Senate State Affairs took testimony but ultimately ran out of time Wednesday, opting to defer action on SB 117 until Friday.

Senate Minority Leader Scott Heidepriem, D-Sioux Falls, is prime sponsor of the Democratic-backed effort that would provide an additional $100 million in ongoing education funding.

In his introduction, Sen. Heidepriem referenced the adequacy study, calling it empriical evidence that schools are dramatically underfunded in the state. "This is a big idea," Sen. Heidepriem said of the legislation. "The time to invest in young minds in South Dakota is now."

After a brief introduction by Sen. Heidepriem, the committe heard testimony from several school administrators.

Chamberlain School District Superintendent Tim Mitchell, who spoke in a dual role as president of the School Administrators of South Dakota, offered support for the legislation because of the bill's ties to the adequacy study.

Gayville-Volin Superintendent Jason Selchert offered the committee a different perspective. Selchert told committee members that his district has had to make significant program cuts, even though Gayville-Volin has seen an increase in students.

ASBSD Executive Director Wayne Lueders also addressed the committee. Representing the Alliance for Education, Lueders offered support for the measure as a means to fund education based on the adequacy study recommendations.

Testimony and committee discussion is scheduled for Friday.

Senate State Affairs will take testimony on the Democratic education platfrom tomorrow morning, including SB 117, legislation that delivers $100 million in ongoing funding to public education over five years.

The other peg in the plan, SB 116, will set a mid-session deadline for the adoption of the Department of Education's budget, presumably giving education a greater focus.

The Republican-backed effort, which includes property tax reduction and a boost in health care support in addtion to more funding for local schools, was deferred earlier this week in House State Affairs.

Sometimes, ASBSD has to read every line of a bill to determine our position. With HB 1273, it took six words.

Rep. Hal Wick, R-Sioux Falls, introduced the 65% solution, titled the First Class Education for South Dakota Act. The bill mandates that 65% of all district expenditures have to flow to "classroom instructional expenditures."

ASBSD opposes the legislation.

This much debated national agenda item has been the subject of multitudes of criticism. Possibly the most impactful, though, was Standard and Poor's drubbing of the idea, which concluded that the 65% ratio would not positively impact student achievement.

Stay tuned for alerts and other communications related to this terrible piece of legislation.

An adequacy suit filed by an Indiana teacher's union was dismissed Monday on the grounds that it incorrectly identified the defendants.

The suit improperly names the governor and superintendent of public instruction as defendants, according to Judge Cale Bradford. The formula is determined by the General Assembly, Bradford said.

"A closer examination of plantiffs' claims seems to be, in reality, dissatisfaction with how the formula is weighted and implemented by the State Board of Education, not the formula itself," Bradford wrote in her decision.

An appeal is not planned at this time.

Senate Education dismissed a plan Tuesday to shift control of South Dakota's four tech schools to a newly created State Board of Technical Institutes, sending SB 95 to the 41^st Legislative Day on a 4-3 vote.

South Dakota Board of Regents Executive Director Tad Parry stepped up in opposition SB 95, contending that the South Dakota Constitution vests control of post secondary education to the Board of Regents.

Education Secretary Dr. Rick Melmer also testified in opposition to the bill. According to Dr. Melmer, the plan contained several positive elements, including a provision to establish regional representation areas and regional boards.

Dr. Melmer, however, stood against the plan on the grounds that it removes the Department of Education from an advisory role, giving input instead to the Department of Labor and the Department of Tourism and State Development.

While most of the committee favored a change in tech school governance, the committee wasn't convinced the structure outlined in SB 95 was the best plan. Upon deferral, committee members acknowledged that the issue, and possibly some elements of SB 95, will resurface.

Senate Education Chair Ed Olson, R-Mitchell, is the lead sponsor of another bill that gives the Board of Regents control over the tech schools.

In his introduction to the bill, lead sponsor Sen. Ken Albers, R-Canton, suggested that the proposed recall process "shouldn't be easy, but it should be possible."

The hurdle, according to Sen. Albers, is a petitioning process that requires signatures from five percent of the registered voters of the school district or 15 percent of the number of voters voting in the last preceding school district election.

During committee testimony, discussion focused on an existing recall provision for local government officials. SDCL 9-13-30, in fact, does provide for recall of city and county officials for "misconduct, malfeasance, nonfeasance, crimes in office, drunkenness, gross incompetency, corruption, theft, oppression or gross partiality."

