Rep. Odenbach’s HB1020 voucher bill fails amidst demonizing his opponents

While listening to the testimony for House Bill 1020, the somewhat mainstream conservative school voucher bill which fared more poorly than HB 1009, the extreme hard right school voucher measure, one of the things that I couldn’t help but key in on what was being said.  I also had a legislator confirm that view, when they commented that they thought Scott didn’t do himself any favors by demonizing his opponents.

Despite Odenbach serving as the Republican House Majority Leader, where he should feel the confidence of taking the lead on the legislation, Scott felt the need to take unnecessary swipes at his opponents such as public education, South Dakota Retailers, the SD Chamber like this is a grudge match or he’s preparing mailings.

As you’ll hear from this clipped testimony, it’s as if he can’t help himself from making it personal:

Right on the outset.. opponents have a “monopoly” on money, taxpayer paid lobbyists..  later in testimony another claim of an army of lobbyists paid with your tax dollars and running push polls.

But if you look at how everyone lined up, I tend to think Scott is ignoring the stone in his own eye, while he complains about the mote in that of others.

There were a lot of people representing themselves, and organizations, who took their time to drive to Pierre to raise their objections.

But somehow, I was not able to find in the audio Scott mentioning his own measure’s taxpayer paid lobbyists or special interest groups who were there in favor of his bill:

Blue badges, special interest groups, and I noticed the list of proponents also included Julie Tipton, the person who was in front of the basketball game the other day telling the crowd in a microphone “This is about getting money from our state for non-public schools!

Let’s not kid ourselves. Under our state laws and constitution, public schools are publicly funded, and private/parochial schools are not. The have nots want access to bleed funds out of that pot of money we’ve reserved for the public education of our children, even though we’re not great about keeping that pot filled in pace with inflation.

If Scott is going to continue to swipe at the public schools he represents in favor of the special interests he wants to pander to, he should at least recognize that he’s not coming to the debate with any more holy righteousness or moral authority than his opponents to school vouchers have in defending education.

And he might find himself more successful if he keeps the campaign postcard rhetoric to himself.  Because you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

45 thoughts on “Rep. Odenbach’s HB1020 voucher bill fails amidst demonizing his opponents”

  1. The regressive republicans are doing their best to demonize public education. This is an interesting tactic, considering the broad support teachers and public schools enjoy in South Dakota.

    1. Seems like the venomous mug slinging leftist liberal democrats conjured up another tax and spend win for their side when this was supposed to be about real educational benefits and if I had it to do all over again, I would home school my kids.

  2. Scott supporters are on Facebook lovingly calling for him to take whatever measures necessary through a vehicle bill. Yet they STILL rail against counties and the ‘RINOS’ who did the same thing with HB1140 last year. Bunch of F@$&!&@ hypocrites!!!

  3. Now you see the obstructionist value of the teachers union that comes with their false rhetoric and scare tactics. Remember this: the money follows the student and the right of parents to have their child educated as they see fit. There needs to be a complete change in the educational system today and never again bow down to the status quo approach. Here you are seeing another example of dominance that has led to decreased academic achievement and a decreased world education index standing of 13. The public schools are only concerned about the per pupil revenue and what it equates to in salary and benefits for teachers. You don’t see a mention of academic achievement and you won’t. If you really want to read false and demonizing posts, go to the union webpage sdea.org/resource-library/vouchers. Have a nice read.

      1. You are out of order and totally irrelevant. Stick with the issue and help solve the problem and disregard the bias of the special interest group called the teachers union which I pointed out for their garbage posts which you cannot deny and then tell me why charter schools always score higher that the regular public schools. Could be that the voucher program would allow more transfers from the regular public schools to other accredited education facilities such as charter schools. Have you visited a charter school lately? Have you talked to any parents who home school? I encourage to do the research and I believe you will change your tune!

        1. Charter schools have the luxury of who they will or won’t accept. Public schools accept all children (For example: children with physical or learning disabilities and children that come from awful homes).

          1. Right on brother! When the St. Thomas More Administrator takes time out during half time of a basketball game to actively solicit public funds for private education while encouraging fans in the audience to contact their legislators, we have a problem.

          2. Simple. Public schools have the facilities to deal with disadvantaged students because of health and safety reasons whereas charter schools do not. What facts do you have to the contrary?

    1. Using this logic … since I have no school-aged children, then I shouldn’t have to pay any school district taxes. Umm, OK.

      1. Why did my property taxes increase by 43% for 2024? Why does 63% of the total go to the school district? All of my neighbors were equally affected and that makes a huge sum of money going forward and throughout this county. Justification? Nonexistent. Angry? You bet!
        Since my kids are grown and gone, I would entertain removal of school district taxation from my property taxes. I have witnessed how school district general fund budgets are prone to excess and where there should be cuts so……..the possibility exists. Check the box for oversight too.

