The Education Bureaucracy Continues to Dig...

HB 1072 would require members of Education Standards Board be part of the education bureaucracy

Testimony (Opposition to HB 1072) – South Dakota Education Secretary Joe Graves (1:16:25 – 1:22:27) – 17 January 2024

“Mr. Chair, members of the Committee, my name is Joe Graves, Secretary of Education here and I don’t mean to surprise Mr. Monson but I am in opposition to the Bill. Umm, I do so for a number of reasons. Ah, first of all, this Bill is an unreasonable intrusion upon the authority of the Executive branch. Our state, taking its cue from the Founding Fathers and for the federal government they designed divides its government into three separate branches: the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial. As such it’s important that each of those branches guard, jealously guard, even the powers assigned to them. And when one branch threatens to intrude upon another such efforts need to be rejected. If they aren’t, the fragile balance between will be upset. And that balance is what carefully protects the freedom and rights of the people. This Bill would infringe upon the authority of the Executive branch, and for that reason alone should be rejected. Additionally, keep in mind that Senate confirmation already provides a reasonable check on the Executive authority in this area.”

“Second, even if such restrictions on Executive authority were permissible or reasonable, imposing new restrictions as a result of a single instance of unhappiness with a gubernatorial action or appointment, is imprudent. Responding to a recent perceived injury without sufficient time to even gauge its impact constitutes a knee-jerk reaction. And knee-jerk reactions are no way to legislate or govern.”

“Third, take a look at the relationship between the public and parents on one side and educator/schoolboards on the other. Every time I think we’ve hit bottom, somebody starts digging. Parents were upset about COVID restrictions during the pandemic and many became distrustful of educational leadership. Frankly, many still are. Today, many parents are concerned about historical revisionism in textbooks and age-inappropriate content in library books, and concern about their children being indoctrinated in values to which they’re adamantly opposed. Are these concerns warranted? You can judge that for yourselves. But regardless, it’s hard to deny the reality that public schools have lost some of the trust that they once enjoyed among parents and communities. And if you need evidence for that, homeschool numbers this year hurdled 10,000 in South Dakota for the first time.”

“Parents, frankly, are voting with their children’s feet because of the broken-down relationship.”

“So how do schools earn that trust back? They do it by welcoming EVERYONE to the table. By listening to EVERY voice. By RESPECTING every voice. And they won’t do it if *we* *keep* *digging.* They won’t earn it back by telling parents at board meetings they aren’t welcome. They won’t do it by seeking the intervention of federal law enforcement officials to treat parents across the country as terrorists, as the head of the National School Boards Association did. And they won’t do it by closing off a majority of state board seats to educators only. Whether a fair characterization or not, it signals to parents that teachers and administrators know best, and that they and people like them do not really HAVE a seat at the table. This Bill puts one more perceived notch in the belt of education treating parents as if they have no legitimate role or say in their children’s education.”

“Fourth, there’s a fundamental understanding of the role of the Board of Education Standards. The BOES makes decisions about what should be taught and to what degree. Educators on the other hand make decisions about how best to do so. A number of people have talked about medical professionals this morning. When we go to a physician, we the parents, the patients, decide what it is we want. Relief from pain, cure for disease, a longer life. Then we turn it over to the doctor to tell us how best she can reach that goal: therapy, medication, surgery.”

“In the educational process, society tells us what to teach and to what degree. Teachers and other school people make decisions about how best to teach. Given that, why would a majority of BOES members need to necessarily be educators?”

“Finally, education, most people will agree, is in an area right now, in an era right now, rather, of disruption. In fact, disruptive innovation, a concept Clayton Christensen of the Harvard Business School has eloquently defined. And when you’re experiencing such a disruption, when a field is trying to modernize and redefine itself the best people you can have at the table to help with this difficult endeavor are not trapped in the existing model; in the existing paradigm. We need outsiders. People who think differently. If the language of this Bill seeks to prevent their arrival at the very time we need voices from business and industry and military in every sector of society so that we listen to all their voices and select the best, this Bill attempts to limit a majority from one field and to not permit board members from other parts of the country. At least until they’ve lived in South Dakota for five years.”

“Education is in a time of tumult and redefinition. The worst thing we could do is tell those innovative ideas that they have either no seat at the table or no seat that can ever hope to win a majority among decision makers.”

“I understand the general intent of this Bill to be positive, and I understand the intent of its sponsor to be sincere. I do. However, the bill has a net effect of undermining the separation of powers when a legislative check already exists on the Executive. It makes a permanent change to the Board of Education Standards and reaction to a negative perception of a single instance in the Board’s history. It potentially worsens the already floundering relationship public education has with many parents. That they, by dismissing their involvement as both irrelevant and a nuisance. It undermines society’s claim and the purpose of schools. And it blocks the innovative, creative, outside-the-box thinking we desperately need in the educational environment. And for these reasons, I ask that you reject House Bill 1072, and of course I will stand by for questions.”