Author: @SoDakCampaigns

Education Savings Accounts: Empowering Parents, Enhancing Education
By: Dr. Joseph Graves 
January 10, 2024  

In her 2024 Budget Address, Governor Noem announced an educational innovation for the parents and students of South Dakota: Educational Savings Accounts (ESAs). She explained that this investment would pay for a portion of private school tuition or curriculum for alternative education for South Dakota kids. And this endeavor has my full support.

Now, I spent 38 years, well over half my life, working in public schools. I love what they do for the children of our state and nation. And South Dakota has some excellent public schools. All four of my children graduated from the Mitchell School District after receiving an education that allowed them to succeed anywhere. Which they promptly did.

So, if all that is true, why am I supporting the ESA bill? After all, some public-school advocates have boisterously voiced their objection to this concept.

First, we must empower families in their decision-making on the education of their children. For ages, educators have known that the number one factor in a child’s academic success is the active involvement of their parents. That needs to begin with the selection of their preferred school option. For a myriad of reasons, some parents view the default option, public school, as less than appealing. They want a different opportunity for their child, and they should have options.

Second, such school options should be available to all parents, regardless of ability to pay. If your immediate response is that such options already exist – private schools and homeschooling – you are correct. But they only exist for some parents: parents who have enough money to pay private school tuition or have one parent leave the workforce in order to teach at the family homeschool. Some parents don’t have that ability. They struggle to pay the mortgage and put food on the table. Tuition will put their family budget in the red, as will going from two breadwinners to one. Education can be expensive, but that shouldn’t mean that those without should be left with just one option.

Third, South Dakota has educational deserts, and we need to fix that. Nobody likes to talk about it, but we have parts of our state where literally 0% of students read at grade level. Most people don’t concern themselves with that reality because it doesn’t affect their children. But that is the sort of neglect no society should tolerate. ESAs will make academic achievement possible by providing more opportunities for their students. 

Finally, we need to provide greater competition within the educational marketplace. In every field of human endeavor, performance improves with greater levels of competition. In this way, ESAs will benefit public schools, as well. Let’s unleash that powerful force for improvement on all schools.

The program is straightforward. Parents of eligible students who apply would receive access to an ESA, amounting to 40% of the allocation provided to public schools for each of their students, or about $3,000. Parents could use the funds to pay tuition for private schools, microschools (programs in which homeschooled students gather for instruction), virtual school courses, and various materials for alternative instruction. They could also use the funds to purchase curriculum, instructional materials, and some limited technology to support their education. 

The education status quo is simply not good enough. Improving it requires something new. Decades of new educational programs and increased spending have not done the trick, unless the trick is increasing taxes and ballooning federal budgets. On behalf of children and parents who currently feel left without viable options, I absolutely support ESAs.

Dr. Joseph Graves is the Cabinet Secretary for the South Dakota Department of Education.

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You can almost visualize a cartoon villain hopping mad and declaring “Curses! Foiled Again!”

Because today, Nichole Brathwait from Lawrence County just got shut down hard in her attempt to force Lawrence County to hand-count ballots.  Specifically, for the layperson, she filed a lawsuit against the Lawrence County Commission demanding that they accept a hand-counting ballot petition after they said “no thank you, and declared the petition improper.”  And the court did not agree with her. At all.

For background…

Nichole Braithwait, who introduced and circulated the Lawrence County hand-counting petition, argues that county commissioners do not have the authority to reject a properly filed petition with enough signatures to support a public vote. The authority to determine a petition’s legality lies with the courts and not commissioners, her lawsuit says.

Braithwait is associated with South Dakota Canvassing, the group that helped coordinate the statewide petition effort seeking to require hand-counting at the county level.

“I am convinced that we are on the right side of this issue and eventually the people will realize that our elections are run by corporations where the people have no oversight,” Braithwait said in an emailed statement, adding that “our elections are selections.”

and..

The petitioners’ struggle to retain a lawyer, Frankenstein said, reflects poorly on the claims in the lawsuits. Attorneys generally avoid cases with little to no chance of success, she said.

Frankenstein described the lawsuits as “frivolous” actions that cost counties money for elected officials “just doing what they swore an oath to do,” which is conduct elections according to local, state and federal laws.