The qualifying language on grounds for dismissal is the significant difference between recall law for municipalities and the changes proposed in SB 163. As written, the proposed measure does not contain and measures of justification for recall.

ASBSD will continue discussions on this bill to ensure the best possible outcomes for school board members. The measure will go before the full Senate today.

Gov. Mike Rounds repeated earlier criticims of growing fund balances during his weekly press briefing Friday, claiming districts are not allowing increases in state aid to flow to the classroom.

The governor's comments came as he told reporters that he intends to enlist South Dakota's teachers to support a teacher compensation assistance program (TCAP) proposed as a part of his FY08 budget.

Gov. Rounds recounted an experience earlier this summer where he spoke to teachers about the TCAP bill he offered last year. "When I shared with them that last year I had $3.5 million set aside and nobody from the education community would support the process, on tacher stood up and said, 'Well, did you e-mail us?'," the governor said.

"I exptected that the different associations and special interest groups would actually invite the participation of the classroom teacher," Rounds said. "I won't make that mistake again," he added.

This year, the Governor added, he's asking teachers to contact lawmakers. "I will go out and ask for classroom teachers to let legislators know that they think it's a good idea to get - some of the money anyway - that we're sending back to local institutions into the classroom rather than on the bottom lines like it is right now," Rounds said.

Gov. Rounds went on to say that the state has provided $29 million in state aid increases since 2003, while fund balances have increased more than $31 million.

If you're wondering whether Gov. Rounds mentioned the nearly $20 million in one-time money provided to school districts during the Rounds administration, the answer is no.

In fact, Governor Rounds didn't mention any of the other stories behind growing fund balances that ASBSD mentioned in our testimony on SB 69 on Thursday, including the fluctuations in funds received from School and Public Lands and the sudden influx of $10 million in medicaid service reimbursements.

Oh, and the Governor also didn't mention that school district reserves have decreased more than 20 percent since 1998, while state reserves have grown 220 percent.

President Bush's state of the union address acted as a launchpad for the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, which the administration wants to accomplish this year.

U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings detailed the specifics of the Bush Administration's reforms later in the week in a 20-page report, titled Building on Results: A Blueprint for Strengthening the No Child Left Behind Act.

A CNN story details some of the more suprising suggestions, including federal legislation that would allow school officials to override collective bargaining agreements to place teachers in struggling schools and remove poor-performing instructors.

There's also expanded opportunities for choice, including a measure to allow a federal rule to override state limitations on the amount of charter schools allowed by state laws. An expanded school voucher plan will also draw criticism.

Several portions of the plan, however, draw unanimous support. Flexibility in assessments and for the way federal funds are used are among the universally accepted changes.

As we're getting down to business in Pierre, the ASBSD Bill Tracker is officially up and running.

ASBSD has rolled in bills currently filed, as well as updated the progress of bills already moving throughout the system. Vote records, testimony links, ASBSD positions - it's all ready for our members to sift through for your legislative pleasure.

And because we realize you might need a little help getting adjusted to the new system, we've even built and instruction page to guide you along - just click the "Using the ASBSD Bill Tracker" link at the top of the tracker window.

So, by all means, track, sort and print your way to legislative bliss, compliments of your school board association.

The Senate Education Committee devoted nearly all of its time Thursday to the "omnibus" education reform bill, taking testimony from one proponent and a host of opponents before deferring action on the measure for another week.

In his 30-minute introduction of SB 69, Senate Education Chair Ed Olson, R-Mitchell, couched the bill as a product of held by the State Aid Study Task Force.

"The conversations were extremely candid," said Olson of task force deliberations. "If these issues were easy, I think they would have been done 20 years ago," he said.

After walking through the various portions of the bill, Senate Education Vice-Chair Dave Knudson, R-Sioux Falls, invited opponent testimony.

Using ASBSD's standing positions and resultions as a foundation, ASBSD Chief Financial Officer delivered a lenghty testimony spanning the entire bill, opposing portions of the bill, supporting others, and asking the committee to further examine other parts (read ASBSD's testimony).

All five opponents seemed to find common ground on the less favorable parts of the bill, often times agreeing with ASBSD's testimony before offering brief comments of their own.

Lynch encouraged the committee ro support an increase in consolidation incentives, enacting changes to ease the financial burden of decreasing enrollments and supporting flexiblity for districts going through consolidation to transfer capital outlay surplusses to the general fund.

"We appreciate the attention paid to these subjects, and we hope the committee considers enacting these provisions into law."

