South Dakotans are up to bat; will they take a swing?

This weekend I encountered two items online that have made me even more concerned about K-12 education funding in South Dakota.  Yesterday I read Kevin Woster’s blog, http://bit.ly/1sEsj6P, in which he eloquently states one of the huge issues with education funding in the state is that people in South Dakota are okay with being last in teacher pay because they don’t want to pay any more taxes.  Then today I saw the following image posted on Twitter.

It was then that I realized that South Dakota is missing one of these key ingredients:  a dedicated society.  I believe that politicians in our state who have become more informed are finally realizing that we have a serious teacher shortage and that teacher pay needs to be increased.  I also believe very strongly that we have many excellent teachers in this state.  What we are currently lacking in South Dakota is a dedicated society.  So, the question becomes:  how bad does the teacher shortage need to get before the citizens of our state are willing to take money out of their own pocket and put it towards K-12 education?  I feel like South Dakotans have a unique opportunity here, and I hope that more information will help them become that dedicated society.

The South Dakota Budget & Policy Institute has gathered great data on South Dakota K-12 education funding, comparing us to neighboring states.  I had the privilege of hearing Joy Smolnisky present her research.  The average teacher salary in South Dakota is 76% of the average in the neighboring states, but the hourly wages of private non-farm workers are about 88% of the regional average.  And South Dakota teachers can increase their purchasing power between 17% and 34% by just moving across the border to a neighboring state.  I would encourage you to read the entire PowerPoint presentation, which can be found at http://bit.ly/XNL5vF.

So, fellow South Dakotans, it is the bottom of the ninth and you are up to bat.  Are you willing to take a swing to improve K-12 education funding?

I am cheering for a home run!