PIERRE, S.D. (KELO.com) If the head of the School Administrators of South Dakota, Rob Monson, could wave a magic wand over the new school year, this is what would happen.
"The state of South Dakota would have to come up with the additional money to put into education to make it a Pre thru 12, versus a K thru 12 system."
South Dakota does not fund pre-school education.
Monson points out that 76 percent of South Dakota kids under the age of 6 have both parents working - the highest in the country - so, it's not like in the old days when young children could get basic education at home.
"...Grew up in households where Mom, maybe, got to stay home and so some of those early childhood things that happen in a home like that, happened. So, kids were read to, they worked on numbers, they worked on the alphabet."
The School Administrators of South Dakota hope to have tools in place this fall to help school districts identify levels of excellence for preschool programs. Monson says, maybe, there could be public-private partnerships to encourage more preschool education in the state. He realizes that state funding will be a tough hill to climb.
SASD Levels of Excellence can be found on the organizations website: