The agreement marks the end of lengthy - and sometimes tense - negotiations between House and Senate leadership. In the end, the Senate gave up approximately $4.5 million in state aid to strike a deal with the House.

In exchange, a study group will examine teacher pay in South Dakota - a initiative that will likely be structured to advance the major overhaul of South Dakota's teacher classification system that the House of Representatives and Department of Education tried to get on the books this year.

Floor debate in the two chambers took distinctly different tones Friday. Members of the Senate expressed remorse at what they said was a less-than-desirable compromise, while the House emphasized that the body was doing all it could to improve K-12 education.

"It's not everything we had hoped for," said Senate Majority Leader Dave Knudson, R-Sioux Falls. "But it's the bill that will pass."

As debate continued, Senators were critical of the compromise, saying it wasn't enough.

Senate Minority Leader Scott Heidepriem, D-Sioux Falls, called on the body to stand firm on the Senate's agenda, which included a much larger increase than the compromise offered.

"We have a bill that underfunds K-12, micromanages school districts and makes curriculum decisions in Pierre," Sen. Heidepriem said. "We substitute our judgment for school board members who stand for election."

He urged lawmakers to hold further negotiations and develop a bill that will benefit K-12 schools.

Mitchell Republican Ed Olson said he agreed with Sen. Heidepriem, calling the differences between the two houses "interesting." He said he isn't happy with the bill, and added that many Senate Republicans aren't either.

But politically, Olson added, it's the only legislation that has a shot at passing.

House Majority Leader Larry Rhoden, R-Union Center, objected to the notion that the House has obstructed larger K-12 funding increases. He said House and Senate Republicans had pledged at the beginning of session to provide more dollars to K-12, but the House's position had always been that the funding is contingent upon the amount of revenue available.

The tussle over school district fund balances may be coming an end now that Gov. Mike Rounds has acknowledged that one-time funds trigger reserve increases.

The admission came as part of Gov. Rounds' response to a letter to the editor that appeared in the Doland Times Record last January. Doland Superintendent Jerry McPartland wrote the paper, in part, to explain the district's fund balance levels to community members.

In his letter, Gov. Rounds references a media statement, released by ASBSD after the state-of-the-state address, that responded to suggestions that state reserves and school fund balances are comparable (hint: We don't think that's a fair comparison).

Superintendent McPartland referenced portions of our statement throughout his letter to the editor, including the following statement:

According to research provided by the Associated School Boards of South Dakota, since 1998, school district fund balances statewide have decreased by more than $25 million. Over the same period, state reserves have increased from $43 million to $133 million.

To that, Gov. Rounds responded:

What ASBSD failed to tell Mr. McPartland is the state received a one-time payment in 2004 in the amount of $66.3 million as part of the President's fiscal relief program. That money was placed into the property tax reduction fund. ASBSD also failed to tell Mr. McPartland my proposed budget calls for an ending balance of $99.7 million in the property tax reduction fund and the budget reserve combined.

Well... that's a positive step forward. We appreciate Gov. Rounds now says that one-time money has an impact on reserves, and that it might take up to five years to plan on how best to spend one-time funds.

ASBSD made that same point relative to school district fund balances (read here and here).

It's no coincidence that school reserves didn't increase until the Legislature offered one-time money. It's also important to note that schools have received more than $20 million in one-time money since 2004 ($171.43 per student in one-time money, to be exact).

Perhaps it's a step forward and will help put the fund balance argument to bed.

Of course, Gov. Rounds doesn't show many signs of slowing down in his defense of the status-quo in K-12 education policy. There have been a number of recent exchanges between Gov. Rounds and those who are attempting to provide an alternate perspective on K-12 policy.

Prominent blogger and Madison resident Cory Heidelberger, who runs the Madville Times, reported on a recent dialouge between Gov. Rounds and Rutland Superintendent Dr. Carl Fahrenwald.

South Dakota War College, another prominent South Dakota blog, reports today that on a lively discussion between Gov. Rounds and State Senator Sandy Jerstad, D-Sioux Falls, in the pages of the Tea-Harrisburg Champion.

(A couple notes. Open Forum receieved an early copy of Gov. Rounds letter to the editor, which won't likely run until this Wednesday. The South Dakota War College post references ASBSD's "School Funding Realities" data, which you can find on ASBSD's web site by clicking here. Second, to Madville Times: Congratulations on your decision to run for the Madison Central School Board.)

