State Representative Will Mortenson had some comments after what he remarked was the largest crowd he’d seen in a crackerbarrel in over 5 years in Highmore, SD. And he’s indicating they spoke with a singular voice to demand “No Vouchers!”
Mortenson also remarked that the public is fired up to protect their schools and students.
Scott Odenbach & @ScottOdenbach •10h
Lots of nice propaganda pieces on the wall.
Hope the kids are doing a little reading & math in between making posters for the administration. Might help get those proficiency scores up. #sdleg
Jesse Johnson @johnsonjesse • 10h
Highmore Cracker Barrel. #sdleg
=
NONSE
No Vouchers
People don’t realize that HB1020 doesn’t take money away from public schools. It’s a separate allocation of monies.
Those separate funds come from somewhere, they don’t materialize out of thin air. Anytime you add a new program, you’re decreasing the available money to spend on current programs.
Agreed, but what I am saying is that HB 1020 does not take money away from already allocated money to public schools, and I doubt most people realize that.
I don’t support this bill BTW but I wish people understood it.
With the other bill the state money would follow the student.
Heck, many people don’t understand the bills they are voting on. Just look at RL 27 last fall.
Ignorant, uninformed, or idealogue voters killed a great bill for landowners.
Ah yes, the magically appearing money theory. It won’t take away from anything else! This money grows on trees!
People that love vouchers don’t realize that there is not an infinite amount of funds the state can use. The shortcomings of homeschooled economics courses on full display.
It’s crucial we clarify the facts regarding our public education system. Contrary to misinformation swirling about, every student who departs from a public school results in a loss of funding allocated to that institution. For example, if 10 students transfer from their elementary school, that school is forced to adjust its staffing accordingly due to reduced financial support.
Let’s prioritize accurate information and hold our public discourse to a higher standard. I urge everyone to engage with the facts and encourage others to do the sam
It may take students away, thus closing small schools. This is a new liberal social program.
Huh? Only conservative states have implemented this “public money for private gain” scheme.
Yea and no. The voucher program wouldn’t change the over allocated amount for the public school system. However, it would have an impact on an individual school. Funding is based on a per student schedule. X amount of $$$ per student. If a school looses students, that school will receive less funding. The schools overall costs change very, very little, if any at all. They’re still paying the teachers, electricity, heat, busses, groundskeepers, ect. So while the schools costs are nearly the same, that school receives less funding to pay the bills.
When Logan Manhart and Brandei Shaefbauer were asked if Vouchers would take away money from public school systems they did not know. Schaefbauer while trying to come up with answers then said it came out of the governor’s slush fund. It reminded me of an old SNL skit ending in “Yeah That’s The Ticket!”
They can play the shell game all they want. It is part of the state government budget and if they pass this voucher scheme into law it WILL decimate public school systems! Count on a successful ballot measure to repeal it. Buyers remorse in states that fell for this.
Look at Odenbach’s X post about this post.
Citizen, Parent, Business owner, Taxpayer askes at Saturday’s Cracker Barrel Rep …..
Will these vouchers hurt our public schools and take funds away from them?
Legislator (Probably Homeskooled) responds
I dunno.
A voucher program will likely impact rural schools the most. Some may have to close. This will obviously take funds out of the public education budget. The state may not replace those funds, forcing local districts to raise taxes on property owners.
This is a bad, bad idea for rural schools.
Wonder what Mehlhaff had to say – he is a prime sponsor of the bill.
As long as public schools underperform and overcharge the taxpayer school choice will be on the menu. If public schools want to counter school choice, the best way to do that is to increase the percentage of students performing at grade level to 85% or more.
Are you really so clueless as to why students are failing school?
The problem with that assumption is that public schools don’t get a choice on who they educate. They don’t just serve the gifted and average, they serve those with disabilities, those who are new to the country and don’t speak the language, etc. The School District has to serve the students who love their teachers, and those who threaten them.
The problem is that school performance is tightly controlled to people’s home life. Notice how schools in rough neighborhoods perform more poorly? Is it because the schools are just worse, or that they are fighting against what the kids have to return home to at the end of the day? The fact that you can’t recognize something so basic is concerning.