A key piece of the proposal package to improve teacher pay and public education funding in South Dakota found near unanimous favor in the legislature and was signed into law by Gov. Dennis Daugaard.

 

Senate Bill 133, which would appropriate $5 million to a variety of programs that would assist school districts in sharing services, offering online classes and assisting their teachers, passed the House unanimously and faced just one no vote in the Senate before the governor made it law.

 

The bill would provide $1 million for districts to apply for technology improvement grants, $1.6 million in funding for districts to utilize shared services, $1 million in increased funding to Northern State University’s e-Learning program in order to expand course offerings, $1.25 million in funding for a teacher mentoring program and $150,000 in funding for national board certification for teachers.

 

The bill will also streamline teacher certification reciprocity.

 

“This is the most important part of a complex effort,” Rep. Cronin said. “This will be the shining beacon of the reform to education.”

 

SB 133 was signed in conjunction with Senate Bill 131, which provided the funding formula for public schools, and House Bill 1182, which increased the state’s sales tax by a half cent.