        1. I doubt many of us drive on the street and roads you drive on or use the same water and sewer. Why should we be paying for this? It could expand from there. Take it off our tax bill dagburnit!

          1. When I served on the general fund budget oversight committee in my county, I have observed and recorded excessive, proposed double and triple digit percentage from the previous year, expenditures and I was the one responsible for reporting these documented findings to the school board at the budget hearings before final budget approval. The average bloated expenses were most often over $2 million dollars. If you are saying that our property tax bills are excessive, then I wholeheartedly agree with you.
            PS it helps to have a working spreadsheet from the district

  4. Scott once again proves he is no leader. Using your pac to get a bunch of useful idiots elected so you can get their votes for house leadership isn’t leadership, it’s manipulation. On the topic of useful idiots – anyone note ismays vote? Outspoken in public against vouchers. Votes against HB 1009 but votes in favor of 1020. Wonder why? (Sarcasm)

    1. I hear ya. During the Belle Fourche Crackerbarrel, Ismay indicated that he didn’t support both of the voucher bills, but he was getting EXTREME pressure to support one of the bills. He took money from Liberty Tree PAC so it’s obvious he took his marching orders. I consider him to be an honest money but it appears he is bought and paid for.

      1. Ismay, Baxter, Schwans will be challenged next election, for certain. Constituents are not happy!! There will be a change of leadership..maybe even before the year’s end.

  5. Public money for private schools… or pushing religion (Ten Commandments) into public schools. Take your pick. They can’t leave well enough alone.

    How did we survive without their interference for so many decades?

    1. Look at the record for academic achievement. I believe that parents want the best education for their kids and by their decisions, they have the right to make the choice. Are we really getting our moneys worth by sending our kids to the public school system? The data indicates a big NO especially when you see the numbers or percentage of first year college dropouts. I am not impressed with the regular public school system. I was hopeful that parents would see vouchers as a means to break the cycle of status quo.

      1. I don’t know who you are, nor I care. But from reading prior posts and comments, it would seem you are old enough to not throw a temper tantrum like a toddler who hasn’t gotten their way. Which is what you are doing. Regarding your hopefulness of parents seeing “vouchers as a means to break the cycle of status quo,” you are entirely missing the big picture here.

        There are a large number of people who live in rural South Dakota where sending their child to a private school is not feasible due to distance and time. Myself included. If I would want to send my kids to a private school, it would an hour and twenty minute drive one way. Take into account the cost of fuel and wear and tear on vehicles, I would be losing money with the voucher. It’s not remotely practice.

        The majority of rural South Dakota parents also do not have the ability to lose an income to stay at home and homeschool their children. I sure as heck know we don’t. The proposed voucher program was a huge slap in the face to rural South Dakota because we were once again completely overlooked. Which parents recognized.

        1. I do agree with you except for your false accusation of me in a personal attack.
          The rural situation is completely separate and I would probably offer a financial compensation to all rural (students) parents that would cover school choice. I am definitely not happy to understand that rural students have been completely overlooked. Within reason, you should be allowed to have your children educated in a school of your choice. The worry I had with my kids was a education that prepared them for a career of sustainability. I want better public education and I know many people who agree with me and I may have to address alternatives because the statistics on academic achievement don’t show improvement.

          1. If you live in a remote, rural location far from a private school, that’s your choice. Nobody is forcing you to live a million miles nowhere,

            If you made a lifestyle choice and have only recently discovered its drawbacks and downsides, It’s not up to the state government to fix it for you.

            1. So much for planning for change. Operative being plan ahead. I was almost sympathetic.
              So that means, in this case, vouchers have no meaning because your life and livelihood is not affected. Not my street or road or sewer system, etc. What a waste!

  6. Thanks for sharing these lists. Among the proponents is Kyle Groos, Superintendent of Bishop O’Gorman Catholic Schools in Sioux Falls. He is representing “self” … as in self-interest?

    1. That is really surprising since we have a large amount of family members and extended that all went thru and graduated from a South Dakota sister Catholic School System and completely oppose vouchers. As a result of the high school nearly closing in the late 70s infrastructure was set up by the amazing work of volunteers & clergy to not only save the school but place it on a sound financial footing for the future. A critical part of that was set of for scholarships for families that needed it all from private donations. Again private money for private schools.

      At least according to our interpretation from the teachings of the Catholic church taking public dollars and denying our neighbors, family members, employee family members an opportunity for a fully funded public school system education goes completely against social justice. That is like throwing our community and state public school students and their families under the bus. No way! They are our shared investment!

      1. If you look at PPR (per pupil revenue) against PPS (per pupil spending), send that amount of PPR along with the student per the choice of the parent, to the school of choice. Problem solved and no foul. The PPS doesn’t exist and accountability is complete. The voucher system should be allowed to work because it is not complicated and the what if becomes the same when a family moves out of the area.
        Same type of financial transfer as charter schools use today as example. Nobody is being thrown under the bus!

