South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard offered up his 2013 State of the State Address this afternoon with little mention of K-12 education; a change from a year ago when the Governor introduced the omnibus education reform plan, House Bill 1234, during that address.

 

“K-12 education flew under the radar during the Governor’s State of the State Address and that’s OK with us,” ASBSD Executive Director Wade Pogany said.

 

“We’ll move forward firmly focused on securing one-time monies and having a more in-depth discussion on finding a long-term funding source for our school districts.”

 

Daugaard spent the majority of this year’s address unveiling his criminal justice initiative, as well as revisiting the unsteady federal financial situation, which he discussed during December’s budget address, and trumpeting the fiscal status of South Dakota.

 

“Governor Daugaard alluded to ‘reinforcing the floor’ for South Dakota and a great way to ‘reinforce it’ would be to invest in a sound K-12 education system with a long term funding plan,” Pogany said. “The conversation for establishing that long-term plan needs to start during the 2013 session.”