Education bill has momentum

LEGISLATIVE TALK – District 30 legislators, from left, are Sen. Bruce Rampelberg, Rep. Mike Verchio and Rep. Lance Russell. The three men were scheduled to dialogue with the public in Hill City at the Super 8 last Saturday for two hours, but the time stretched to three hours as various bills were addressed, particularly HB 1234, the education bill. [PN Photo/CAROL WALKER]

By Carol Walker

Referring to House Bill 1234, the education bill, Sen. Bruce Rampelberg said, “There is so much momentum with this, I don’t think there is any way to stop it.” Rampelberg, Rep. Mike Verchio and Rep. Lance Russell answered questions well beyond the scheduled two-hour crackerbarrel on Saturday morning in Hill City, with much of the discussion centering on HB 1234.
Coming from a business background, Rampelberg believes that a school district should have some of the same components as a business.
“There should be a well-understood job description, well-understood common competencies, a well understood way of evaluating people, and a way of developing goals a well-understood bonus program,” he said. He believes HB 1234 is attempts to address some of these things and though every detail will not be hammered out now, a framework is being designed to be used by work groups to determine the details over the next two years before it is implemented.
Verchio also commented that none of this takes effect until 2014. “I think 1234 is a huge step forward. The most important thing in a business or a school district is people and capita,l or employees and money, if you will. I think this bill is a way to address these things.” said Verchio.
Later he said, “The governor didn’t just come up with this bill at his desk. Beforehand he worked on it with students, principals and teachers. This governor is not a top-down kind of person. He will take suggestions,” said Verchio.
All three of the legislators have received e-mails on this topic, many of them from teachers, most of them opposed to the bill. Verchio said any constructive ideas he received from teachers have been sent on to the education committee.
The bill is being examined by a committee of three senators and three representatives with input coming from other legislators and it is going through transformation. One idea being discussed is providing scholarships to students intending to go into math or science education, with a stipulation that they would teach in South Dakota for a specified number of years instead of the yearly bonus given to math and science teachers each year for their first five years of teaching. Discussion also includes bonuses for math and science teachers who rank in the top two tiers of a four-tier evaluation system.
Rampelberg said they are also talking about giving districts three options: to take the plan as outlined in the bill, opt out of the program or develop their own program.
Russell said he is uncomfortable with the momentum of this bill and he voted against it in the House of Representatives.
Available only in the print version of the Hill City Prevailer, to subscribe call 605.574.2538.