The Importance of Education
By Senator Mike Rounds
July 17, 2015

A strong education system is vital to making certain our young people have the opportunity for a prosperous future. To accomplish that goal, I believe the federal government’s role in education should be limited and well-defined. I’m pleased the Senate came together recently to pass the Every Child Achieves Act, or ECAA, a comprehensive, bipartisan overhaul of our education system that will improve the quality of education across the nation.

The ECAA passed the Senate 81-17 and has been endorsed by teachers, superintendents, local school boards, state legislatures and governors. The ECAA restores decision-making on education and accountability standards to those who know students best—parents, teachers and local school boards—and provides flexibility to our education system. I believe in local control of education. While standards are important, a “one-size-fits-all” directive from the federal government has proven to be the wrong approach and has led teachers to “teach to the test.” Returning education decision making to its rightful place – in the hands of local governments – is a needed replacement to the No Child Left Behind law, which expired in 2007. Since that time, 42 states have been operating under waivers from No Child Left Behind– proof of just how much reforms have been needed.

I’m pleased that the Every Child Achieves Act included a deficit-neutral amendment I offered to address low graduation rates at tribal schools. My amendment seeks to improve the quality of education in Indian Country, especially in rural and high poverty areas. In some parts of the country, tribal schools have graduation rates as low as 40 percent, which is half the national average. This is unacceptable. Native American students—just like all students across the country—deserve a strong education system to prepare them for a successful future.

My amendment also lays a foundation to fix the systemic education problems facing students in Indian Country by directing the Department of the Interior and the Department of Education to conduct a study in rural and poverty areas of Indian Country. The study will identify federal barriers that restrict tribes from implementing common-sense regional policies instead of one-size-fits-all policies directed from Washington. It will also identify recruitment and retention options for teachers and school administrators, and look at the limits in funding sources these schools are facing. Lastly, the study will provide strategies on how to increase high school graduation rates at tribal schools.

Our students are our country’s greatest asset, and every student deserves a quality education. The Every Child Achieves Act improves our education system by empowering states, teachers and school boards to make their own curriculum decisions. This will lead to higher standards, better teaching, better learning and more accountability. I’m pleased my colleagues came together to pass the ECAA in the Senate and will continue to seek ways to strengthen education.

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Being Good Stewards Of Taxpayer Dollars

A column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard:

Throughout my time serving as governor, good stewardship of taxpayer dollars has been my goal. Two pieces of recent news can assure South Dakotans that state government is handling their money responsibly.

On June 30, we closed the fiscal year with a budget surplus. Our ongoing revenues came in higher than projected and our expenses came in lower than budgeted. Revenue growth for the completed 2015 fiscal year exceeded estimates adopted by the Legislature last March by $10 million, or 0.71 percent; and state agencies demonstrated fiscal restraint, spending $11.5 million less than appropriated, or 0.84 percent.

Each year when we make budget projections, we try to make estimates that are as accurate as possible. There’s no way to project the exact numbers, so it’s better to err on the side of a surplus not a deficit. Through the Bureau of Finance and Management’s diligence, we were pretty close this year. Our projections were 99 percent accurate.

The good news of the surplus follows on the heels of a recently released report from the Mercatus Center in which South Dakota was ranked third in the nation for fiscal condition. The study is based on the comprehensive annual financial reports from each state for fiscal year 2013. The study compares states by their abilities to pay short-term bills, meet long-term spending obligations and increase spending. The study also takes budget and trust fund solvency into account.

In the study, we ranked just behind Alaska and North Dakota – and that’s something to be proud of. While Alaska and North Dakota derive a large percentage of their revenues from oil severance taxes, we must rely on other revenues more closely tied to economic activity.

When I took office, balancing the budget was my number one priority. Now, for four years in a row, we have maintained structural balance in our budget and we’ve done so without using one-time revenues or rainy day funds.

In a time when many other states are adopting rosy projections and employing budget gimmicks to justify overspending, South Dakota is acting responsibly. We don’t spend money we don’t have, we keep our budget structurally balanced and we seize opportunities to spend in the short-term where it can lead to savings. These practices reflect the responsible values of South Dakota citizens.

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If you recall how Paula Hawks had been making moves towards running for Congress, it’s very interesting to read what democratic chairwoman Ann Tornberg is saying to the Associated Press this morning in light of Kristi Noem’s 1.2 million in the bank:

Noem campaign consultant Justin Brasell says he’s “thrilled” with the fundraising pace for the quarter. He says the contributions are reflective of Noem’s growing support across the state.

South Dakota Democratic Party chairwoman Ann Tornberg says the Republican congresswoman has a daunting bank account. But Tornberg says the state’s Democratic party hopes to run a candidate against Noem.

Read it here.

With Tornberg saying that Democrats “hope to run a candidate” in light of Paula Hawks previous comments that she was going to make a decision before July, it seems to be an indicator that Paula Hawks took a look at the congressional race and might have privately said “Hell No!” in light of Kristi Noem’s very strong fundraising and tremendous popularity in South Dakota.

Democrats are currently (and laughably) floating trial balloons to diminish expectations that they’ll have anyone competent stepping forth to run for Congress or the US Senate this year. The basic problem with this stream of consciousness is that you don’t raise 1.2 million overnight. 

Fundraising is a months long slog, and even more so if you could face a primary. 

Especially with a challenger effort that a democrat would face – your first task is to organize a semblance of a campaign that looks competent and capable enough to entice donors to spend money on you in the hopes that you might be able to achieve something resembling a positive result.

Campaigns take both time and money. And those are both resources in very short supply.

If a Democrat thinks that they’ll be OK starting a campaign sometime in February or March, I would just point out the example of Susan Wismer against Governor Daugaard. How did that work out for her? 

Or look at Congresswoman Noem’s last challenger Corinna Robinson. She started out in October and still fell woefully short.

Are there curveballs that could come about? There’s always the possibility, but I don’t think it’s in the cards. South Dakota is not a democrat state and this will not be a democrat wave election. 

But by all means Democrats, please feel free to wait until next March. It won’t bother us Republicans one bit. We look forward to your inattentiveness.

Shining a Light on Youth Suicide Crisis
By Senator John Thune

Nearly eight years after No Child Left Behind expired, I am glad Congress has finally passed legislation to reauthorize federal K-12 educational programs. The Every Child Achieves Act would reduce federal interference in education and restore control of education to the people who know their students best – parents, teachers, and school boards. Local control, not big-government Washington mandates, is the key to educational success for students around the country.

I introduced several amendments to this important legislation and was pleased that two measures related to the youth suicide crisis in Indian Country were included in the final bill.

There is no greater tragedy for a family than losing a child, sibling, or friend, especially to suicide. According to the Indian Health Service, suicide is the second leading cause of death for Native American youth in Indian Health Service areas, with a death rate four times the national average. I think it is important for us to get a better understanding of how we can address suicide prevention within our tribal communities, and this legislation was the appropriate vehicle for me to attach these amendments.

My first amendment would require federal agencies to report on efforts to address youth suicide on our reservations. The heads of relevant federal government agencies, like the Departments of Education, Interior, and Health and Human Services, would coordinate in this effort. My goal for these agencies would be to learn more about the current federal response to the high numbers of youth suicide in Indian Country, determine what types of federal resources are available to prevent and respond to these types of crises, and whether or not there are any barriers to program implementation. Tribal feedback on all of this information will be key.

My second measure would expand the use of Project School Emergency Response to Violence (Project SERV) funds to include initiating or strengthening prevention activities in cases of trauma or violence, similar to what is happening in Indian Country. Under current law, Project SERV funds can only be used to respond to crises.

My colleagues in the Senate understood the importance of these ‎amendments, which is why both were unanimously approved. My hope is that by taking these important steps, we can shine a light on the crisis that is impacting so many of our families in South Dakota and do everything within our power to prevent tragedies like these from happening in the future.

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Since it’s time for the second quarter reports to come in, I’ve been talking with some of the various political camps on how they’re doing. As you might have heard, Noem is posting 1.2 million cash on hand, and Thune is at 11 million.

