Maggie--let's take a look at the states we outperformed: Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Wyoming, Arizona, Montana, Arkansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Utah, North Dakota, Ohio, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Hawaii, Iowa, Florida, South Carolina, West Virginia, Texas, Alaska, New Mexico, Oregon. State's outperforming us include: New Jersey, Colorado, New York, Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, California, Delaware, Maine. We spend a little over 29% of our state's budget (680 million) on state assistance to schools and local governments. I'm not as familiar as you are with the state's budget, so I don't know what all that funds--it does appear that states who spend less on education generally don't perform as well. That aside, the fact of the matter is that our secondary schools are not college prep schools. Whether they should be or not is debatable, but I assume many SD high school students attend technical colleges that don't require an ACT score for entrance. I know you're a critic of our public schools, and we'd all like our students to perform better, but the Republican solution is often to cut public school funding, shift public dollars to private institutions, home school more students where they are not required to take assessment tests. If the state of our education is truly pathetic, doesn't it have to be partly the responsibility of the state's leadership over the past several decades?
Here again, Graves comparing performance, to set low standards for our students rather than culpability for his performance. Whoever hired him needs to be gone as well.
This is shockingly pathetic. South Dakotans spend a billion dollars to get this: “And 28 percent of test-takers met college readiness benchmarks in all four subject areas.” Thanks for the positive spin, but by all accounts this is a national scandal.
the 2025 budget for SD public education expenditures is just under 800 million. Of this budget, the largest expense was for salary and benefits, including retirement. Second was funding for actual supplies, textbooks, etc. and 3rd was Special Education.
Our graduation rate is almost 4% higher than the national average. With that being said, we invest less than 4% of the state annual annual budget in education. Per school finance data.org, we are considered a low fiscal effort state. Maybe the $21 million used to build a shooting range could go to current programs being used such as TSI, CSI, intensive tutoring, continuing education for our teachers and technology improvements.
Starting teachers salaries are finally improving, but have a long way to go. The people who spend the majority of their time with OUR children are underpaid for the responsibilities they carry.
Maggie--let's take a look at the states we outperformed: Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Wyoming, Arizona, Montana, Arkansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Utah, North Dakota, Ohio, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Hawaii, Iowa, Florida, South Carolina, West Virginia, Texas, Alaska, New Mexico, Oregon. State's outperforming us include: New Jersey, Colorado, New York, Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, California, Delaware, Maine. We spend a little over 29% of our state's budget (680 million) on state assistance to schools and local governments. I'm not as familiar as you are with the state's budget, so I don't know what all that funds--it does appear that states who spend less on education generally don't perform as well. That aside, the fact of the matter is that our secondary schools are not college prep schools. Whether they should be or not is debatable, but I assume many SD high school students attend technical colleges that don't require an ACT score for entrance. I know you're a critic of our public schools, and we'd all like our students to perform better, but the Republican solution is often to cut public school funding, shift public dollars to private institutions, home school more students where they are not required to take assessment tests. If the state of our education is truly pathetic, doesn't it have to be partly the responsibility of the state's leadership over the past several decades?
Yes. 100% a total FAILURE - yes, in all caps - we agree.
Here again, Graves comparing performance, to set low standards for our students rather than culpability for his performance. Whoever hired him needs to be gone as well.
This is shockingly pathetic. South Dakotans spend a billion dollars to get this: “And 28 percent of test-takers met college readiness benchmarks in all four subject areas.” Thanks for the positive spin, but by all accounts this is a national scandal.
the 2025 budget for SD public education expenditures is just under 800 million. Of this budget, the largest expense was for salary and benefits, including retirement. Second was funding for actual supplies, textbooks, etc. and 3rd was Special Education.
Our graduation rate is almost 4% higher than the national average. With that being said, we invest less than 4% of the state annual annual budget in education. Per school finance data.org, we are considered a low fiscal effort state. Maybe the $21 million used to build a shooting range could go to current programs being used such as TSI, CSI, intensive tutoring, continuing education for our teachers and technology improvements.
Starting teachers salaries are finally improving, but have a long way to go. The people who spend the majority of their time with OUR children are underpaid for the responsibilities they carry.