Governor Kristi Noem delivers the fiscal year 2026 budget address on December 3, 2024 at the Capitol in Pierre. Seated behind her, from left, are House of Representatives candidate Jon Hansen and Lt. Governor Larry Rhoden. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
PIERRE – A $4 million proposal from South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem to help students enroll in private school and other forms of alternative education would undermine public education by diverting state money to entities that no accountability, say opponents.
Proponents of the plan say it would allow the state to initiate education reforms that have been gaining momentum nationwide while lowering education costs, forcing public education to innovate and educate South Dakota students in customized would be offered to best meet their learning needs.
Noem presented the creation of education savings accounts (ESAs) to lawmakers during her annual budget address in Pierre on Tuesday as a way to “continue to prioritize education” without cutting public education funds.
“Good education starts at home,” says Noem. “And parents must have the resources to choose which educational path is best for their children.”
The program would cover about $3,000 per student annually to pay for a portion of private school tuition or alternative education curriculum, Noem said. She hopes to eventually expand the program. The program would be for “families who meet the eligibility requirements,” according to information in Noem’s budgetand Noem’s spokesperson said the requirements will include low income. Sixteen other states already allow families to use it tax dollars for ESAs.
The proposal comes at a time when South Dakota is seeing one of the highest increases in alternative education in the country. Statewide, alternatively enrolled students represent approximately 6.5% of the school-age population, based on public, non-public and alternative enrollment data from the state Department of Education. Alternative education includes homeschooling and private schools that are not accredited or accredited by an entity other than the state, such as online, hybrid and micro schools.
Lawmakers and education lobbyists in Pierre are eager to learn the details of Noem’s proposed legislation — especially how the state will ensure oversight and accountability, how students will be chosen for the program and how it will fit into the state’s ongoing spending.
“We have homework to do,” said new Senate President Pro Tempore Chris Karr, R-Sioux Falls, a former member of the legislative budget committee who supports the school choice movement. “We need to start looking at this and figure out how to implement this in a responsible way.”
Sandra Waltman, public affairs director for the South Dakota Education Association, said any entity that accepts public funding must meet the same standards as public education, such as testing requirements and anti-discrimination policies. Alternative education students are currently not required to take standardized tests or present a portfolio to demonstrate educational progress. Private schools are not required to serve all students, so they can deny admission and educational services, Waltman added.
“When you take those precious funds away from public schools, you undermine what public schools can do for students,” Waltman said. “There is no certainty that the money they invest in education will actually make a difference.”
Noem did not propose cutting public education to fund the program, but proposed 1.25% state funding for public education. The inflation rate this year is 3.2%, the US newspaper said Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
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Lower-than-expected sales tax collections are mainly driving Noem’s meager $7.29 billion budget presented on Tuesdaythat also includes cuts to some state departments and programs.
That’s a signal to Rob Monson, executive director of School Administrators of South Dakota, that lawmakers will question the feasibility of ESAs.
“Some legislators will look at public education that serves more than 80% of the state’s students and think, ‘If we have extra money, maybe we should obligate it to a program we’re already obligated to fund, rather than a fund new program with current dollars,” Monson said.
Efforts to Create ESA programs has failed twice in the Legislature in recent years, largely because of questions about its financial viability, said Brookings Republican Rep. Mellissa Heermann, a member of the House Education Committee.
South Dakota must be intentional about the “small pot” of tax revenue it has to work with, Heermann said. She added that school programs already exist to address students’ mental health, behavioral and learning needs.
“I don’t know if vouchers would have as much impact as other programs,” Heermann said. “The timing doesn’t seem right to me to start something like this, while we are already trying to reduce costs as much as possible.”
New House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach, R-Spearfish, said the proposal focuses on educating students, rather than supporting a public education system burdened by overhead and top-heavy administrative costs. An ESA program could force local districts to decentralize, adapt and focus more on student education, he said.
“No entity evolves until it is forced to,” Odenbach said.
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