Pierre – Late last week, Rep. Bethany Soye introduced HB 1216, which prohibits collective bargaining for public school employees and removes all due process rights and protections for veteran teachers. The following statement may be attributed to South Dakota Education Association (SDEA) President Loren Paul:
“Every day, South Dakota’s educators enter their schools and classrooms with one goal in mind: to provide a great education for every student. This bill does nothing to help them meet this promise. Simply put, it silences teachers and ties their hands when they need to be advocates for their students, schools, and communities.
The past two years have been a real challenge for our schools and students. Staffing shortages and a lack of available substitutes have increased the workloads of educators and administrators to unsustainable levels. Now, educators find themselves fighting a bill that undermines their profession and the work they do every day for students. Bottom line: this will undercut the state’s ability to recruit and retain teachers as other states have found after passing similar legislation.
Those who push HB 1216 show a total lack of respect for educators, parents, and communities who are tasked with working together to meet the needs of students. HB 1216 will not solve any of the pressing issues facing our schools; it will only bring division and demoralize those who work in our schools. Ultimately, this bill will hurt students. SDEA is 100 percent committed to defeating this harmful legislation”
