Legislators kill South Dakota school voucher bill in House education committee
Eleven lawmakers in the House Education committee voted to kill a K-12 school voucher bill Wednesday morning, while four voted to rescue it.
The bill would have allowed parents to request vouchers in an amount equal to the lesser of the tuition payable for the child at an accredited non-public school in-state they wished to attend, or the per-student-equivalent, which a fiscal notice stated is $6,987 for fiscal year 2024.
Upon verification of a student’s enrollment, the South Dakota Department of Education would forward the amount of the voucher directly to the non-public school instead of to parents. If a student dropped out of a non-public school, the school would return the prorated portion of the voucher to the DOE.
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If it passed, the bill would’ve gone into effect July 1, and started with K-3 students in the 2023-2024 school year, K-7 students in the 2024-2025 school year and K-12 students in the 2025-2026 school year and each year thereafter.
According to a fiscal note from the Legislative Research Council, the first year would see as many as 3,323 students take part in the voucher program for a total of more than $12 million; 6,296 students in the second year at a total of more than $24 million; and, 9,648 students take part in the third year at a total of more than $45 million.
Proponents included bill sponsor Rep. Jon Hansen (R-Dell Rapids) and lobbyists from Yes Every Kid and Americans for Prosperity, who largely argued the bill expands school choice and freedom, that it’s constitutional and that school choice shouldn’t just be reserved for rich people who can afford private school tuition.
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Opponents included lobbyists from the Associated School Boards of South Dakota, the South Dakota United School Association, South Dakota Education Association, the large school group, the Bureau of Finance and Management and the Sioux Falls School District.
The opponents largely argued the bill erodes funding for public schools, which are experiencing a teacher shortage and historically low teacher pay; that there’s no accountability for the voucher money or program; that tax dollars shouldn’t be used “a la carte” and that private schools can discriminate or turn away students based on their religion, sexual orientation or disability status, for example, while public schools accept all students.
Similar legislation has passed in Iowa and Utah this year, for example. Only four legislators voted to try and save the legislation: Rep. Scott Odenbach (R-Spearfish), Rep. Bethany Soye (R-Sioux Falls), Rep. Phil Jensen (R-Rapid City) and Rep. Fred Deutsch (R-Florence).
Also in the House Education committee Wednesday morning, legislators tabled HB 1214, “to make an appropriation to address the rising number of teacher vacancies throughout the state,” and HB 1233, to “expand the provision of online education through the South Dakota Virtual School.”
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota House education committee kills K-12 school voucher bill
