Issue:

The South Dakota House of Representatives passed a bill to raise sales tax by a half a cent to increase teacher salaries.

Stance: 

This bill shows the importance of educators in the state which has been ignored before now.

Teachers are the foundation of education. A teacher does more than just give information to students. They are responsible for teaching lessons that are not part of a curriculum and now the South Dakota House of Representatives passed a bill that will recognize how important teachers are in the state.

Everyone has had at least one teacher who they will remember forever. That teacher made an impact on them as a student, individual and citizen. 

Out of the 50 states and Puerto Rico, South Dakota pays their teachers the least and why? Aren’t teachers just important in South Dakota as anywhere else? 

South Dakota has finally made an attempt to rectify this problem. The bill states sales tax will increase by half a cent and those funds will then go to teacher salary. Increasing the sales tax will amount to $107.4 million in the 2017 fiscal year. This tax will increase teacher salary to an average $48,500 compared to approximately $30,000, according to the National Association of Education website.

We, at The Collegian, believe that this bill is a good idea which will only reap benefits. For the past year, university students across the state and teachers have been in the media speaking about low teacher pay. The state is now aware of the low teacher salary and something is finally being done.

As college students, this is something we should be concerned about because if teachers are paid a low salary in South Dakota then they will leave when they graduate. The mass exodus of teachers will cause the quality of education to decrease because teachers are having to cover subjects they are not qualified to teach and they are being overworked.

The only argument to this bill was that funding could be found without having to raise sales tax, but where would those funds come from? If this bill goes through the Senate, this is the first time since 1969 since the state has raise sales tax and it was for teachers, the individuals who are educating South Dakota’s children and the leaders of tomorrow.

While this bill is not perfect, it is still a step in the right direction. This bill will help to establish the importance of education in South Dakota. The House passing this bill is just one of the many battles to increase teacher pay, but the war is not over.

The Collegian staff meets weekly and agrees on the issue of the editorial.

The editorial represents the opinion of The Collegian.