http://yankton.net/articles/2012/10/31/community/doc5090a5f0e8d4e619812610.txt

 

D18 Candidates Discuss Education

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net

In a change from typical forum formats, Tuesday night’s District 18 candidate forum spoke about education — a topic that has been hotly debated ever since the deep cuts to education that took place a few years ago.

The forum, which took place at the Technical Education Center in Yankton, featured Senate candidates Jean Hunhoff, an incumbent Republican, and Democratic challenger Dave Allen. The District 18 House candidates are Democratic incumbent Bernie Hunhoff and Charlie Gross and Republicans Dr. Tom Stotz and Mike Stevens. Gross was unable to attend the forum because he teaches at the prison on Tuesday evenings.

All of the questions at the forum were submitted by members of the Yankton Education Association, made up of teachers and other administrators in the Yankton School District (YSD).

Although most of the questions focused on what each of the candidates would do to help better education in the state, some were about other topics.

One question that got varied responses  dealt with how each candidate would stand up to his or her party or the governor on an issue with which they disagreed.

“As a Democrat in a Republican-led government in Pierre, you can make all the difference as a minority there,” Bernie Hunhoff said. “You can still speak your mind, write and present bills and Democrats have been able to accomplish a lot in the past few years.”

He added that a strong minority is essential to government.

Allen said one of the things he would like to do if he gets elected is bring back a family voice in government.

“If I’m elected I want to bring back a voice for the families in South Dakota,” he said. “I want to try to also get the money that was cut out of education put back in.”

Stevens said that in order to get anything done in Pierre, there needs to be cooperation between both parties, no matter who is in the majority.

“We need to look at the individuals elected to lead in Pierre, rather than looking at their political party,” he said.

Jean Hunhoff said she has stood up to her party and Gov. Dennis Daugaard on multiple occasions.

“I have often weighed the interests and concerns I’ve had with some bills to go along with what my constituents need here,” she said. “I’ve advocated for a strong pension fund and have taken opposite positions from some of my colleagues, but I do it for my constituents and the betterment of South Dakota.”

Stotz said if he is elected, he will fight for an increase in teachers salaries, which are currently right near the bottom in the nation.

This brought up the topic of Referred Law 16 and the impact it could have on teachers across the state. Referred Law 16 would create a teacher scholarship program, enact a system for math and science teachers’ bonuses, create a mandated state requirement system for teachers and eliminate state requirements for teacher tenure.

“The educational experience is about the whole system, including classroom experiences and extra-curricular activities,” Stotz said.

Allen said that teachers in the state are doing a good job right now and “we don’t need to fix something that is not broken.”

“The best government is the government that is closest to the people,” Stevens said. “We need to let people closest to the teachers evaluate them how they want to through cooperation not competition.”

Jean Hunhoff agreed, saying teacher compensation and evaluation should be done at the local level, not in Pierre.

Bernie Hunhoff added that education is the main issue that Republicans and Democrats don’t get along on.

“Most of the issues in the Legislature we typically get along well on, but where the minority party has tangled has been with education and education funding,” Bernie Hunhoff said. “Teacher retention is one of the most critical public policy issues we are facing.”

Another topic discussed was the issue of education spending as a government priority.

“Economic development is a priority in every state, but I don’t want to have to cut education in order for economic incentives to be in place,” Allen said.

Stevens disagreed, saying both can be in place and can go hand in hand with each other.

“This is not a one or another type of deal at all,” he said. “I’m tired of us providing kids a good education, but them having to move out of state to find a job.”

Jean Hunhoff agreed, saying that without job growth, kids would have to leave South Dakota in order to find work.

“Economic incentives are programs in the state that will give young people jobs,” she said. “We are designing programs to meet the needs of the workforce.”

However, Bernie Hunhoff said there is not enough money available right now to have funding for both economic incentives and education.

Another topic the candidates did agree on was whether or not the education system could be privatized in the state, like other states across the country have done.

“I’m against the privatization of education,” Allen said. “It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of.”

Jean Hunhoff said she doesn’t think South Dakota residents would ever allow privatization to occur.

Bernie Hunhoff said he is concerned about the potential for profits with privatizing education.

“We don’t want to let education be a profit center for businesses,” he said.

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal