State aid to education is a big issue for the South Dakota legislature. This year attracting and keeping teachers has entered into the mix. Most of that relates to teacher pay, and what schools can afford to pay. A task force has been looking at options concerning capital outlay funds. Those are special funds, with their own property tax assessments that have traditionally been used for building upkeep and buying textbooks among other things. Lieutenant Governor Matt Michels, who has been involved with the task force, says they are looking for a way to cap and redirect the use of those funds…
Michels says the goal of capping those funds is to move more dollars to schools general funds…
Michels says those changes could lead to a significant increase in state aid to schools…
Michels says he is optimistic that some type of reform can get passed in this session.