by Carrie Moritz, Gazette

On Monday, the Garretson School Board gave the go-ahead to sanction a new sport at Garretson High School. During the same meeting, the board voted to sign a resolution standing against school vouchers, discussed the heating issue in the New Gym, and heard good news about career-readiness.

School vouchers have been a topic at the top of the board's mind since last meeting, when they discussed an initial legislative resolution outlining why they were not a good idea. During that time, it was understood to likely be a bill that would be going through the committees and legislature this coming winter. However, during Governor Kristi Noem's budget address last Tuesday, she proposed putting $4 million to "Education Savings Accounts" that would help students with up to $3,000 in tuition reimbursement for alternative forms of education such as private school or homeschooling, by-passing bill requirements and feedback.

During Noem's proposal, she said it wouldn't cut any funds from the public school system.

“Public schools are very important to our state’s educational future,” Noem said during the address. She then proposed a lower-than-inflation 1.25% increase in public education funding, and increases in mental health funding for children.

But at the same time, she wanted to acknowledge that up to 20% of South Dakota students wanted alternative forms of education.

“Good education starts in the home,” Noem said. “And parents should have the tools to choose what educational path is best for their kids.”

However, the same budget proposed cutting significant funding from South Dakota Public Broadcasting, the state library, public and social services, and dual credit for high school students, all areas that improve public education.

"A lot of pitfalls and unintended consequences," said board member Wyatt Compton when he discussed the Associated School Boards meeting that was held about the proposal last week. "And then the amount of oversight that it  should require, and what the state has for resources to support that."

"This idea of vouchers, or giving parents a chunk of money to pay for private education is old," replied Superintendent Guy Johnson, when asked if he had more information. "The earliest system that did this was in Milwaukee in the '90s, and they've got, obviously, tons and tons of data on whether this actually improves student outcomes or if it doesn't. And in the long run, the interesting part is, it doesn't- neither academic achievement nor attendance." 

Simply put, he continued, it dilutes resources for public schools and weakens the system, historically. Further, the initial amount was not going to serve very many students and would likely end up increasing in the future. He asked where would that money come from when the state does not believe in replacement funding.

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