By PIERRE — Lawmakers are tired of hearing that South Dakota has some of the lowest teacher salaries in the nation.
And what’s more, they want to make sure annual raises intended for teachers are actually reaching their wallets.
That’s why the House overwhelmingly passed House Bill 1048, which would put into place a minimum teacher salary of $45,000 a year — a raise of a few thousand dollars compared to the average teacher salary in the state right now, which is consistently bottom-five in the nation. After that, districts would be required to keep teacher raises in step with what state government allocates during the annual legislative session.
Schools would have until 2026 to implement minimum salaries for teachers
School districts and boards would have until the 2026 school year to implement the new minimum salaries. After that, failure to keep raises current could result in a penalty from the state of $500 for each teacher under the minimum salary, and potential accreditation review by the Department of Education.
“We want to meet the expectations of what we set out in our budget,” said Speaker Pro Tempore Mike Stevens. “This deals with total compensation that goes up each year that goes up based on what we are setting out as a Legislature.”
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Districts unable to meet that standard — due to declining enrollment or any other number of factors — would be able to apply for a waiver with the School Finance Accountability Board, a state commission under the jurisdiction of the state’s Department of Education.
And though the bill saw no opposition in its committee hearing, that wasn’t the case on the floor Tuesday.
“I’ve talked to every school district and superintendent in my district, and they all oppose this bill,” Rep. Kevin Jensen said, a former school board member. “Not because of the accountability part, they like the accountability… This bill is not in a good enough form.”
But a sense of urgency over recruiting teachers — there are currently about 300 positions open — won the day. Lawmakers pointed out that a failure to act could mean losing out on potential teachers, as South Dakota seeks to compete against other states in the region currently offering more pay to educators.
“We have kicked this down the road to today,” said Rep. Kristin Conzet, referencing the Legislature’s 2016 efforts to shore up teacher pay with a half-penny increase in the state sales tax. “This puts accountability into place, this puts teeth into what was supposed to be taken care of in our all out battle several years ago.”