North Dakota Governor John Hoeven unveiled a plan last week to boost state aid to K-12 education by $300 million.

The plan, which adds to the $90 million boost passed last year, is part of an ongoing effort to adequately fund North Dakota's public school system. The effort adds $100 million in ongoing K-12 funding combined with $200 million in state effort that will offset local property taxes.

From the Fargo Forum:

While the state now funds roughly 49 percent of K-12 education costs, it would fund 66 percent of the costs in the second year of the biennium, with about 34 percent being paid locally, Hoeven said.

In the meantime, state per pupil payments would rise from $3,250 in 2007-08, to $5,296 in 2010-11 under the plan presented by Hoeven.

“I think that this is really an exciting plan,” Hoeven said. “It’s what we should have been doing for a long time.”

North Dakota only writes the state's per-pupil contribution into state law - so the $5,296 that the state will pay in 2011 is matched by another $1,800 in local property taxes, for a grand total of just more than $7,100 per student.

For anyone keeping track, that's $400 million that North Dakota has added to their K-12 system over the course of four years.

It's clear that North Dakota state officials believe that the state has a responsibility to adequately fund K-12, and they don't mind taking the burden off local property taxes to provide the needed resources.

Keep in mind that North Dakota's teachers are the second lowest-paid in the country, and already make an average of $3,000 more than their counterparts in South Dakota.

Meanwhile... back in South Dakota, members of the House and Senate are slugging it out over whether or not to provide an additional $7.5 million in ongoing state aid to education.

House Majority Leader Larry Rhoden, R-Union Center, told reporters last week that the House State Affairs Committee would hog-house SB 187 this morning with hopes that the Senate would consider a House plan - found in HB 1124 - as a part of the plan to improve teacher salaries in South Dakota.

Sen. Majority Leader Dave Knudson, R-Sioux Falls, told lawmakers today that SB 187 contains the kind of funding mechanism that provides additional funding along with a "use-it-or-lose-it" accountability provision that ensures money will be spent on teacher salaries.

Several Sioux Falls business leaders were on hand to lend their support to the legislation, saying that the bill would make teacher salaries more competitive with private-sector salaries and stop the "erosion" of teacher pay in South Dakota.

Associated School Boards of South Dakota testified for the bill. ASBSD Executive Director Wayne Lueders told committee members that data shows school districts are spending additional school aid in teacher salaries. Suggestions otherwise, Lueders said, are incorrect and work to distract lawmakers from the real issue - inadequate state funding.

Lobbyists representing School Administrators of South Dakota, the South Dakota Education Association, the South Dakota Coalition of Schools and the Sioux Falls School District also testified in support of the legislation.

The full House will consider the bill tomorrow. Several lawmakers have said that they plan to offer an amendment to restore SB 187 to the form supported by the Senate.

Democratic leaders in the Senate and House told reporters Friday that weakening revenue estimates may impact state spending, but added that K-12 shouldn't suffer as a result.

Sen. Scott Heidepriem, D-Sioux Falls, and Rep. Dale Hargens, D-Miller, said Gov. Rounds and his administration are able to find resources for the special projects they want.

"We can find the resources for our priorities, when we decide that they're priorities," said. Sen. Heidepriem. "That's the problem in K-12 funding, we have to decide it's a priority."

Sen. Heidepriem went on to detail millions dollars of special appropriations that Gov. Rounds' has supported instead of allocating resources to K-12 education. That includes money to upgrade university laboratories, purchase new airplanes, create high speed networks and buy laptop computers.

"When it comes time to invest in our children in basic ways ... we are told that there is no money," Sen. Heidepriem said.

Rep. Dale Hargens took the issue further, saying providing funding K-12 education isn't a matter of funding, but an issue of political will. He called on Gov. Rounds and other Republicans to work with Democratic lawmakers to provide additional resources to K-12 education.

A showdown may be coming on some of the special appropriations, Sen. Heidepriem said. The Senate needs a two-thirds majority to approve such measures, and Democratic legislators occupy 45 percent of the seats, he said.

Senate Majority Leader Dave Knudson, R-Sioux Falls, and House Majority Leader Larry Rhoden, R-Union Center, told reporters during a Friday press briefing that they're optimistic that the legislature can offer more than a 2.5 percent increase, but just how much won't be clear until early next week when revenue estimates are adopted.

