Education

Education experts: South Dakota teachers deserve trust and respect, not continued criticism

With outside political forces adding new stress to South Dakota teachers, a panel of four education experts stressed the importance of restoring trust in professional educators to do their jobs well and focus more on teaching than worrying about potential criticism from beyond the classroom. The hourlong discussion generally debunked

Panel discussion on politics and education set for Thursday, June 16, 2022

Panel discussion on politics and education set for Thursday, June 16, 2022

In the latest segment of its ongoing “South Dakota Matters” series of polls and panels, South Dakota News Watch will host a one-hour panel discussion on the effect of increasing politicization of public education and its impact on the worsening teacher shortage on Thursday, June 16, 2022 at 7:30

How national political forces are shaping SD education legislation

The extent to which national political movements sway South Dakota’s legislative priorities was rarely more evident than during a House Education Committee hearing in Pierre in early February 2022. On the agenda was House Bill 1337, one of several education measures brought by Gov. Kristi Noem to keep critical

Retired SD educators uneasy about recent political and cultural pressures imposed on teachers

Amid the flurry of recent debate on education standards and race-based curricula in South Dakota schools, most classroom teachers have been relatively quiet. Many are restricted by media policies in their school districts, or they express concern about repercussions if they engage publicly in political discussions. This reticence comes as

Special report part 1: Teachers in SD endure new stress as politics and culture war seep into classrooms

Jason Connelly is exactly the kind of young educator the South Dakota public school system would love to add to its depleted teacher workforce. Connelly grew up in Sioux Falls and attended Catholic schools before pursuing a history and teaching degree at Augustana University, which he obtained this year. Connelly

A Dell Rapids High School counselor talks to a student at the school in her office.

School counselors in SD playing larger role amid student mental health crisis

DELL RAPIDS, S.D. – Sara Holmberg’s job as a counselor at Dell Rapids Middle School has never been more challenging. As fallout from the pandemic creates what the U.S. Surgeon General calls a “youth mental health crisis,” school counselors like Holmberg find themselves providing not just academic and

Despite legislative defeat, backers of Native education reform in SD will press forward

The latest setback in a bid to create state-funded Lakota immersion schools in South Dakota will not deter Native American educators from pursuing that vision in the future, according to one of the proposal’s key supporters. State Sen. Troy Heinert, D-Mission, expressed disappointment after the March 2 failure of