The School lawsuit might be dead in the water.
Judge Wilbur ruled that schools are out of line for using taxpayer dollars to sue for more taxpayer dollars. And it only took another taxpayer funded lawsuit to do it:
Circuit Judge Lori Wilbur of Pierre says school districts do not have legal standing to seek a court judgment on the constitutionality of the state’s school funding system. She says the districts also cannot pay money to a coalition to support the lawsuit.
Read it all here at KELOland.com
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Comments
The Legislature should CUT the education budget the by amount spent by the school districts and the amount the state had to spend defending it!!!!
Re-do the state aid formula to cut every single school district involved in this lawsuit.
Double the costs they created.
Frankly, in my day, they’d get a switch across their fat lard hineys. But of course you can’t do THAT any more either.
Law suit brought about by the “Coalition of Schools” organization. Coalition of Schools was formerly called “Small School Coalition”. Elected this summer to serve on the board of directors for “Coaltion of Schools” – Dr. Pam Holman, Superintendent Sioux Falls Public Schools.
I agree, the schools involved in this should be penalized for what, on it’s face was an obvious ploy to game the system. Additionally, their legal counsel should be forced to repay any payments that were made to them back to the state!
I am appalled (with triple emphasis added) at anyone who would even hint to the idea that the schools involved in the lawsuit should be monetarily punished. We are talking about the education of our future … our children. Do you think these schools have the ability to endure even less funding than they are currently receiving? Why do you think the schools entered into the lawsuit in the first place? It’s not because they had too much money lying around and needed somewhere to channel it. It’s because the state doesn’t give a rat’s a## about school funding or teacher pay. As if everyone didn’t already know this, but SD teacher pay is 51st in the nation. Our teachers get paid less than most factory workers. To exacerbate the matter, Wyoming pays $40,000 per year to first-year teachers; North Dakota and Minnesota pay similar salaries. Do you think we can get quality teachers with the measly wage we’re paying them? And where does that leave us and our children? With a piss pour K-12 education and our lawmakers wondering why we can’t get quality workers in South Dakota. The fact that the lawsuit was dismissed has nothing to do with the true issue behind the situation, and anyone who missed that should be ashamed of themselves.
The Lawsuit wasn’t dismissed. There was a seperate ruling that said schools districts can’t use taxpayer money to support it. FYI.
actually according to the american federation of teachers, south dakota teachers rank 23rd or 24th (i can’t exactly recall) in the nation when compared to private sector wages.
and if you adjust for cost of living, i’m guessing we rank much better than 51st.
and i think most south dakotans believe our students are performing pretty well, compared to the other states, and that our teachers are doing a decent job.
i think you’re in the minority, 12:24.
Teachers and the quality of education may be going well now. However, although I’m not aware of an exact percentage, but more than half of South Dakota’s teachers a eligable for retirement in the next five years. There are not enough students currently majoring in education to fill that void. Also, regardless of the cost-of-living comparison rank, how many recent college graduates do you know that would take a first-year teaching job in Sioux Falls or any other school in SD (minus the reservations) for $27,000, when they could get paid almost twice that in Wyoming of Minnesota?
12:24, thanks for the talking points but that is not the issue.
The issue is that schools whine about not having enough money, but they SPEND IT ON SUING the state. Money that could have been used in the districts for other purposes. Every little bit helps, doesn’t it?
Their budgets should be cut for wasting the money they already had on a lawsuit.
There is a glut of young teachers for elementary positions in SD just waiting for those older teachers to retire. A relative applied for a teaching job in Huron in elementary school and there were 70 or so applicants.
I am tripled appalled some jerk is appalled that the school districts should be held accountable for wasting my money. The Boards should have to replace the funds out of their own pockets for taking me to court.
I pay to sue myself! HUH Dr. Harms and the Aberdeen school board all should be replaced. And every other board involved.
Anon 12:24 on Aug. 22.
Obviously, you’re a teacher in SD. Let’s hope some of the words you used in your post don’t show up on a spelling test for your students. But in case they do… It’s “piss poor”, not pour, as you have it.
But I’m sure you still deserve a raise.
didnt our kids score above many states, in the average A.C.T. tests?
if our kids score well nationally, how is their education inferior?
in other words, if our schools manage to give our kids a quality education as measured by objective tests, then what relevance is all this talk about lowest teacher wages?
the constitution does not guarantee higher teacher wages. it guarantees a good education, and the kids seem to be getting that.
this lawsuit has never been about quality of education. its about wages….the teachers want more, and the taxpayers want less.
Any idea how much did Abdallah already milked em for?