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SDPB Radio Coverage of the South Dakota Legislature. See all coverage and find links to audio and video streams live from the Capitol at www.sdpb.org/statehouse

Education Committee: Contracts Continue

By Victoria Wicks
A bill to allow school boards to opt out of continuing contracts with teachers was killed in the Senate Education Committee on Thursday.
The bill was sponsored by Senator Al Novstrup, who says he supports local control. He told commissioners that local school boards are the employers and therefore closer to the hiring situation, and so it should be up to them whether to enter into continuing contracts.
Senator Deb Soholt opposed the bill. She says last year, when the state was pushing for comprehensive reforms in education, she heard over and over that the state, the legislature, and the governor do not support teachers.
“You know, we don’t have a lot to offer them. And we look at where we’re at in budget, where we’re at in salary dollars, they have a very difficult job to do,” Soholt says. “When I look at the requirements, when we look at the educational goals that we have and the kind of expectations, and how our teachers are rising up and introducing new modalities, taking care of kids that are troubled and having difficulty with support from their families, you are asking them to do a lot.”
SDEA’s Sandra Waltman spoke against the bill, saying school boards already have a process to fire teachers even after their probationary period. And she says continuing contracts, requiring cause before firing, help to guard against sexism, racism, and nepotism in hiring and firing practices.