Education Savings Accounts: A way to Control Costs and Improve Quality?
Is HB1020 enough or is more necessary?
K-12 academic outcomes in South Dakota are low.
Outcomes have been low for many years.
67% of the 4th graders and 69% of the 8th graders are below grade level in reading.
59% of the 4th graders and 67% of the 8th graders are below grade level in math.
K-12 Education spending is high.
K-12 education in South Dakota costs about $11,020 per student. In 2023, there were 137,759 K-12 students, which means the total cost to educate the students was about $1.6 billion. To cobble together this much money takes almost 1/3 of the state budget (about $700 million per year) and around 54% of county property tax collections (in Minnehaha County that was $83 million).
We can’t afford it.
It just doesn’t make sense. People can’t afford any more taxes, so we need to come up with a way to get better performance without spending more money.
What can we do?
Several things would help. Forcing the illegal aliens to return home and asking companies to pickup the education costs for the children of their foreign workers, would mean schools are not overloaded with students who are not prepared for school.
Another positive step would be to allow parents to choose where their education money is spent. Not only would choice reduce the load on the public system, but would encourage all school systems (public and private) to innovate, provide strong academic programs, and become aligned with the wishes of parents.
House Bill 1020 does not immediately improve education quality or reduce the K-12 education budget (which is being used by only about 15% of the population). However, it is a step in the right direction.
If this bill becomes law, parents who choose to have their children opt out of the public system could get a credit worth 40% of their state allocation that would be placed in an education savings account for their child. The money in this savings account could be used to pay for curricula and associated instructional materials or supplies, educationally related technological devices and associated hardware and services, virtual coursework, and standardized college or university entrance examinations.
While this bill isn’t perfect, it is a way to provide some financial support for families who want a different educational option for their children. It also encourages much needed discussion about the hidden costs of illegal aliens and foreign workers. And most importantly, it provides the public education system with an incentive to improve performance.
Thank you Eric for your thoughts. I don't think people are trying to be disrespectful of education. The reality is the public schools aren't performing. They haven't been performing for years. People realize there is a problem and are looking for ways to make things better. I wonder if we might want to keep an open mind, think outside the box, and encourage people to generate ideas? Is there anything specific we might be able to do without increasing spending?
Thank you Lisa for expressing your concerns. It is understandable that home school families are nervous, like many other families, about how legislation might impact how they educate their children. Fortunately, for you and other home school families, there does not appear to be anything in these bills that forces home school families under state regulation. The problem is there are huge performance and cost issues with the current public school model that are not sustainable. The goal of the post is to come up with solutions. Thank you for mentioning better parent supervision. Also, thank you for voicing your support for spending money on education. I think the place you and other people differ, is that for over $1 billion per year most taxpayers want to see results. Right now many people feel their money is being wasted and as a result want change. If the home school community is worried about regulation, maybe it would be reasonable to discuss that matter openly. After all, home schooled children are a very high performing segment of the overall education system. If the goal is to improve overall performance, getting rid of the innovation that occurs in the home school segment seems unwise.