        1. As a former educator, I would ask you to check your facts before displaying your ignorance. South Dakota students have and will continue to rank high in the national rankings. I, as many teachers do, spent $200+ money per year for my students if the budget wasn’t big enough. You are spouting right wing whackadoodle facts. If you want Willow to go to a private school or home-school – go for it. That’s your right but it comes with a price – not only the price of the private school, but the price of having a child who cannot function in the real world because she has been unexposed to real world situations. Mr. Odenbach is the nephew of another right-winger, former Rep. John Mills, so it is no surprise that this stuff is taking the time of more critical issues.

          1. Maybe you should take another crack at honesty. Are you aware that the standards for curriculum have been lowered many times over several years. Another factoid is that teachers like yourself teach by processing and never issue a failure notice because of the fear factor always brought up that parents retaliate. Teachers are actually discouraged from spending out of pocket because the school principal has a slush fund from the general fund budget for educational items above the norm and requested by the teacher. Don’t use that lame excuse. If you want more kids to function in the real world, take away their cellphones. The broad picture is a decline in academic achievement. Reading, Writing, Math and Science are the basics and Math is the worst statistically. Are you learning something now?

  7. “Under our state laws and constitution, public schools are publicly funded, and private/parochial schools are not.”

    Pat,

    That’s simply not accurate. That’s not what the US Constitution states, means, or has been interpreted as. SD Constitutional provisions to the contrary must fall, as they have in other states with these discriminatory Blaine Amendments.

    If SD chooses to fund a scholarship program to be used in public or private schools through direct (legislative appropriations) or indirect (tax credits) funding, then it CANNOT exclude religiously-affiliated schools. That’s the law, and most reasonable folks would agree with it.

    Feel free to argue that the US Constitution or the US Supreme Court is wrong, but it’s baffling why you continue to misinform your readers…other than religious bigotry.

    Furthermore, it is factually inaccurate. For decades, state and federal funds have flowed freely to private colleges and private college students all across SD and the rest of the US. Many of those colleges are religiously-affiliated. Augustana anyone? Mt.Marty?

    1. The funny thing with those funds going to private colleges is that they must then comply with federal rules and statues. All of them. Should we ever make the folly of using public gen ed funds for private schools or homeschools, then cool, they must then follow our public curriculum. Sound fair?

  8. The proponents of the vouchers have continually attacked Public Education scores. It has already been released that South Dakota’s Public Education’s 2024 ACT scores are almost 2 points above the National Average and South Dakota leads the nation on ACT scores out of 30 states where the participation rate is above 30 percent. Now today the results of the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) were released with the headline “Students in South Dakota outperformed the national average in 8th grade reading and math, as well as in 4th grade math; 4th grade reading scores were equal to the national average. This was posted to the SD DOE website. Interestingly enough, the large voucher states of Florida and Arizona have historically low Public Education ACT scores in their states.

    1. Just heard today that national scores for academic achievement are down for reading AND math. What a surprise. School choice is now on the agenda. NEA teachers union president was interviewed briefly and whined to plead her case. This is a predictable situation that has been coming for a long time. Educational reform is what it is called.

        1. Take your head out and look at the national averages where academic achievement has declined. If South Dakota is higher than the national average, we still show the US in decline to number 13 in the world for education. Maybe it takes a year to year comparison to get a broader picture.

            1. You have misunderstood the data. Look under the 50% bar for grades 4, 8 and 12. Nothing to brag about as I see it. Again the worst example is Math. Decline in academic achievement is the truth you are looking for.

  9. Leader Odenbach quoted the South Dakota constitution during his testimony on HB 1020. A Uniform system of free public schools. The stability of a republican form of government depending on the morality and intelligence of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature to establish and maintain a general and uniform system of public schools wherein tuition shall be without charge, and equally open to all; and to adopt all suitable means to secure to the people the advantages and opportunities of education.

    He only quotes the first sentence “The stability of a republican form of government depending on the morality and intelligence of the people” and then he immediately skips the rest of the body and goes to the last sentence “and adopt all suitable means to secure to the people the advantages and opportunities of education”. I’m not a lawyer but the body contains the word “and” after numerous phrases so I believe all of the elements must apply for the entire body to be true. He conveniently forgets “tuition shall be without charge AND equally open to all. This constitutional article cannot be used for Private Schools because they discriminate against allowing many students to not attend their schools based on a variety of reasons……test scores, cognitive impairments, lack of pastoral recommendation, etc.

    I don’t believe quoting portions Article 8 gives Leader Odenbach the “green light.” I believe what he should say is that “There is nothing in the State’s constitution that prevents us from using public money to fund a private enterprise.”

  10. You have misunderstood the data. Look under the 50% bar for grades 4, 8 and 12. Nothing to brag about as I see it. Again the worst example is Math. Decline in academic achievement is the truth you are looking for.

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