Lynch then moved on to areas of opposition, including forced consolidation, changes to distribution and value of the small school factor and the equalization of other revenue.

Sen. Olson offered commentary on mandatory consolidation, first saying that the consensus of the task force was to establish a minimum size for a district, then stating his personal views that "Forced consolidation needs to be discussed. It's so divisive an an issue, it would break this state apart."

ASBSD offered oppostion to changes proposed to the small school factor, including taking the additional funding away from districts with enrollment below 200 and locking in the value of the small school factor to 2006 levels.

"While the price tag for this additonal funding is merely a blip in the state's budget, it goes a long way to provide additional resources that districts need to provide children in smaller communities with a quality educaiton," Lynch told the committee.

ASBSD also opposed changes in other revenue, questioning whether the state should set policy that creates more losers than winners. According to handouts developed by ASBSD, 106 schools would lose funds as a result of the reallocation of other revenue, while only 59 benefit.

Sen. Dave Knudson often probed opponents on whether they believed the current distribution of other revenue is fair to all districts. Knudson cited figures that nearly 80 percent of the student population would benefit from the legislation.

Irene-Wakonda Superintent Larry Johnke responded to Knudson by pointing out that gross receipts tax, which constitutes a large amount of other revenue in most districts, is paid to districts instead of property tax.

Johnke also pointed out that other revenues isn't the only disparity among districts, suggesting some districts, like Sioux Falls, have little trouble constructing facilities.

Before closing committee discussion, Sen. Dave Knudson rattled off a laundry list of data requests to Department of Education officals that he suggests the committee reviews prior to the next committee meeting.

On the same day the Senate Education Committee considered a bill that mandates consolidation for districts under 200, House Education heard conclusive testimony that forcing consolidation is damaging to small school districts and the school districts they serve.

House Education used HB 1036, a bill that appropriates funds for consolidation incentives, as an opportunity to shed light on the complexities of school district reorganization. For more than an hour, a panel of four superintendents from consolidated districts fielded questions fielded questions from the committee.

Rep. Ryan Olson, R-Onida, asked the superintendents whether consolidation talks are driven by shrinking budgets or by the desire to expand student opportunities.

"You probably can't take those two completely apart," said Larry Johnke, superintendent of the Irene and Wakonda school districts, which will officially combine July 1, 2007. "I think every board wants to do what's best for the students. They want to provide the best education possible."

House Education Chair Phyllis Heineman, R-Sioux Falls, was curious about the school-community relationship in consolidation discussions. "How do communities know when it's time to consolidate?" she asked the superintendents.

"It's the things that parents see," said Britton-Hecla superintendent Donald Kirkegaard, listing things a growing number of distance courses offered as an indicator. "The kids know, the parents know. Those are our communities."

Senate Education's early-morning discussion on mandatory consolidation sprawled into testimony, with superintendents steadfastly supporting a community-based decision rather than pressure from the state.

Rep. Hal Wick, R-Sioux Falls, also came out against mandatory consolidation. "It's not something people are going to accept if you shove it down their throat," Wick said. "It's one of the toughest things in the world to watch what has been yours your whole life slowly disintegrate into nothing."

Senate Education will start hearing testimony today on SB 69, the omnibus education funding reform bill that suggests several dramatic shifts in the way schools are funded in South Dakota.

"My intention is not to move this bill today," said Senate Education Chair Ed Olson, R-Mitchell. "Instead, I want to take ample testimony."

"Ample" is certainly one way to describe ASBSD's eight-page planned dialogue with Senate Education, which addresses several concerns we've raised previously in our Issue Brief on the topic.

Check back with Open Forum for more from the testimony on SB 69.

A bill filed Wednesday will force legislators to make education an early session priority rather than a last minute exchange of compromises.

SB 116 separates the Department of Education's budget from the general appropriations bill and places a mid-session deadline for the legislature to approve the budget. If the legislation passes, DOE's budget must be approved by the 27th Legislative Day in 40-day sessions or by the 22nd Legislative Day in 35-day sessions.

The bill, which only has Democratic sponsors, should make for interesting theater during Friday morning's Senate State Affairs Committee.

A Democratic plan uses some old tricks with new twists to deliver more than $100 million in ongoing funds to K-12 education by 2013.

The bill, which uses a similar funding mechanism to last year's SB 120, has been filed as SB 117.

The legislation self-funds by using a combination of revenue sources, including: the $95 million held in the property tax reduction fund; interest income from the education enhancement trust fund; and reversions from state revenue over a cap on the growth of state government.

