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Quality pre-k standards a priority for school board members
By From staff reports
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EmailNovember 25. 2009 6:00AM
Establishing voluntary quality standards for pre-kindergarten education needs to be a priority for state lawmakers, representatives from locally elected school boards decided Nov. 20 in Pierre.
Local school board members resolved to make pre-k standards a priority in the upcoming legislative session during the Associated School Boards of South Dakota (ASBSD) Delegate Assembly, the annual policy-setting meeting for the state’s school board members.
This is the third consecutive year that the school board association has voted to make the issue a priority. In the past two legislative sessions, a measure to allow the State Department of Education to develop voluntary standards has earned near unanimous bipartisan support in the South Dakota Senate, only to stall in the House of Representatives.
According to Duane Alm, ASBSD President and a local school board member from Aberdeen, school board members are ready to help refocus the legislative debate. He believes past attempts have failed because the legislation has been mischaracterized as mandatory or costly.
“School board members aren’t interested in mandates,” Alm said. “Pre-k standards need to be voluntary, both for our school districts and for private pre-k providers.”
As for costs, Alm says given the state’s financial challenges, school board members aren’t ready to fund pre-k at the expense of the public school funding.
“The state’s budget is in dire straights and our education system continues to be dramatically underfunded,” Alm said, “We have challenges that need to be addressed before funding pre-k.”
Once the debate moves past misconceptions, Alm hopes lawmakers can focus on helping more children grasp basic concepts earlier. He said minimum voluntary standards can provide better information for parents and increase the number of young children who are prepared to for a strong start to their education.
“More information for parents is always better,” Alm said. “We want parents to have some standard to gauge which preschools are focused on quality early learning.”
Formula change, “other revenue” also priorities
School board members adopted dozens of positions and resolutions, but prioritized three for the upcoming legislative session. In addition to voluntary pre-k standards, the school board association will also ask lawmakers to change the state’s funding formula and to rebuff efforts to redistribute non-formula school funding.
The state school board association has historically advocated for increased education funding. But the state’s tightening budget and conditions of the federal stimulus act will likely dictate funding decisions for the upcoming session. Alm says ASBSD will push for reforms that will trigger when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act expires.
“The state’s top education and budget officials said last year that the formula must be left alone until after the recovery act ends,” Alm said. “We hope to improve the formula and have it in place for 2012.”
Delegates also approved a resolution supporting the current distribution of “other revenue.” The term references education funding that is generated in local districts and doesn’t come from the state. Gross receipts tax and revenue from county fines are included in “other revenue”.
School board members want to ensure that money generated locally stays within the local district, Alm said.
Local school board members resolved to make pre-k standards a priority in the upcoming legislative session during the Associated School Boards of South Dakota (ASBSD) Delegate Assembly, the annual policy-setting meeting for the state’s school board members.
This is the third consecutive year that the school board association has voted to make the issue a priority. In the past two legislative sessions, a measure to allow the State Department of Education to develop voluntary standards has earned near unanimous bipartisan support in the South Dakota Senate, only to stall in the House of Representatives.
According to Duane Alm, ASBSD President and a local school board member from Aberdeen, school board members are ready to help refocus the legislative debate. He believes past attempts have failed because the legislation has been mischaracterized as mandatory or costly.
“School board members aren’t interested in mandates,” Alm said. “Pre-k standards need to be voluntary, both for our school districts and for private pre-k providers.”
As for costs, Alm says given the state’s financial challenges, school board members aren’t ready to fund pre-k at the expense of the public school funding.
“The state’s budget is in dire straights and our education system continues to be dramatically underfunded,” Alm said, “We have challenges that need to be addressed before funding pre-k.”
Once the debate moves past misconceptions, Alm hopes lawmakers can focus on helping more children grasp basic concepts earlier. He said minimum voluntary standards can provide better information for parents and increase the number of young children who are prepared to for a strong start to their education.
“More information for parents is always better,” Alm said. “We want parents to have some standard to gauge which preschools are focused on quality early learning.”
Formula change, “other revenue” also priorities
School board members adopted dozens of positions and resolutions, but prioritized three for the upcoming legislative session. In addition to voluntary pre-k standards, the school board association will also ask lawmakers to change the state’s funding formula and to rebuff efforts to redistribute non-formula school funding.
The state school board association has historically advocated for increased education funding. But the state’s tightening budget and conditions of the federal stimulus act will likely dictate funding decisions for the upcoming session. Alm says ASBSD will push for reforms that will trigger when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act expires.
“The state’s top education and budget officials said last year that the formula must be left alone until after the recovery act ends,” Alm said. “We hope to improve the formula and have it in place for 2012.”
Delegates also approved a resolution supporting the current distribution of “other revenue.” The term references education funding that is generated in local districts and doesn’t come from the state. Gross receipts tax and revenue from county fines are included in “other revenue”.
School board members want to ensure that money generated locally stays within the local district, Alm said.
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