instruction on how to effectively use a search engine. Originally, it was more complicated. A couple years later, Google arrived and it can now make sense of whatever jibberish one attempts to type in. I’m guessing the same will be true of AI. I suspect such knowledge will be obsolete in an even shorter time span.
Mr. Lansing, your middle-school AI “prompting” is nearing the level of a googling, If you google, you will find. If you are in Colorado, the libby AI bots distort what you see from what real humans in South Dakota see. It is the way the AI bots work.
I was hoping you’d show up, grudznick.
How many years were you afraid of computers before your granddaughter taught you?
After that, how many years were you afraid of the internet?
After that, how many years were you afraid of hyperlinks?
How many years will you be afraid of Artificial General Intelligence and it hasn’t even been created yet?
Never mind you DFP gents. I was just born more curious than most. Fearless, too. lol