Sen. Knudson said the evolution of a Senate plan to provide additional funding, found in SB 187, has already made some concessions for weakened revenue estimates. As introduced, the bill contained a 4.25 percent increase - a figure that was later dropped to 3.8 percent.

That may have to be lowered further, Knudson said, but he declined to comment further.

Rep. Rhoden told reporters that because the Senate's bill dealt with funding, the House has had the luxury of waiting to consider the issue until revenue estimates were available. Any increase was always contingent upon whether the revenue was available, he said.

A plan to overhaul the way South Dakota classifies and evaluates teachers is headed to conference committee, members of the Senate Education Committee decided today.

Lawmakers gutted HB 1124 Thursday morning, replacing the nine-page bill with a one-line statement that simply says South Dakota's education system will be enhanced. The change gives the Senate a vehicle to negotiate language that may be acceptable to the House.

Sen. Dave Knudson, R-Sioux Falls, proposed the amendment. He told committee members that there are historical differences on how the House and Senate approach school funding.

"That's certainly shapes up as a possibility this year," Sen. Knudson said before suggesting that the conversation should continue in a conference committee.

Several committee members pointed out what they thought were problems with the legislation.

Sen. Ben Nesselhuf took issue with statements by the bill's supporters that suggest the legislation would improve teacher quality in South Dakota.

"The level of teaching is not a concern for me," Sen. Nesselhuf said. "We have great teachers in this state," he added before suggesting that the Senate's plan to boost teacher salaries, SB 187, takes a better approach to address the problems the state is actually facing.

Sen. Knudson also affirmed his committment to SB 187, saying HB 1124 would not impact teacher salaries at all next year. He also questioned the multitude of instances where approval local action would be shifted to the state.

"I'm not convinced that necessarily is a good idea," Sen. Knudson said.

ASBSD joined the School Administrators of South Dakota, the Sioux Falls School District, the South Dakota Education Association and individual teachers from the Meade and Sioux Falls school districts in opposition to HB 1124.

The level of opposition raised the ire of House Majority Leader Larry Rhoden, R-Union Center. He told committee members that education lobbyists have not approached him about a compromise on HB 1124.

The Senate rejected a sweeping change to consolidation incentives Tuesday, opting instead to stay consistent with the incentive program passed last year as a part of a host of education reforms.

Sen. Ed Olson, R-Mitchell, told Senators that the change closes a loophole in the current system that allows districts to receive incentive money without receiving students from a reorganizing district.

House Bill 1051 goes one step further, though, by suggesting incentives would only be paid based on the number of students any one district receives. As a result, the total amount of consolidation incentives would be reduced dramatically.

Sen. Jim Hundstad, D-Bath, asked lawmakers to defeat the bill. He said the mandatory consolidation law passed last year has started consolidation discussions around the state and incentives should remain in place to help ease the transition for consolidating districts.

The bill was defeated on a 22-13 vote, but several legislators expect the idea to resurface before the end of legislative session.

Legislators aren't ready to give the state department of education permission to develop content and accreditation standards for pre-k programs, but lawmakers may be more willing to support the concept if they have a chance to review the standards first.

That was the message Tuesday morning after a lengthy and lively debate on SB 26 in the House Education Committee.

The committee is divided on the issue, with nearly half of the members willing to support the legislation as drafted.

Other members, including Rep. Hal Wick, R-Sioux Falls, would likely vote against any measure that would open the door to state-developed pre-k standards. Such measures enable "government creep," Wick said, and will discourage private sector efforts to provide pre-k programming.

A small group of committee members, including Rep. Mike Buckingham, R-Rapid City, pitched a third approach - pushing the issue into a summer study that would provide more data on pre-school programs. The rules making process would follow the report, which would be delivered prior to next legislative session.

The committee was locked in a 7-7 tie, preventing final committee action on the bill.

ASBSD President Duane Alm, president of the Aberdeen Board of Education, made the trip to Pierre to testify on behalf of SB 26. He told committee members that voluntary pre-k standards will help more students enter kindergarten ready to learn.

The House of Representatives narrowly approved legislation Thursday that will increase property taxes, shifting the cost of state-required assessments and education technology onto local property owners.

House Bill 1076 modifies the state aid to education formula, adding a $71 technology and assessment adjustment to create a pool of money the state will use to pay for various programs, including the Dakota Step tests.

The change is revenue neutral for school districts, but property taxpayers will foot the bill for programs that have been traditionally funded with state general fund dollars.

