A new report says South Dakota schools are hitting goals for improving teacher pay, though the state remains near the bottom in this field nationwide.
South Dakota teacher salaries average out to just over $53,000, and when including the benefits package that number gets closer to $69,000.
That’s according to the yearly state aid report delivered to the school finance and accountability board.
Presenting for the Department of Education, finance director Cody Stoeser said districts are hitting some targets.
“For FY23, some very good news that all districts met their 2017 average teachers’ compensation," Stoeser said. "Not much more to mention about this, other than they exceeded their amounts from 2017 averages.”
Those 2017 averages were $47,000 before benefits and $60,000 after, Board chair Terry Nebelsick said there should be movement after six years.
“2017 has not been a moving target, so it’s a huge expectation that all districts should be beyond that by now,” Nebelsick said.
Though some schools aren’t within accountability regulations with cash reserves over what is allowed by state law. Stoeser explained the general fund regulations.
“This board has approved two resolutions in the past waiving the general cash balance requirements for school districts," Stoeser said. "For FY23 we had 17 school districts that did not meet that accountability, however three of those districts do not receive state aid and would not have been subject to any penalty required by law. The other 14 districts would have been subject to a penalty if there was no waiver.”
The districts with excess balances are Armour, De Smet, Faith, Freeman, Herreid, Meade, Miller, Mitchell, Mount Vernon, New Underwood, Plankinton, Spearfish, Tripp-Delmont, and Wessington Springs.
Despite hitting raise targets, South Dakota still ranks 49th among all states in teacher pay, according to the National Education Association.