South Dakota doesn’t need to establish a goal to guide education funding decisions, members of the House State Affairs Committee said Monday.

The decision came following public testimony on HB 1110, a bill that requires the state to work toward elevating public school funding to the surrounding state average. Rep. Bernie Hunhoff, D-Yankton, pitched the plan as a way for legislators to make sure the state’s education system can compete with neighboring states. The goal wouldn’t be binding, Rep. Hunhoff said, but it would give something the state “to shoot for.”

Tami Darnall, a representative from the South Dakota Department of Education, testified in opposition to the bill. She called the plan “unrealistic” and estimated the bill would cost the state more than $200 million. She told lawmakers that it’s important to set goals, but suggested that legislators should focus on setting goals for student achievement, not education funding. 

“More funding has not been proven to come out in student achievement,” Darnall said, pointing out that South Dakota outperforms other states that provide less funding for public schools.

Rep. Chuck Turbiville, R-Spearfish, voted to kill the measure. He said lawmakers set a goal each session to provide schools with as much as the state can afford.

The measure failed on a 9-2 vote.