According to Rep. Jim Putnam, R-Armor, the bill shifts approximately $2.9 million dollars onto local property tax payers. He told lawmakers that the change allows the state to accurately portray the costs of providing education services.

Rep. Paul Dennert, D-Columbia, asked law makers to defeat the bill, calling the legislation a "tech tax." He explained that the legislation sets a precedent by embedding a new funding stream that could increase in future years.

The bill nearly failed. Rep. Deb Peters, R-Hartford, and Rep. Brian Gosch, R-Rapid City, changed their votes before the official vote count was declared, giving the House the required 36-vote majority.

South Dakota's two legislative chambers have offered drastically different plans that lawmakers say will end up increasing salaries for South Dakota teachers.

The Senate unanimously approved SB 187 Wednesday, promising an additional $7.5 million in school aid above the increase recommended by Gov. Rounds. Districts would have to use the additional funds to increase teacher salaries or lose the additional $59 per student.

The plan, offered by Sen. Dave Knudson, R-Sioux Falls, is backed by various education groups and business leaders from across the state.

The House of Representatives, on the other hand, offered support for extensive overhaul to the way South Dakota teachers are paid and evaluated, passing HB 1124 on a 39-29 vote.

House Bill 1124 mandates that districts must offer a $30,000 starting salary for all teachers.

Education lobbyists and school officials have expressed doubts about whether school districts could realistically fund the minimum salary, which wouldn't be effective until the 2009-10 school year.

The House's plan provides salary bumps for experienced teachers, but those increases aren't effective for two years. In 2010, teachers with more than three years of experience will see a $1,000 pay raise. The next year, teachers with an advanced degree or who have been nationally board certified will receive a $4,000 bump.

The state, not the local district, funds the ongoing salary adjustments. To pay for the stipends, the state will use T-Cap funds.

In addition to the minimum salary mandate, the House's plan creates a three-tiered teacher classification system and stipulates how teachers progress through each level. It requires yearly evaluations for all teachers, and mandates that all new teachers need to be evaluated twice a year.

Four school districts that planned reorganizations based on existing consolidation incentives will receive full payment, members of the Senate Education Committee decided Thursday.

Students, school board members and administrators from the Pollock and Hyde school districts told lawmakers that HB 1051 would adversely impact reorganization discussions in their districts.

Under HB 1051, a new school district will receive consolidation incentive only for the students received as a result of consolidation. Existing law stipulates that incentives are paid based on the entire fall enrollment of the new school district, up to a maximum of 400 students.

The net effect is a dramatic reduction in the incentives paid by the state.

School district officials pointed out that the incentive money is used to ease the transition and to fund programs negotiated between communities, including operational cost of elementary attendance centers and offsetting increased transportation costs.

Sen. Ed Olson, R-Mitchell, told committee members that districts currently going through consolidation should receive the payments they were promised. He offered an amendment that would push implementation back a year, creating an exemption for the districts that will vote on consolidations before the end of the year.

Education Secretary Dr. Rick Melmer opposed the change. He told lawmakers that it's time for lawmakers to consider financial impact consolidations have on the state's budget. There's limited amount of resources, he said, and lawmakers should question whether those resources should be used in such a narrow fashion.

Superintendents representing four small school districts also testified against the bill.

Jack Broome, superintendent for both the Burke and Bonesteel-Fairfax school districts, told committee members that the two communities are running into financial barriers as they work through consolidation.

If the merger happens, he said, Bonesteel-Fairfax would lose approximately $600,000 in impact aid funds - money they were hoping to offset with the consolidation incentive.

Lawmakers resisted reworking the bill further, but said the bill may be further amended on the Senate Floor.

There's no need to add dyslexia as a separate special education classification because the learning disorder is already covered under current law, members of Senate Education decided Thursday.

Rep. Keri Weems, R-Sioux Falls, contended dyslexic children are not getting the attention they deserve. "We're not diagnosing these kids, we're not helping these kids," she said.

Dennis Champ, Pierre School District's director of special education, testified against the legislation. He took issue with the perception that public schools were unwilling or unable to serve dyslexic students.

"We have served, currently serve and will continue to serve dyslexic children," said Dennis Champ, special education director the Pierre School District.

Other opponents said the legislation would contradict federal law and drive up cost of special education services.

Committee members agreed, killing HB 1291 on a 4-2 vote.

