Excerpts From Recent South Dakota Editorials

Editors: Please note that The Associated Press welcomes editorial contributions from members for the weekly Editorial Roundup. Three editorials are selected every week. Contributions can be made by email at [email protected].

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The Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, August 1, 2015

Boost reading skills by expanding preschool

Reading skills are vital. No one would argue that point.

That’s why it’s concerning that the number of early readers who are struggling here in Sioux Falls seems to be climbing.

Thirty-eight percent of Sioux Falls third-graders — almost two out of five — are reading below their grade level. And the problem has worsened slightly in the past two years in spite of laudable efforts by local educators and administrators to alter that trend.

There are many reasons why a child struggles with reading. Poverty, instability at home and individual learning challenges are among the contributing factors.

But one proven aid for early reading success is preschool, and South Dakota should do more to give children the opportunity to attend one.

Studies have shown that pre-kindergarten programs help children develop cognitive skills and enhance literacy, yet nearly two-thirds of all 3- and 4-year-olds in this state are not attending preschool, according to a report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

We are one of just 10 states that offer no public funding or support for pre-kindergarten services. If we’re serious about improving reading proficiency in this state, it is time for that to change.

Low-income families have access to the federally funded Head Start preschool program, but the waiting list across South Dakota stands at about 1,500 names.

Those who can afford private preschool programs and live in cities such as Sioux Falls where those options are available, can provide the early learning experience for their children.

The Sioux Falls School District, with funding from the Sioux Empire United Way, has a Preschool Opportunity Program. In its first year, the program helped 82 students and has been reauthorized for the coming year.

But the need is so much greater.

Some lawmakers have pushed for funding for public preschool programs in recent years, but the proposals have been defeated in Pierre.

In a state with a high-profile push for quality workers, shoring up the reading proficiency of our students should warrant some attention.

The Sioux Falls School Board is focused in on this problem — setting a goal that every student should be reading at grade level or above by the time he or she finishes third grade. Third- and fourth-grade reading scores are a predictor of high school graduation, college achievement and subsequent career success.

That goal hadn’t been met in this year’s review, so board members are asking for a full review and recommendations later this year on how to alter the disturbing downward trend.

We know that a reading support program, Reading Recovery, was a victim of budget cuts in recent years. Maybe it’s time to restore that effort.

Whatever the next steps become, the school board is taking the right approach in making reading proficiency a priority in Sioux Falls.

It’s time for the state to treat it as a priority as well, and we can start by helping make pre-kindergarten services available to more of our children.

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The Rapid City Journal, Rapid City, August 2, 2015

Humane Society should get help

If you go to their website right now, you will see the faces of more than 80 cats and dogs in need of a new home. If you or a loved one lost a pet in the past, it is likely that you called this place while desperately searching for what amounts to a family member for many of us. When the Rapid City council rejected a couple’s request to keep goats on their property, the animals were taken to this shelter.

These are just some examples of how the Humane Society of the Black Hills serves our community every day. But now the nonprofit says it needs help or it will have to reduce service or even consider closing its doors, which would shift a substantial burden to local government.

The question is whether the city council and mayor’s office is willing to consider that possibility if they decline to approve a small increase in the city’s contribution to the nonprofit’s overall budget.

On Wednesday, the Humane Society made its pitch, asking for $20,000 more in fiscal 2016, which would increase the city’s contribution to $278,000 and help restore city budget cuts made in 2014. Overall, the city’s contribution represents a little less than one third of the organization’s current budget of $779,000. Pennington County contributes $50,000 annually and the rest comes from fundraising efforts.

The request comes as the council considers Mayor Steve Allender’s proposed $156,083,878 budget, which represents a 6 percent increase from the fiscal 2015 budget of $148,737,109.

The request to have its funding restored to 2014 levels evidently was not embraced by two city council members who sit on the Legal and Finance Committee, which heard from Jacque Harvey, the executive director of the Humane Society.

Darla Drew and Ritchie Nordstrom both said that if the organization needs more money it should step up its fundraising and marketing efforts. Drew even suggested the organization run television ads to encourage donations from residents whose “hearts are open to these animals” while overlooking the fact that the Humane Society likely lacks the funds for a paid media campaign.

But beyond that, Drew’s and Nordstrom’s comments demonstrated an indifference to the financial challenges the Humane Society faces and the consequences its closure would mean to the entire community.

For example, Police Capt. Don Hedrick told the Legal and Finance Committee that if the shelter reduces service or closes, police officers will have to be diverted from their patrol duties to handle animal calls, hardly an ideal situation for any party.

But that would be a minor inconvenience for taxpayers compared to what would happen if the Humane Society closed its doors. Can you imagine what a city-run animal shelter would cost? For a comparison, the proposed administrative costs for the office of the mayor and city council is proposed at $751,392 for 2016.

The reality is that the request for an additional $20,000 to restore funding to 2013 levels is reasonable and a drop in the city’s $156 million budget bucket.Yes, the Humane Society needs to justify its request and should open its books to the city if need be.

But the city council needs to seriously consider the request and in the near future sit down with the Humane Society’s board and work with them on a long-term funding solution for an organization that provides an essential service for the entire community.

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Sturgis and the hard numbers

Yankton Daily Press and Dakotan, Yankton, August 4, 2015

There’s little doubting the fact that the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is one of South Dakota’s premier festivals. That may feel like an odd word to use to describe this event, but it genuinely is festival, a community celebration and an extraordinary tourism magnet in every sense. That state takes pride in it and surely benefits from it.

Without question, the Sturgis rally is as much a part of South Dakota’s identity as pheasant hunting, the Corn Palace, Czech Days and more.

As such, we must also contemplate the flip side of this extravaganza — the grim underbelly that is tied to this event every year, so much so that officials come to expect it.

As of Tuesday morning, eight people had already been killed in incidents that were directly tied to the Sturgis rally. While this compares to just one at the same point a year ago, the fact is that fatalities are basically expected with the rally each year.

There had also been at least 208 DUI arrests, 50 felony drug busts and numerous other arrests, citations and warnings for a variety of other infractions.

Granted, it’s a big year because it’s the 75th anniversary of the rally. According to Tony Mangan, a spokesman for the South Dakota Highway Patrol: “It’s just more of everything as we expected. There are more people here, more traffic, more motorcyclists.”

The question is, can anything be done to bring more safety and more, let’s say, civility to this showcase event?

That answer may be truly elusive. After all, it has been for a very long time.

All that we can do individually is take care when we are out on the roadways and keep our eyes peeled for motorcyclists passing through the area. Give them a wide berth and that provides a certain level of safety.

But it’s not nearly enough. It never has been.

The Sturgis rally annually draws hundreds of thousands of people — and perhaps even a million this year — and with it always comes an atmosphere that generates more dangers and more errant behavior. This does not apply to everyone who attends the rally; it’s not even close to a majority. (If it were, there’d be nothing left of the Black Hills but a greasy spot.) But it does come with this piece of territory and the character of the rally.

Ultimately, this is South Dakota’s event, and therefore it is South Dakota’s issue.

No one wants to do away with the rally or diminish its broad and profitable appeal. But the secondary issues that ride into the state with the rally need to be addressed more vigorously, either through aggressive education or even greater vigilance. There is no way to completely remove the dangers and the issues, but working to curb them and control them is something that should be a higher priority, probably with discussions between lawmakers and law enforcement. It might even be worthy of a task force study.

Whether any of it could make an impact is unknown at this point. It all has become ritualistically problematic. But it’s hard to watch this every year and wonder if something more could be done to make this attractive spotlight event safer for everyone.