The test will come quickly for SB 117. Rather than being referred to Senate Education, it's slated for Senate State Affairs, a committee made up agenda-focused leadership from both parties.

Metaphorically speaking, being calendared for state affairs is the political equivalent of getting called into the principal's office.

No matter what happens, this legislation, like last year's effort, makes a powerful statement about the state's ability to adequately fund education - the hurlde has never been a lack of resources; the hurdle has been a lack of creative thinking, priorities and political will.

It was a slow day in Pierre today, with the legislators focusing more on filing bills than tackling legislation.

So rather than posting, ASBSD has been putting the final touches on our new bill tracker, which is set to launch either Thursday or Friday of this week.

We've really beefed up this portion of ASBSD.org. Not only do we filter the bills down to those that impact education, we've made it easier for you to follow them throughout the process.

In addition to some advanced sorting features, you'll know which bills ASBSD is supporting, opposing or just keeping an eye on. You'll be able to access ASBSD testimony right from the bill tracker, so you can see how ASBSD is representing our members on the hill.

Finally, you'll be able to see how the legislators voted every step of the way - in committee and on the floor. And, because we're tracking votes, districts will eventually be able to print a district-specific legislative report that shows how your legislators voted on all the bills we've tracked.

We're excited about the expanded capabilities, and we hope our members with find them useful, insightful and empowering.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Mark your calendars for Feb. 14, 2007, and plan to attend ASBSD's annual Legislative Day. ASBSD moved the advocacy effort later in session this year, to allow some time for education issues to take shape, making our efforts more effective.

ASBSD will present information on key bills moving through the process, as well as deliver board members the tools and tactics they need to advocate for public education.

With one week left before the deadline to introduce bills, the list of education-related bills is growing slowly.

After Gov. Rounds cut education service agencies almost entirely out of his budget, HB 1146 puts the ESA concept into law. The bill also makes an appropriation of $1.7 million, which would ensure ESA's could continue to provide services for the upcoming year.

The legislature will aslo take another shot at trying to provide a way to help districts build facilities. HB 1141 creates a "Facility Equity Fund" and an application process to access the fund.

A five-member oversight board will decide whether districts truly need a building, basing their judgement on conditions such as "If the plan to add or replace the academic building is adequate to meet the district's needs, but not excessive based on enrollment projections."

Currently, there's question of whether a school board would need a majority vote of those elect to govern - and, if so, how a board might operate in lieu of conflicts of interests. ASBSD solicited sponsors for and then filed SB 101, a law that will make it clear that school boards can establish their own policy to ensure the district can continue to govern.

A bill designed to rid South Dakota from the ill effects of the 150 percent rule folds in restrictions on the amount of capital outlay revenue districts can generate, ASBSD's initial analysis of the proposed legislation reveals.

At the heart of the bill, which has yet to be filed (download a copy), is a shift to using cash-rent value, also known as income value, to asses agricultural land.

The impact of the shift (illustrated here), causes swings ranging from a 66 percent increase in taxable valuations to a 35 percent decrease.

Recognizing that a decrease in taxable values may lead to a reduction in the amount of capital outlay funds available, the bill removes the 3-mil maximum levy currently established by law.

Instead, the proposed legislation dictates that "the total amount of revenue payable from the levy provided ... may not increase more than the lesser of three percent or the index factor ... over the maximum amount of revenue that could have been generated for taxes payable in 2008."

So, if a district resides in a county or counties where valuations fall as a result of the legislation, a district would have a one-year window to raise levies to make up for lost revenue - even if the levy is over the current 3-mil maximum.

Starting in 2010, however, a proposed cap that restricts growth in capital outlay revenues to 3 percent or the index factor, whichever is less. The cap is needed, legislators said during an explanation of the bill, to protect tax payers in counties where land values increase dramatically.

The assumption, it seems, is that districts will insist on taxing the maximum, rather than the amount districts need for capital projects.

That assumption, however, runs counter to actual practice. Currently, South Dakota school districts levy an average of 2 mils, leaving more than 22 million in potential revenues in tax payers' pockets.

ASBSD opposes the cap on the amount of capital outlay revenues can raise. Doing so diminishes a district's ability to respond in the short term and plan in the long term, said ASBSD Chief Financial Officer Bill Lynch.

Lynch also says the cap isn't needed.

"School boards are very sensitive to members of their community, and to the tax levels in their districts," Lynch said. "They've proven that by levying a full mil lower, on average, than what is allowed by law."

Senate committees approved funding for districts in sparsely populated areas and rebuffed a measure that would have revised distribution of the bank franchise tax.

Senate Appropriations passed SB 30, legislation that appropriates funds to fulfil the state's commitment to sparse districts, and SB 31, a $2.2 million appropriation to fund sparsity for 2007-08. Both bills were approved unanimously.

Over in Senate Taxation, the committee killed SB 40, a bill that would have revised the distribution of the bank franchise, creating a shortfall for local governments. The committee recommended "do pass "on a unanimous vote last week, only to discover problems with the bill. The Senate sent the bill back to committee, where it was deferred to the 41st legislative day.

Gov. Rounds took issue with a plan to raise the staturory state aid increase and sounded off on the status of teacher pay during his weekly press conference Friday.

Business and education leaders from across South Dakota have offered support for a plan to revise the index factor used to calculate increases in state aid. The measure would set the minimum index factor at 4.3 percent, with an optional half percent added if a district implements a targeted teacher salary enhancement initiative.

Gov. Rounds said he believes the concept is "inherently wrong" because it places education's needs ahead of other areas of the state budget. "Reasonable people wouldn't expect that to happen," the governor said.

When the subject of teacher salaries came up, Gov. Rounds expanded upon the merits of the $4 million teacher compensation assistance program he proposed in this year's budget. Additional compensation, he said, should be tied to goals the district expects to meet.

Gov. Rounds said that districts can expect to see more dollars flow in on a consistent and ongoing basis "once we've proven that we really do have some very good teachers that are out there, and we have some people that really do care about our kids, and that they are capable of laying in and designing good goals and objectives."

Republican and Democratic leaders have announced vastly different plans to boost funding flowing to local schools - as it stands, the two parties are $91 million apart.

With both bills expected to start in the Senate, Democratic gains in the upper chamber - Dems picked up 5 seats last November - could inspire a healthy debate on the amount of additional funding schools should receive.

While Republicans remain in the majority, they no longer carry the super majority required to pass bills with funding attached. Legislative procedure dictates that legislation carrying an appropriation needs a two-thirds vote, the equivalent of 24 members voting in favor.

Whether or not that means some sort of middle ground will surface is anyone's guess. The debate has changed over the past two years, though. As one long-time lobbyist recently confessed to Open Forum, "It used to be a fight to get any additional money. At least now we're arguing over how much more education will receive."

House Education finalized amendments on three department-sponsored bills Thursday before sending each to the House floor on unanimous votes.

House Ed stalled action Tuesday on a bill that imposes sanctions on districts and school staff if the integrity of state standardized tests are compromised. The committee amended HB 1033 to mitigate concerns of the education lobby, adding in provisions to further clarify the definition of cheating, broaden the definition from teacher to certified personnel, and add in a process to appeal decisions of the secretary of education to the state board.

House Education also amended HB 1037 to repeal SDCL 13-43-3, a statute that requires school districts to keep health certification on file for each employee that makes regular contact with students. Repeal of the law gives school districts the authority to enact local policy regarding the issue.

The committee also acted on HB 1034, a bill that codifies the requirement that school districts submit data to the Department of Education by October 15. House Ed amended the bill to give rule making authority to the state board to define what data must be submitted.

After a partisan back-and-forth in Senate Education Thursday morning, the committee recommended the repeal of $6.5 million in funding that was sent to local schools last year.

ASBSD Executive Director Wayne Lueders testified in opposition to SB 67 Tuesday morning, questioning whether the original intent of the legislation was to deliver one-time money. After Lueders' testimony, the committee discovered that the language had actually been codifed - a fact Republican lawmakers dismissed as an oversight by the code commission.

Senate Education Chair Ed Olson, R-Mitchell, argued for the repeal, saying it was common knowledge that the money was intended to be a one-time appropriation.

To prove his point, and to take advantage of an opportunity to recognize ASBSD's role in stalling earlier action on the bill, Sen. Olson read a snippet from the March 2006 ASBSD Bulletin, which identified the the $6.5 million in one-time money.

Democratic members of the committee, however, retraced testimony and public comments that suggested intent was to build on this funding, not replace it.

Sen. Ben Nesselhuf, D-Vermillion, raised concerns about repealing the law without having a solid plan to replace the funds. The committee, he argued, could very easily hold action on the bill until measures to build the funding back, and expand upon it, have worked through the process.