The House of Representatives could not complete the scheduled calendar before the crossover deadline, instead opting to postpone the calendar to take up the remaining issues tomorrow.

Left on the calendar is the two major pieces of education legislation - HB 1262 and HB 1124 - and a measure to use market value to assess all land in South Dakota.

ASBSD will have an update tomorrow.

State Senators voted today to amend legislation that would have limited growth in school district capital outlay, special education and pension funds.

As amended, HB 1006 exempts school districts from revenue caps if the district's valuation changes by less than 10 percent in a given year.

Without the change, growth in the three funds would have been limited to the CPI-W or 3 percent, whichever is less, above the maximum amount a district could currently generate by levying at the maximum level authorized by the legislature.

ASBSD worked with Sen. Knudson, R-Sioux Falls, to minimize the impact of any changes in valuation that may result from a repeal of the 150 percent rule and the switch to a new method of assessing agricultural land.

The amendment provides immediate flexibility to most schools, but the issue will need to be revisited as more information becomes available. Because the legislation contains a delayed implementation, school districts will have another year to determine what impact, if any, the legislation will have on capital outlay revenue.

Teachers that pledge to work in high-needs areas will be may get their college paid for under a plan approved Tuesday by the South Dakota Senate.

Patterned after plans currently in place for doctors and dentists, SB 181 establishes a program to reimburse teachers for college tuition, provided the teacher came from a South Dakota university and the new teacher agrees to teach in a high-need area for five years.

Sen. Brock Greenfield, R-Clark, said he offered the legislation in response to conversations he had with administrators in his district.

"They were having an awfully hard time filling certain teaching positions," Sen. Greenfield said. "Specifically they were having a hard time filling secondary education openings."

The state would partner with local school districts to compensate teachers. Districts with less than 900 students would pay 50 percent of the cost, larger districts would pick up 75 percent of the tuition. The state will pick up the balance.

The plan is optional, meaning districts would choose whether or not to offer tuition reimbursement.

Legislators that believe all land in South Dakota should be based on market will get a chance to debate the issue on the House floor, members of the House Education committee decided Tuesday.

Proponents of the market-based system have tried numerous times throughout session to pitch their plan, which is an alternative to the productivity-based measure found in HB 1005. The issue failed to gain support in committee or on the House floor.

Lawmakers will debate the issue, though, because members of House Education approved a sweeping amendment to HB 1257, a measure that was originally designed to place revenue limitations on capital outlay.

Several committee members expressed discontent with the process used by market-based advocates, saying that the education committee was over-stepping its authority by taking up the property tax issue.

With the committee stacked with supporters of the market-based approach, however, the legislation passed out of committee despite any concerns over whether legislative procedures were followed.

Members of the House Education committee on Tuesday passed a measure that will enact sweeping changes to the way South Dakota teachers are paid, supported and evaluated.

House Bill 1262 was completely amended to include a three-tiered licensure system for public school employees, providing an outline on how teachers and other professionals progress through each step and mandating a minimum salary for each teacher certification level.

The amendment is not posted to the internet yet, so Open Forum will have specific details later today.

The legislation contains no additional funding, meaning mandates would have to be fulfilled with existing resources.

The Department of Education supported the legislation.

Education Secretary Dr. Rick Melmer told committee members that educators often want access to funds without the accountability to go along with it. The legislation provides framework to move teacher salaries forward, Melmer said, because it proposes a specific plan to address the issue.

Diana Miller, lobbyist for the ESD+6 school districts, also supported the legislation. She told lawmakers that she's ready to remove the log-jam that prevents improvements to teacher salaries voiced her confidence that legislators would adjust the legislation as it moves to the House floor and on to the Senate.

Several lawmakers expressed concern while voting for the legislation and a belief that the bill still needs revision.

The Senate Education Committee gave first approval to two pieces of legislation that will provide additional resources to K-12 districts, including one proposal to provide more than $100 million to K-12 education over and above the annual inflationary increase.

Lawmakers gave the go-ahead to SB 187 and SB 150, paving the way for the full Senate to debate both bills before Wednesday's deadline to send all Senate bills to the House of Representatives.

Sen. Dave Knudson, R-Sioux Falls, has championed SB 187, legislation that has the support of many business leaders, as a way to help make teacher pay more competitive in South Dakota.

Under the original version, SB 187 offered a 4.25 percent increase in the base per-student allocation. The percentage was lowered to 3.8 percent this morning, possibly signaling a compromise between the two chambers on the bottom-line increase the legislature will suggest this year.

