Secretary’s Column
By Dr. Rick Melmer
South Dakota Department of Education
What does our
business community think?
During the 2005 legislative session, I had
a chance to be involved in the “Business Day Luncheon,” which included about
200 business leaders from across South Dakota.
Rather than having a guest speaker at the
luncheon, David Owen, the state chamber director, chose to have the audience
react to a series of questions on topics such as taxes, unemployment and
education. The answers were entered electronically using devices donated by US
Bank, and the responses were immediately displayed on a screen for the entire
audience to see. I thought I could share a few of the responses relating to
educational questions that were posed to the group.
Direction: Give a letter grade to South
Dakota’s K-12 schools.
- A - 9%
- B - 54%
- C - 30%
- D - 4%
- F - 3%
Direction: Give a letter grade to your
school district.
- A - 21%
- B - 54%
- C - 21%
- D - 3%
- F - 2%
Question: Of the 2010 Education Initiative
topics, which is the most important?
- High school reform - 38%
- Administrator/teacher
quality - 32%
- Pre-school education -
17%
Question: Would you support a special levy
for schools, if you knew specifically what the levy would be used for?
Question: Do you think that teachers’
salaries should be improved in South Dakota?
Question: How should the money be used to
improve salaries?
- Across the board
increases - 13%
- Minimum teacher salary -
17%
- Performance pay - 59%
- Extra work for extra pay
- 3%
- Market value (pay more
for specific positions) - 13%
As I viewed the results, it was apparent
that the business community was supportive of education. At the same time, a
prime focus on education spending involved results. Overall, I felt that the
business community recognizes the quality of our educational program and wants
to support our efforts. |