Read it here at South Dakota Searchlight.

“our elections are run by corporations.” That gives you a good idea of what we’re dealing with.

Because of this action against the county, Lawrence County Commissioners had to seek legal counsel to respond to the hand-counting petition. And via Sara Frankenstein at Gunderson Palmer, they did so:

Respondents’ Brief in Support of Motion to Dismiss by Pat Powers on Scribd

When you have a 48 page response with a table of contents, one can assume they have a lot of ammunition to bring to the fight.

That was in October. And today, the circuit court made their decision.  Not only did they find for the County, they dismissed Braithwait’s action with prejudice.

Order on Petitioner’s Affidavit and Application for Writ of Mandamus by Pat Powers on Scribd

Arguably, this sets a precedent that strengthens the arguments of counties when faced with the attempts by election conspiracists to demand that they not use machines or assistive technologies as part of the election process.

I think you can anticipate that the respondent’s brief and this decision will be circulated among all of South Dakota’s county officials.

And will certainly provide more than adequate ammunition to stave off those who seek to undermine confidence in our state’s election process.

Attorney General Jackley Announces Former DOC Employee Sentenced For Prison-Related Crimes

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces that a former Department of Corrections employee has been sentenced after earlier pleading guilty to crimes involving a prison inmate.

Madyson Bixby of Sioux Falls, 22, was sentenced Tuesday in Minnehaha County Circuit Court after pleading guilty to one felony count of Compounding a Felony and one felony count of Possession of an Unauthorized Article (a cellphone with intent to deliver to an inmate). She was sentenced to two years in prison, both suspended, on each count, and 48 months of probation. Prosecutors had asked for four years in the state prison.

“This defendant violated the trust of the Department of Corrections and put others at risk,” said Attorney General Jackley. “Cases like this are why I have prioritized improving corrections, and I look forward to working with our Legislature to improve corrections and strengthen our laws to hold offenders more accountable.”

The charges were connected to an investigation involving an inmate conspiring with another person to burn someone else’s car on Jan. 4 2024 in Sioux Falls. The defendant also brought a cellphone into the prison and delivered it to the inmate.

As part of his 2025 legislative priorities, Attorney General Jackley is proposing to revise provisions related to the delivery, possession with intent to deliver, and possession of unauthorized articles by inmates in a state correctional facility.  “The Attorney General’s legislation seeks to protect our correctional officers from devices being used to put our officers and other inmates in danger,” said Attorney General Jackley.

This case was investigated by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and the South Dakota Department of Corrections Special Investigations Unit. The case was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.

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From my mailbox:

AFP-SD Applauds Introduction of Education Savings Account Bill

Pierre, SD – Americans for Prosperity-South Dakota (AFP-SD) announced its support for H.B.1020, Establish Education Savings Accounts, introduced by Sen. Mehlhaff and Rep. Odenbach. This bill will expand educational opportunities for all students and empower parents to choose what educational options best fit their child’s needs.

The grassroots organization will run a digital ad campaign thanking these legislators and will support this bill across the finish line so that every child has access to the educational opportunities they deserve.

Herman Otten has apparently decided that Pierre is not where he wants to be in January & February, and has sent a letter to the Governor informing her that she (or her successor) will have an appointment to make to the District 6 House of Representatives:

“It has been an honor and privilege to be a voice for the citizens of district six for the past 12 years,” Otten wrote, in the letter obtained by The Dakota Scout.

and..

Otten, 58, cited “personal and family reasons” as the reason he would be declining his two-year term in the South Dakota State House. Prior to deciding to run for the House in 2024, he had intended to retire from the Legislature all together.

Read the entire story here.

As opposed to the drama coming out of Minnehaha County last night, the Lincoln County GOP also had their elections last evening. This time starting at 6:30 and being done a little after 7.

The new leadership team is:

 

The state’s major homeschooling group is announcing up front that they are opposed to the current proposal for government funding for alternative instruction, and the organization has hired lobbyists to enforce that point with State Representatives and Senators.