Along with testimony on the bill came a very frank discussion about appropriating one-time money to school districts.

"One-time monies don't work at all," said Senate Majority Leader Dave Knudson, R-Sioux Falls. "[School districts] logically, automaticaly end up incrasing general fund balances, which is then used to punish the K-12 system."

The bill passed out of committee on a party line vote, 4-3.

Democratic leaders in the both the Senate and House announced plans today to adequately fund education in South Dakota by providing a $100 million boost to local schools over a five year period.

Dems pegged the one-year anniversary of the release of South Dakota's adequacy study to announce their plan, saying the "state's response to the adequacy study has been inadequate."

In a joint press conference, Senate Minority Leader Scott Heidempiem, D-Sioux Falls, and House Minority Leader Dale Hargens, D-Miller, emphasized that additional funding is an investment in South Dakota's future.

"This administration is content to invest in treasury notes and mutual funds," Heidepriem said. "We believe in diversifying our portfolio to include treasury notes, mutual funds and our children."

The funding package includes several key components of last year's SB 120, a bill drafted and supported by the South Dakota Alliance for Education.

Like SB 120, the proposed legislation would limit growth in state government, directing funds over inflation toward education. Medicaid expenses are exempted from growth limitations.

The 2007 version uses a combination of the property tax reduction fund and interest earnings from the education enhancement and state cement trust funds to cover costs over the five years.

"This can be accomplished without raising taxes or touching our trust account principal," Hargens said. He went on to justify using reserves to fund the bill, saying "We don't tax people to build up trust funds."

Legislation is still being drafted. Open Forum will have more details as they become available.

Democratic leaders are expected to announce their school funding proposal today.

Rumors from the Statehouse suggest that the plan will involve a reworked version of SB 120 from last session, delivering more than $100 million in ongoing funds to public education.

The press conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. Open Forum will have more as soon as the details are available.

Senate Majority Leader Dave Knudson, R-Sioux Falls, will introduce legislation this week to increase the annual statutory boost in the per student allocation.

The plan is backed by the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce, and was developed in tandem with the Sioux Falls School District. Supporters carried the idea around the state over the past two weeks, gaining support from business leaders and education officials.

The plan has two steps.

The first - termed maintaining quality - raises the annual index to 4.3 percent or the CPI, whichever is greater. When state revenues grow at less than 4.3 percent, the annual increase in the per student allocation will mirror growth in state revenue.

The second step - termed valuing quality - gives local districts the option to access and additional half percent each year to target towards increasing salaries for top-performing teachers.

House Education only acted on one of the four bills slated for discussion day and postponed action on three other bills pending adjustments and amendments. All four bills were suggested by the Department of Education.

House Education unanimously passed HB 1035, a bill that gives the state flexibility regarding the years that state requires schools to give the state writing assessment. Wade Pogany, Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the South Dakota Department of Education, spoke on behalf of the bill.

Pogany explained that the department may expand the writing assessment to include testing students at the elementary, middle and high school levels, rather than just at the 5th and 9th grade level. A change in the statute granted the department flexibility, and House Education recommended do pass on a 15-0 vote.

In their consideration of HB 1034, a bill that sets a deadline for districts to submit data to the state, members of House Education wanted to make sure that the law wouldn't require districts to submit confidential information. Action was deferred until Thursday, Jan. 18.

The committee also deferred HB 1037, a revision to current statute that would give districts flexibility on whether or not a district would require health certification from district employees. Committee members voiced their support for giving local districts the option, but action stalled trying to determine the best way to handle the issue. House Education will revisit the bill on Thursday.

The committee also postponed action on HB 1033, which Open Forum covered separately.

Legislation aimed at imposing sanctions for cheating on state standardized tests was postponed Tuesday after several opponents raised questions about the definition of cheating, the severity of the sanctions and the process for imposing those sanctions.

"Everyone agrees with the intent," said House Education Chair Phyllis Heineman, R-Sioux Falls, before postponing action until the committee can resolve lingering questions with the bill.

According to the language of HB 1033, if a school district suspects cheating has taken place, a district must investigate and file a report with the Department of Education. If the Secretary of Education determines cheating did occur, and that the cheating was "severe enough to affect the results of the achievement test," the Secretary is empowered to throw out the test results, causing the district to fail to make adequate yearly progress. The Secretary can also revoke the certificate of the offending teacher.

Dick Tieszen, representing the Sioux Falls School District, was the first to offer opponent testimony.