The proposal offers an additional $58.87 over what Gov. Rounds recommended, which represents a 3.8 percent increase from last year's per student allocation.

In what some may see as a surprise move, lawmakers also passed out SB 150 - a proposal by democratic lawmakers to offer a comprehensive funding package for all levels of education in South Dakota, including the technical schools and the public universities.

The bill contains a funding mechanism that will provide more than $100 million to K-12 education by combining a number of funding sources, including reversions from a limitation in growth in state government.

Both bills will be debated in the Senate tomorrow.

Gov. Rounds believes K-12 funding is the biggest obstacle to any increases to South Dakota's opportunity scholarship program, according to the South Dakota State University Collegian.

The governor's comments reportedly came during a sit-down with approximately 30 SDSU students who traveled to Pierre to lobby legislators on several issues impacting college students, including the expansion of the opportunity scholarship.

Gov. Rounds proposed lowering the ACT requirement to allow more students to benefit from the funds. The Regents made a separate request to increase the value of the scholarship by $1,000. Both bills would require additional state resources.

"Rounds told students that higher education is ‘on a collision course' and that K-12 is the biggest obstacle university have to receive funding," the Collegian reports.

"If you're not here to support the Regents, other people who are here all the time, just by sheer pressure, are going win this challenge for funding," Gov. Rounds reportedly told students.

A grant program that could bolster career and tech education for high school students got a stamp of approval from a House committee Thursday, but the committee wasn't ready to committee funds to the program.

Under HB 1230, school districts that work collaboratively to establish multidistrict technical education centers may be able to access grant dollars to help pay start up costs.

The legislation originally contained $2 million to fund the grant, but the appropriation was stripped in committee to give legislators more time to find supporting funds.

Rep. Hal Wick, R-Sioux Falls, said the bill will help meet the needs of high school students who might drop out of school and provide school districts with a tool to deal with a law passed last session that raise the compulsory attendance age.

Many districts are already planning multidistrict centers, Wick said, including Madison, Aberdeen and Sioux Falls. The Watertown School District has been operating a multidistrict for several years, and could also benefit from the grant.

Diana Miller, a registered lobbyist for the ESD+6 schools, opposed the legislation. She told lawmakers to focus on adequately funding K-12 education before devoting funding to new programs.

The bill will move on to House Appropriations, where lawmakers will decide whether or not to fund it.

An effort by Gov. Rounds' administration to raise the amount of growth required to access growing enrollment dollars failed earlier this session. Two other proposals - which would have increased funding sent to growing schools - have also died.

The latest, HB 1231, was defeated 10-3 by the House State Affairs committee earlier this week.

Opponents of the bill argued that large districts can absorb students into classrooms without full payment in the current year. The legislature should give the new policy a chance to work before changing it, they said.

Legislation that would require districts to lose 10 students before qualifying for declining enrollment funds died on the House floor Wednesday.

Rep. Kari Weems, R-Sioux Falls, introduced HB 1289 to limit the amount of dollars flowing to districts that do not experience what she said was a significant drop in enrollment. The change, she said, would save the state $400,000.

Opponents argued that the legislation would be a cut to small schools and would mean the Legislature would be going back on an agreement made last year.

"Here we go again - a dollar here a dollar there, we give it to you once but we're going to take it away a year later," said Rep. Paul Dennert, D-Columbia, who urged lawmakers to vote against what he called a "nit-picky" proposal.

The bill was defeated 25-44.

Another proposed change - found in HB 1288 - will likely pass. The minor change says that school districts can't receive both increasing and declining enrollment dollars. Instead, districts will receive the larger of the two amounts.

A Rapid City lawmaker says school boards have not used state aid increases to offer higher teacher salaries and that it's time the legislature to take over.

Rep. Mike Buckingham, R-Rapid City, offered comprehensive amendment to HB 1262 Thursday that establishes a three-tiered salary schedule for all teachers in South Dakota - a change that Rep. Buckingham said must be done to ensure South Dakota moves out of 51st in average teacher salary.

He said that the legislature provided more than $30 million in new funding for K-12 education last year, yet the legislature drew criticism for not doing enough to raise teacher salaries.

"As everybody on this committee realizes, teacher salaries are not our responsibility," Buckingham said. "Those are the responsibility of local school boards."

In many states, he said, the legislature takes complete control of teacher salaries - a move he categorized as complete removal of local control.