The Families for Alternative Instruction Rights is South Dakota’s only statewide homeschooling organization, and has been in operation for the last 6-7 years to represent homeschooling rights and resources in South Dakota. It is led by several familiar names, including board member and State Senator Sue Peterson.  As noted on their website “FAIRSD is dedicated to advancing, protecting and securing Alternative Instruction rights for families in South Dakota. ”

In a letter sent to legislators this last week, the group is emphasizing that at this time they are largely opposing the measure for ESAs’/Vouchers as currently written, and offers the following in rebuttal to the ESA/Voucher program being proposed:

Many assume that FAIRSD would lobby in favor of ESAs or vouchers. That is not the case.  FAIRSD stands adamantly opposed to any legislation which would seek to take away or change the traditional option for Alternative Instruction. It is the desire of many homeschool parents that it remains free and independent from any government funding or interference. We are hopeful that any proposed bills create a separate legal category for ESAs or vouchers. FAIRSD believes parents have the right to choose the best education option for each of their children, and to choose what, how, where, and when their children learn in a homeschool setting. Currently, there are three legal options in SD for parents to choose to educate their children: public, private, or alternative instruction. Any school choice bill that creates education savings accounts or vouchers should create a fourth legal option for parents to choose that is separate and distinct from Alternative Instruction.

The group has announced that they are “partnering with Rob Skjonsberg and Jason Glodt of 605 Strategies to represent SD homeschool families as our lobbyists at the capitol this session.”

More to come on this, as it will be the hottest topic that will come up at this years’ legislative session.

If you’re looking for the Minnehaha County Republican Party Officer election results, I’ve scoured my sources and found a couple people who were brave enough to stay up until voting ended around 11:30 in a meeting that was described as “full of attacks and negativity ” as the legacy of outgoing Minnehaha County GOP Chair R. Shawn Tornow.

The theme of the evening was raw anger against vice-chair Jennifer Foss. Treasurer Tyler Swanger gave an impassioned speech against Foss, dropping the f-bomb a couple of times, and outgoing Chair R. Shawn Tornow several times used “Chairman’s privilege” to ask loaded questions directed to whichever candidate he didn’t like and softball questions to boost whichever candidate he did like.

There was a flyer handed out showing who the current leadership team wanted…

And in opposition, another handout detailing facebook attacks (in part below) allegedly from Vice Chair Jennifer Foss against a precinct committeewoman/board member.

And it sounds like this might have been one of the biggest free-for-alls in modern history at a county GOP meeting.

When the dust settled only two from the slate of people the outgoing board wanted had survived,  The State Committeeman and Committeewoman:

Chair – Korry Petterson
Vice Chair – Marsha Symens
Secretary – Patrick Peterson
Treasurer – Dave Rundell
State Committeeman – Tom Pischke
State Committeewoman – Bridget Boyden-Myers

And none of the other recommendations of the outgoing leadership’s slate were installed.

What can we expect from the Minnehaha County GOP moving forward?

I’m told that how well the board moves forward will depend on who the new chair appoints to at-large positions. One attendee noted to me that without Tornow and Foss on the board that maybe things will calm down? But by the the same token, the board is a mix of the two far right factions, and they could continue on the path that they’re on.

Much will depend on how the new chair fills open positions on the county party’s executive board. And whether they want to go back to an organization that is taken seriously and works to elect candidates. Or is only interested in more of the same.

And maybe they’ll hire some security to keep the peace at the next meeting. Sounds like they might need it.

The Minnehaha County Republican Party is attempting to turn over a new leaf tonight with county elections being held for party officers.

I kind of wish they were live streaming it, because it sounds like a complete circus. Minnehaha County Commissioner Joe Kippley is running for chair to represent the adults in the room against current Minnehaha County Republican Vice Chair Jennifer Foss, who in 2024 was attempting to recruit petition carriers for an independent candidate against congressman Dusty Johnson. There’s also Korry Petterson running for chair as well.

From the handout that was sent to me, it looks like the Foss team wants to spend the parties time having Trump parades, despite the fact President Trump is barred from a third term.

Not much in that flyer for helping candidates and fundraising, which is the actual job of the county parties.

Stay tuned for updates..