After saying that there was an underdeveloped definition of cheating, Tieszen took aim at the sanctions imposed by the bill. The bill would "deprive all of those students of those test scores, and to deprive the entire school of its adequate yearly progress," Tieszen said. "The consequences are a bit like capital punishment for a misdemeanor."

ASBSD Executive Director Wayne Lueders also lined up as an opponent, echoing Tieszen's comments and adding an additional concern regarding the process the Department of Education would use to impose sanctions. "We would like to see rules promulgated in that area, so we could understand how that process would take place." Lueders said.

In their testimony on behalf of the bill, the Department of Education cited South Dakota examples of test tampering. Melody Schopp, director of the Office of Accreditation and Teacher Quality, said the growing importance of high-stakes testing warrants the legislation, which is already in place in several other states.

Senate Education delayed a decision on SB 67 Tuesday morning, stalling the repeal of $6.5 million that the Legislature passed last year.

The additional money, which came outside the funding formula, was earmarked for districts currently meeting adequate yearly progress. If a district didn't make AYP, the district could apply for the funds.

During the committee hearing, ASBSD Executive Director Wayne Lueders spoke up in opposition to the bill. Citing that the bill was a part of the permanent code, Lueders pointed out that removing the funding amounted to a $6.5 million cut to local schools.

The question stalled committe action, and Senate Ed delayed action on the bill on a 4-2 vote.

The bill comes on the heals of a republican-backed plan to provide an additional $9 million to schools in each of the next five years. The plan, which was touted as a $45 million dollar plan, actually delivers $9 million in annual, ongoing funds.

Should SB 67 pass, the value of that plan dwindles to a $2.5 million increase over what the Legislature has already committed.

The United Teachers of Dade filed suit in Florida state court challenging the nation's first statewide performance pay program for public education.

Claiming the $147 million program would cause teachers to be evaluated differently depending on whether they were involved in subjects related to standardized exams, the union representing the nation's fourth largest school district aim to challenge th constitutionality of performance pay.

Under Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida has been a battle ground for landmark public education litigation. Last year, the Florida Supreme Court struck down the nation's first state voucher system saying it ran contrary to the Florida constitution.

Read more from CNN.

After several legislators asked for an explanation of the relationship between state and federal dollars, Joint Appropriations Chair Jim Putnam asked the department to prepare a breakout of unfunded mandates from the federal level.

"If you asked the federal government if there were unfunded mandates, they would say there wasn't," replied Education Secretary Dr. Rick Melmer. "If you ask the states, they would say there was."

As an example, Dr. Melmer indicated that funding made available to develop and carry out state assessments was enough in the beginning, but has fallen short since.

For more on the Department of Education budget hearing, check back with Open Forum.

Open Forum continues to follow a developing story surrounding a Republican plan to boost state aid to schools.

According to the Argus Leader, the three-tiered plan to spend tobacco tax money will deliver additional school aid outside the formula and increase the state's share of money flowing to local schools.

According to a Republican Party news release, the plan includes:

Republican leadership stood before the steps of the Capitol today to announce a $45 million dollar, five-year plan to boost school aid. The details of any proposed legislation are forthcoming.

According to the Associated Press, the "$45 million would be used to give extra aid to school districts, and that money would be targeted to raise teachers' salaries and to improve school efficiencies and opportunities."

Check back with Open Forum for further details.

South Dakota is making progress on Gov. Rounds 2010 Education Initiative, members of the Department of Education told House Education Thursday morning.

Education Secretary Dr. Rick Melmer invited key staff to brief the committee on improvements made since the initiative was launched prior to last legislative session.

Keith Moore, director of the Office of Indian Education, talked about laying new foundations in South Dakota through the Indian Education Act, which he labled as an essential first step in closing the gap between Native American students and their peers.

As reported by the Argus Leader, Moore noted that cooperation would be critical to overcome the challenges South Dakota's Native American students face.

During the two-hour testimony, members of House Education heard how South Dakota is benefitting from new initiatives in several areas, including: making high school more relevant and challenging; preparing students for college; improving teacher retention; making quality preschool programs available; and modifying the school finance formula.

While most changes were considered minor, ASBSD Executive Director Wayne Lueders did raise a question on one bill - SB 28, a piece of legislation that revises the maximum mileage reimbursement given to special education students.

The bill removes language relating to a maximum reimbursement that can be given without board approval, which is currently set at $1950. The bill places budgetary authority for special education transportation costs in the hands of the individualized education plan team.