But, there’s been little talk on how much South Dakota’s freshman Senator has raised to date. So, I got on the horn, and this is what I found out.

The campaign wing of the Rounds effort launched their leadership PAC, the Peter Norbeck PAC in June, and that’s been their primary area of focus. FOr the Norbeck PAC, they reportedly raised approx $101k, leaving $62k Cash on hand. At the same time, Rounds for Senate raised in the neighborhood of $40k, with $4k Cash on Hand.

But More importantly, I’m told the Rounds for Senate campaign will be DEBT FREE on next report, 1 year forward from a tough general election which saw plenty of out of state interests come in with negative campaigning against Rounds.

Just a heads up – It will probably be light posting this next week. A cat is forcing me to take a vacation.

No, really.

If you recall this past February, my wife’s father passed away. At the funeral my wife met up with her aunt from Florida who had been speaking with her brother over the preceding months while he was being treated for Leukemia. Apparently, he had talked quite a bit about his favorite cat, “Tony.”  And her Aunt offered to take the cat.

Long story short, while my oldest at home is working before she heads off to college, and a couple of kids are at TAR Camp this next week, the wife and I are driving Tony the cat to her Aunt’s residence in Venice, Florida. Yes, yes. It’s a hard job, but someone has to do it.

I think there will be a day or so stop at her brother’s lake cabin at Shell Knob, Missouri on the way down. And I’d love to stop at Diamond State Park on the way back.

But otherwise, it’s SDWC blogging from the road all next week. When I’m not driving, of course.

 

Senate Adopts Thune Provisions to Address Youth Suicide, Aid in Prevention Effort  

“Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Indian youth in Indian Health Service areas, with a death rate four times the national average.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) applauded the Senate’s adoption of his amendments to the Every Child Achieves Act (ECAA), a bill that would reduce federal interference in education, and put governors, school boards, parents, and teachers back in charge. Thune’s amendments would require the secretary of education to coordinate with other federal agencies to report on efforts to address youth suicides in Indian Country and expand the use of Project School Emergency Response to Violence (Project SERV) funds to include preventative efforts against youth suicide and other school violence.

“There is no greater tragedy for a family than losing a child, sibling, or friend, especially to suicide,” said Thune. “Sadly, according the Indian Health Service, suicide is the second leading cause of death for Indian youth in Indian Health Service areas, with a death rate four times the national average. While there is a wide range of known factors that contribute to youth suicide, I think it’s important for us to get a better understanding of how we can better address both prevention and response to suicide in Indian Country.”

Thune’s amendment would require, within 90 days from the date of enactment, the secretary of education to coordinate with the secretary of interior and secretary of health and human services to report on a variety of information, including:

• The federal response to the occurrence of high numbers of student suicide in Indian Country
• A list of federal resources available to prevent and respond to student suicide outbreaks, including the availability and use of tele-behavioral health
• Interagency collaboration efforts to streamline access to programs, including information on how the Departments of Education, Interior, and Health and Human Services work together on program administration
• Any existing barriers to timely program implementation or interagency collaboration
• Recommendations to improve or consolidate existing programs or resources
• Tribal feedback to the federal response

The Senate also adopted Thune’s amendment that would expand the authorized use of Project SERV funds to include initiating or strengthening prevention activities in cases of chronic trauma or violence, such as the suicide crisis in Indian Country or gang violence in schools.

Local educational agencies and institutions of higher education seeking approval to initiate or strengthen prevention activities would be required to:

• Demonstrate a continued disruption or a substantial risk of disruption to the learning environment that would be addressed by such activity
• Provide an explanation of proposed activities designed to restore and preserve the learning environment
• Provide a budget and budget narrative

Such requests would be subject to the discretion of the secretary and the availability of funds.

Thune also introduced amendments to ECAA that would exempt K-12 schools and higher education institutions from Obamacare’s employer mandate, allow Tribal Grant Schools to participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program, and provide parity for tribal colleges to compete for certain funding sources. These amendments were not adopted during the Senate’s consideration of ECAA.

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