And I’m being told reports are that Joe Kippley was bumped out of the contest for chair, so the hopes of adults running the Republican organization for the state’s largest county have quickly gone downhill.  Also told a number of people walked out at that point.

Oh well..

Big update!!

In a move that was not expected, apparently the Minnehaha County GOP Central Committee kicked the vice chair Jennifer Foss to the curb. As one correspondent offered regarding the second round of voting,  “The hate for her was palpable.” Almost all of the Joe Kippley votes from round 1 went against Foss, and Korry Petterson who no one has a good read on captured the win.

And maybe that’s for the best, for someone who can come in without preconceived notions to attempt to give it a go.

We will find out more shortly.

South Dakota Secretary of State Monae L. Johnson Announces Re-Election Bid

Pierre, S.D. (Jan. 9, 2025) – South Dakota Secretary of State Monae L. Johnson today announced her intention to seek re-election, aiming to continue her mission of enhancing service, transparency, and security for all South Dakotans.

“It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve as your Secretary of State,” Johnson said. “Together, we’ve made significant strides in improving our office, ensuring that South Dakota’s elections remain secure and accurate, and supporting our state’s vibrant business community. There is more work to be done and I am excited to build on the foundation we’ve created.”

Two years into her term as Secretary of State, Johnson brings eight years of prior experience as an employee in the office, making her the most experienced candidate since Chris Nelson, who served as Secretary of State from 2003-2011.

A Legacy of Accomplishment

Since taking office, Secretary Johnson has prioritized customer service, bolstered election security, and increased transparency in South Dakota’s electoral processes. Her tenure has been marked by several significant achievements.

In June 2024, she successfully added New Mexico to the list of states that recognize reciprocity with South Dakota for the enhanced concealed carry permit, effectively protecting South Dakota’s strong Second Amendment heritage.

Johnson spearheaded modernization efforts within the Secretary of State’s office, initiating an upgrade to the voter registration system, which will include a Campaign Finance module to enhance financial transparency in elections.  She is also planning to upgrade the current business platform to better serve the business community.

Beyond technology, she has championed voter education through initiatives like the Gladys Pyle Award for Young Voter Registration and the “I VOTED” sticker contest, encouraging civic engagement among students statewide.

Recognizing the evolving challenges of election security, Johnson brought on a dedicated Cybersecurity Analyst in 2023 to safeguard the integrity of South Dakota’s elections and protect the business community from fraud.

Johnson also played a critical role in regional and national collaborations, serving on the Midwest States Election Security Summit and working with Dakota State University and the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office on cybersecurity initiatives.

In a first for South Dakota, Johnson oversaw the county auditor’s implementation of post-election audits to ensure accountability and build public trust, debuting the program during the 2024 primary and general elections. This commitment to transparency reflects her dedication to maintaining the highest quality standards in the electoral process.

Looking to the Future

During her tenure, Johnson has earned national recognition for her leadership, including appointments to the U.S. Global Leadership Committee (USGLC) and the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) Governance and Archives Committees. This year, she will serve as Co-Chair of the NASS State Records and Archives Committee.

Her groundbreaking partnership with Dakota Wesleyan University to bring back the state’s quarterly Economic Report in 2024 demonstrates her vision for using data to drive economic growth and empower South Dakota businesses.

With a second term, Johnson plans to build on this momentum by continuing to modernize office systems, enhance voter outreach, and ensure South Dakota’s elections remain secure, transparent, and accurate.

Rooted in South Dakota Values

Johnson was born in Brookings, grew up in Rapid City and now lives in Pierre. Her family remains her greatest source of pride and inspiration. She is a proud mother to six and grandmother to four.

“South Dakota deserves leadership that reflects our shared values of honesty, hard work, family and service,” said Johnson. “I am ready to continue this important mission, ensuring our state’s democracy remains strong and secure for generations to come.”

Elected by the people of South Dakota in 2022, Johnson began her service early when Governor Kristi Noem appointed her to assume the role in December 2022 – a full month early. Since then, she has embraced the responsibilities of the office with dedication and resolve. As she seeks re-election, Johnson remains committed to continuing her work to serve all South Dakotans with integrity and excellence.

For more information, visit monaeforsouthdakota.com.

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