Under the plan, which would take full effect in 2015, starting teachers would make $39,000. Educators can earn a maximum of $44,000 after their sixth year, provided the teacher earns an advanced degree or becomes nationally certified.

To advance through the schedule, teachers must meet a number of benchmarks and must demonstrate an impact on classroom achievement.

While the bill does establish significantly higher salaries for teachers, critics of the proposal will likely point out that the proposal contains no additional funding.

The legislation will get full hearing on Tuesday.

Lawmakers gave first approval Tuesday to a pilot program that would make every school district financial transaction available online in a searchable database.

Rep. Al Norvstrup, R-Aberdeen, said he introduced HB 1317 as a way to ensure taxpayers know where their money is being spent.

To start, three districts would have to provide financial information - including every check, the amount and the vendor name - to the Department of Education, which would then publish the information to a centralized web site. All districts may eventually be required to participate.

Wade Pogany, a representative of the Department of Education, opposed the legislation. He told committee members that district financials are already a matter of public record and that any citizen can access those records from the school district.

Pogany quoted statutes that require school districts to make financial records a part of the legal minutes - records that have to be published in the newspaper and filed at the district's office. Any citizen that wants the information can get it, he said.

For a centralized database to work, Pogany said, all schools would have to have uniform accounting systems to ensure the Department of Education can process the information quickly.

Despite opposition, the committee endorsed the concept. It will move to the House floor for debate.

Rep. Mike Buckingham, R-Rapid City, introduced HB 1225 as an effort to provide lawmakers with information on whether education funds are being used wisely.

"In Sioux Falls, you have new schools being built right on the border of the district," Rep. Buckingham said. "I don't think those are wise use of dollars."

He told lawmakers that he didn't know what the study would produce, but at the very least study would provide direction on how districts should structure programs to make the best use of the resources available.

Wade Pogany, a representative of the Department of Education, opposed the legislation, saying the bill was unclear as to the scope of the study. He also pointed out that the department just completed a study - the State Aid Study Task Force - that covered efficiency in the formula.

Legislators agreed that the study would be needed, passing the legislation on a 8-5 vote.

A house committee told the Department of Education Tuesday to assess whether South Dakota high schools are offering a 21st Century education.

Member of House Education approved HB 1300, legislation that directs the Department of Education to develop a framework for 21st Century High Schools and requires school districts to report on progress towards implementing the model.

The framework, a work product of South Dakota's Partnership for 21^st Century Skills, is currently being developed by the Department of Education. Education Secretary Dr. Rick Melmer told members of the ASBSD Board of Directors in January that the framework could be available this spring.

According to Dr. Melmer, the framework includes initiatives that can be implemented with little or no cost. The plan, among other things, includes efforts to make high schools more relevant, rigorous and results-oriented.

While the plans will not be mandatory, the legislation does require districts to report on whether elements of the plan have been implemented.

Democratic leaders in the state senate Thursday morning pushed a plan to cap growth in state government and provide an additional $100 million to K-12 school districts.

Senate Minority Leader Scott Heidepriem, D-Sioux Falls, used information from ASBSD's School Funding Realities to point out that K-12's share of the state budget has dropped over the past decade.

Money that hasn't been spent on state aid has been used to fund growth in state government, Heidepriem said.

Using a combination of state trust fund revenue and state reserves in combination with state government growth above 3 percent, SB 149 would deliver more than $100 million to K-12 in excess of yearly inflationary growth. The effort would be fully funded in six years.

Custer Superintendent Tim Creal testified in favor the bill.

Creal presented committee members with a five-year forecast of general fund revenues for the Custer School District. The analysis showed that, even if enrollment stayed the same, the district would end up in a deficit by 2013.

Tamara Darnall, a representative of Gov. Rounds' office, picked apart the funding mechanism of the bill, saying the legislation would break state government.

She also outlined Gov. Rounds current budget, saying SB 149 would deprive other areas of state government and hurt health service providers, stall state government employee salary increases and force college tuition to increase.

Sen. Heidepriem, in his rebuttal to Darnall's testimony, told committee members that the administration's rebuke of ever K-12 funding increase ignores the problems school districts are facing.

"What's she saying on behalf of the administration is things are just fine - we like the status quo," Heidepriem said.

"We lost ground between 1995 and 2005," he added. "If it gets to be 2015 and we look back and the same thing is true, we'll have only ourselves to blame."