SD bill allowing pilot charter school moves ahead

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – South Dakota’s Senate education committee has moved forward a scaled-back bill that would allow the state to create a pilot charter school.

The legislation supports South Dakota’s application for a federal grant to help it build a residential school designed to improve academic achievement among American Indian students. The year-round school, which would serve grades 9-12 and offer two years of post-secondary education, likely would be built in the Black Hills.

State Education Secretary Tom Oster had broadened the Senate bill into one giving the state power to establish charter schools after he was contacted by some interested school districts. But on Thursday he asked the committee to scale it back to the single pilot program, saying there wasn’t enough time to bring people together and work through the details.

“Charter schools in South Dakota is a huge leap,” he said.

A limited number of states will receive money for Race to the Top, a U.S. Department of Education program aimed at encouraging and rewarding states that help improve student success.

South Dakota’s plan would be an outgrowth of a successful summer initiative that has evolved into the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, or “GEAR UP,” honors program. The effort, which is funded by a different federal grant, targets mainly American Indian students and prepares them for post-secondary education.

Preliminary parameters put South Dakota’s grant proposal at between $20 million and $75 million.

The curriculum would focus on science, technology, engineering and math to address the nation’s need for scientists and engineers. The initiative also infuses Indian family culture into the curriculum by establishing partnerships with tribal communities. Students would receive additional support through mentoring, internships, research experiences and cultural guidance.

“This is going to be a school of hope,” said Keith Moore, chief diversity officer at the University of South Dakota. “It’s going to be a school of promise.”

Charter school bills were killed in committee twice last year. At the time some senators expressed concern that charter schools could weaken the public school system, but they also urged the Rapid City School District to do more to deal with a high dropout rate among American Indian students.

Oster said that simply having a charter school bill does not guarantee federal funding, and states with more restrictive language are less likely to receive money. The broader Senate bill scrapped Thursday would have been one of the strictest, he said, requiring that no charter school be formed without the public school board’s approval.

That would not have gone over well with those passing out federal funds, but Oster doesn’t see South Dakota ever adopting a charter school bill without that caveat.

“If we ever are to have charter schools, we’ll never get started in this state without beginning with a very restricted environment for them,” he said. “We’re a very conservative lot and we want to see it, and we want to make sure that it works right before we would open it up.”