"We're removing the board from the process," Lueders told the committee. "The board needs, and is obligated by statute, to approve expenditures, and somehow this should come back to the board."

Melody Schopp, director of the Office of Accreditation and Teacher quality for the South Dakota Department of Education, was the lead proponent of SB 28, saying the bill cleans up state law that is in conflict with federal IDEA law.

Committee discussions questioned whether the board's role was being usurped. Under current federal law, board approval is secondary to the decisions of the IEP team.

Senate Ed recommended do pass on a 7-0 vote, but left SB 28 off the consent calendar in case an amendment needed to be offered.

SB 34, an act that revises the definition of an enrolled student, was offered as a follow-up to a law passed last year that said students over the age of 21 could not be counted as an enrolled student.

Education Secretary Dr. Rick Melmer testified for the bill, saying that the emerging virtual high school will open opportunities to adults. Those adults, Melmer said, shouldn't be denied an education.

The committee agreed with Dr. Melmer, recommending do pass on SB 34.

The rest of the bills slid by with little discussion. The committee recommended do pass on the following measures:

• SB 26 - Repeals provisions regarding the Advanced Reading Enhancement Program.
• SB 27 - Repeals provisions regarding the Office of Educational Technology.
• SB 29 - Repeals the requirement to report the names of students who are deaf, blind or visually impaired.
• SB 32 - Revises some provisions regarding the distribution of funds to sparse school districts.
• SB 33 - Makes clean-up changes to kindgergarten enrollment requirements and repeals the nursery school age requirement.

The Aberdeen American News has the scoop on a school funding proposal spearheaded by the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce that could deliver an additional $10 million to local schools.

After sitting through a presentation on the proposal last week, the Aberdeen school board is asking the Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce to support the plan.

The initiative, which is expected to be introduced as legislation, sets the minimum yearly state aid increase at 4.3 percent or the CPI, whichever is greater. Currently schools receive 3 percent or the CPI, whichever is less.

The plan's second component involves adding an additional .5 percent in annual incentive for districts to enhance teacher pay based on performance. The second component is an optional program, giving the local district a choice to participate in the pay-for-performance programs.

President Bush met with congressional leaders Tuesday to discuss the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind.

According to CNN, the Bush Administration is willing to address some of the major design flaws of the law was noncommittal when asked whether he would fully fund his signature education initiative.

'Democrats, who won control of Congress in November, say the administration and Republican lawmakers have underfunded the law by about $50 billion, compared to what was originally called for. Republicans say it is common practice for legislation to be funded at less than the full level.'

The National School Board Association has seperate initiatives to improve NCLB and to fully fund the committment to America's schoolchildren.

The Spearfish community said thanks to school board members Monday during a ceremony to celebrate South Dakota's first ever School Board Recogntion Week.

According to the Black Hills Pioneer, school board members were presented with hand-made cards, framed poems and recognition certificates.

How did your district celebrate school board recognition week? Drop ASBSD Director of Communications Brian Aust an e-mail at baust@asbsd.org.

With the final State Aid Study Task Force report in hand, legislators serving on the task force have drafted a 21-page bill intended to enact significant changes to South Dakota's school finance system.

The legislation - filed seperately in each chamber as SB 69 and HB 1082 - contains more than 40 sections of additions, deletions and modifications to current law.

The bill's most contraversial contingent -a provision to require consolidation in districts with enrollments below 200 - has already drawn criticism from Gov. Rounds and Senate Education Chair Ed Olson, R-Mitchell.

In Wednesday's Pierre Capitol Journal, Gov. Rounds questioned setting an arbitrary minimum school sized and Sen. Olson indicated that he already has an amendment ready to remove the portions that force consolidation.

ASBSD has prepared a two-page issue brief detailing provisions of the bill. Access the issue brief from ASBSD.org's Key Documents page.

Welcome to ASBSD's newest news vehicle, Open Forum. We'll use Open Forum to deliver daily news and information surrounding education issues - and we've launched the new "blog" just in time for legislative session. We'll update Open Forum as news happens, so check back frequently.

You'll notice each news entry is entered into a category to help give some order to the system. In the future, you'll be able to search by category and by date - making Open Forum an easily searchable archive of education news.

Open Forum is also interactive. Suggest a story by clicking on the link at the top of the page, or register and add a comment to further the discussion.

Enjoy ASBSD's newest communication vehicle! Direct any questions or comments to ASBSD Director of Communications Brian Aust at baust@asbsd.org.