• Download Public Views 2010: K-12 Education in South Dakota (full report, PDF file)

Note: The initial release of Public Views 2010 had incorrect column totals for Table 17: NCLB Achievement Goals. We have uploaded a corrected version of Public Views to ASBSD.org, with a notation on that table. The error was made by ASBSD staff, not Zogby International. In the interest of transparency, ASBSD has uploaded a the results of the 2010 polled provided to ASBSD by Zogby International, which you can download here.

• 85 percent are confident that students are receiving a quality education.
• Teacher quality and college readiness rank atop the list of factors that voters weigh when determining whether children are receiving a quality education.
• When asked to grade schools based on the quality of education students receive, 77 percent gave schools in their community an A or B.
• A lack of funding and difficulty hiring teachers are the biggest challenges their local school districts are facing.

• 77 percent trust local school boards to make decisions that impact public schools
• 72 percent think local school boards should make decisions related to school consolidation.
• South Dakota voters believe the primary function of school boards is to ensure a school district provides a quality education.
• 85 percent agree that school districts should invest in training to help school board members become more effective in their positions.

• 62 percent believe K-12 education funding should be increased and just 3 percent felt funding should be decreased.
• 77 percent believe additional investments in K-12 education will result in a better education for students in their communities.
• South Dakota voters overwhelmingly chose K-12 education when asked to prioritize how state government spends tax dollars.
• 78 percent disagreed with the state’s recent decision to use one-time federal education aid to balance the state’s budget rather than send the money to schools directly.
• 81 percent are concerned that K-12 education spending, as a percent of the state budget, has decreased in the past decade.
• 77 percent would support an initiated measure to gradually restore the share of the state budget devoted to K-12 education to 39 percent without raising taxes.
• 55 percent said they would support increasing the state’s sales tax if they knew the money would go to the state’s K-12 schools.

• 46 percent had an unfavorable view of the No Child Left Behind Act, but more than 70 percent thought it was likely that schools could meet the proficiency targets that are central to the law.
• 70 percent believe a teacher’s salary should be tied to his or her student’s academic performance.
• 52 percent do not believe the state should develop standards for voluntary pre-kindergarten education.
• 62 percent believe it is a good idea for the state to adopt common core standards in math and English language arts.

• Download Public Views 2008: K-12 Education in South Dakota (full report, PDF file)