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PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Several Republican state lawmakers are pushing for a special legislative session to address education funding and the teacher shortage in South Dakota, but GOP leaders say it's unlikely to happen.
Rep. Elizabeth May, who is among six legislators who called for the special session Thursday, said she plans to send letters on Monday asking other state lawmakers if they want the session. The Republican from Kyle has criticized a task force of lawmakers and others that has been studying South Dakota's education funding because it has excluded discussion of the costs o f the state's adoption of the Common Core educational standards.
Rep. Brian Gosch and Sen. Corey Brown, the Republican legislative leaders, said it's unlikely there would be enough support to call a special session. A spokeswoman for Gov. Dennis Daugaard said in an email that there's no consensus around a policy proposal that would typically lead to a special session.
May said that all costs associated with education funding should be considered. That includes the price tag of Common Core, which she said should be accounted for in the "crisis of the funding situation that we are facing in the state of South Dakota."
The math and English standards were devised by the National Governors Association and chief education officers from states. The goal is to raise expectations and to ensure that students nationwide are learning skills in the same grades.
Daugaard and Republican legislative leaders in February announced the creation of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Teachers and Students amid calls to boost teacher pay. It is tasked with ensuring that South Dakota maintains a high level of student achievement and teaching excellence and with coming up with a funding system to support them both.
"We are also not talking about standards, curriculum, Common Core. They're very important subjects in relationship to our kids, but they are not within the scope of this task force," Sen. Deb Soholt, a co-chair of the group, said at a recent meeting. "So we are primarily looking at: How are we going to meaningfully fund education for our kids and for our communities moving forward, building up what's happened in the past?"
May said the lawmakers will allow 15 days for the special session letters to be returned. Any that are not returned in that time will be counted as a "no" vote and the results will be posted online, she said.
The governor can order a special session, but May said if two-thirds of legislators agree, they can approve one themselves. She said the task force shouldn't "pick and choose" parts of what it examines.
"I'm not calling for the end of Common Core," May said. "But I also am not going to allow them to ignore the fact that there is an expense involved in all of that."
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