A bill has been submitted to establish education savings accounts to help South Dakota students to attend private schools via taxpayer money.
Some say it opens doors for students, others say it’s a bad alternative to fully funded public schools.
The program was initially announced in Gov. Kristi Noem’s budget address, but many in the state education lobby say it’s another attempt to establish a private school voucher program.
There are two sides to each argument, though. Mary Jo Fairhead runs Onward Learning in Martin, a private microschool. She said while financially the bill would make little difference, it could make a significant difference for families.
"Currently we have to charge a tuition," Fairhead said. "We’re in a really low-income area so that’s not always feasible for a lot of families, so it would really help some of those families. We have a 12-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio. Just a smaller environment all around, where each child has a learning plan based upon their interests, their strengths, areas they need to work on.”
Fairhead says that can benefit families with particularly gifted children seeking a higher challenge or families navigating developmental disability, or those seeking a parochial education.
However, in a budget crunch, many in the education lobby say this is not a wise moment to invest in a program like this. Heath Larson is the executive director of the state Associated School Boards.
“We totally understand and respect school choice and the parent choosing whatever choice it happens to be, but we’ve all heard about the lean budget," Larson said. "Sales tax collections are down, we don’t have the COVID money anymore – we have a difficult enough time funding our K-12 public system. I don’t think anyone here on this call understands how we could afford two systems.”
The bill, House Bill 1020, is one of many set to be heard this session which begins Jan. 14.