Historical public education information in South Dakota, 2011-2015

---

This article does not contain the most recently published data on this subject. If you would like to help our coverage grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia.

---

Education policy in the U.S.

Public education in the U.S.

School choice in the U.S.

Charter schools in the U.S.

Higher education in the U.S.

Glossary of education terms

Education statistics

This page contains archived information on South Dakota's public education system, primarily from 2011-2012, but also from other years due to the availability of data at the time it was written. For more recent information, view South Dakota's public education page.

The South Dakota public school system (prekindergarten through grade 12) operates within districts governed by locally elected school boards and superintendents. In 2012 South Dakota had 128,016 students enrolled in a total of 704 schools in 171 school districts. There were 9,247 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 14 students, compared to the national average of 1:16. There was roughly one administrator for every 310 students, compared to the national average of one administrator for every 295 students. On average South Dakota spent $8,805 per pupil in 2011, which ranked it 41st highest in the nation. The state's graduation rate was 83 percent in 2012.

State agencies

See also: South Dakota Department of Education

The mission statement of the South Dakota Department of Education reads:

“

The South Dakota Department of Education is dedicated to enhancing learning through leadership and service.

”

The state's chief education official is the Secretary of Education. The Secretary of Education is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the governor, with the advice and consent of the state senate. As of June 2015, the officeholder of this position was Melody Schopp.

The South Dakota Board of Education is composed of nine members, all of whom are appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the state senate. Members serve four-year terms.

Regional comparison

See also: General comparison table for education statistics in the 50 states and Education spending per pupil in all 50 states

The following chart shows how South Dakota compared to three neighboring states in school year 2011-2012 with respect to number of students, schools, the number of teachers per pupil, and the number of administrators per pupil. Further comparisons between these states with respect to performance and financial information are given in other sections of this page.

Regional comparison, 2011-2012
State	Schools	Districts	Students	Teachers	Teacher/pupil ratio	Administrator/pupil ratio	Per pupil spending
South Dakota	704	171	128,016	9,247	1:13.8	1:309.8	$8,805
Montana	826	500	142,349	10,153	1:14	1:274	$10,639
Nebraska	1,090	288	301,296	22,182	1:13.6	1:291.5	$10,825
North Dakota	513	223	97,646	8,525	1:11.5	1:216.4	$11,420
United States	98,328	17,992	49,521,669	3,103,263	16	295.2	$10,994
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Public Elementary/Secondary Education Survey", 2011-12 v.1a. National Center for Education Statistics, "Table 2. Number of operating public schools and districts, state enrollment, teacher and pupil/teacher ratio by state: School year 2011–12" U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

Demographics

See also: Demographic information for all students in all 50 states

The following table displays the ethnic distribution of students in South Dakota as reported in the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data for 2011-2012.

Demographic information for South Dakota's K-12 public school system, 2011-2012
Ethnicity	Students	State percentage	United States percentage**
American Indian	14,950	11.68%	1.10%
Asian	1,966	1.54%	4.68%
African American	3,390	2.65%	15.68%
Hawaiian Nat./Pacific Isl.	124	0.10%	0.42%
Hispanic	4,993	3.90%	24.37%
White	100,417	78.44%	51.21%
Two or more	2,176	1.70%	2.54%
**Note: This is the percentage of all students in the United States that are reported to be of this ethnicity.

Enrollments by region type

See also: Student distribution by region type in the United States

A plurality of students in South Dakota attended rural schools during school year 2011-2012. Approximately 74 percent of the state's students attended rural or town schools, compared to the approximately 26 percent who attended city or suburban schools.

Student distribution by region type, 2011-2012 (as percents)
State	City schools	Suburban schools	Town schools	Rural schools
South Dakota	25.8%	0.8%	27%	46.5%
Montana	23.8%	1.9%	35%	39.4%
Nebraska	33.9%	12.2%	23.5%	30.4%
North Dakota	26%	8.9%	20.2%	45%
U.S. average	28.9%	34%	11.6%	25.4%
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD)

Academic performance

Education terms
For more information on education policy terms, see this article.
School board elections portal Glossary of education terms School choice on the ballot Education on the ballot

NAEP scores

See also: NAEP scores by state

The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Compared to three neighboring states (Montana, Nebraska, and North Dakota), South Dakota had the smallest share of fourth grade students who scored at or above proficient in both math and reading in school year 2012-2013.

Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013
	Math - Grade 4	Math - Grade 8	Reading - Grade 4	Reading - Grade 8
South Dakota	40%	38%	32%	36%
Montana	45%	40%	35%	40%
Nebraska	45%	36%	37%	37%
North Dakota	48%	41%	34%	34%
U.S. average	41%	34%	34%	34%
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014

Graduation, ACT and SAT scores

See also: Graduation rates by groups in state and ACT and SAT scores in the United States

The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for South Dakota and surrounding states during the 2012-2013 school year. All statements made in this section refer to that school year.

Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores*
State	Graduation rate, 2012		Average ACT composite, 2012		Average SAT composite, 2013
	Percent	Quintile ranking**	Score	Participation rate	Score	Participation rate
South Dakota	83%	Second	21.8	81%	1,760	3%
Montana	84%	Second	22	61%	1,595	25%
Nebraska	88%	First	22	78%	1,734	4%
North Dakota	87%	First	20.7	100%	1,799	2%
U.S. average	80%		21.1		1,498
*Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Rate (except for Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma, which did not report “Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate,” but instead used their own method of calculation). **Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express

Dropout rate

See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states

The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades 9–12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for South Dakota was lower than the national average at 2.6 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 3.1 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.

Educational choice options

See also: School choice in South Dakota

As of June 2015, school choice options in South Dakota included: inter-district and intra-district open enrollment policies and online learning programs. In addition, about 8.68 percent of school-age children in the state attended private schools in the 2011-2012 academic year, and an estimated 2.67 percent were homeschooled in 2012-2013.

Education funding and expenditures

See also: South Dakota state budget and finances

Breakdown of expenditures by function in fiscal year 2012
Source: National Association of State Budget Officers

According to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), South Dakota spent approximately 14.3 percent of its fiscal year 2012 budget on elementary and secondary education. As a share of the budget, this was down 2.40 percentage points, or 14.4 percent, from fiscal year 2008, when the state spent 16.7 percent of its budget on elementary and secondary education.

Comparison of financial figures for school systems
State	Percent of budget (2012)	Per pupil spending (2011)	Revenue sources (2011)
			Percent federal funds	Percent state funds	Percent local funds
South Dakota	14.3%	$8,805	20.26%	28.93%	50.81%
Montana	15.5%	$10,639	16.35%	44.1%	39.55%
Nebraska	15.3%	$10,825	15.04%	30.33%	54.63%
North Dakota	13.8%	$11,420	14.8%	49.93%	35.27%
Sources: NASBO, "State Expenditure Report," Table 8: Elementary and Secondary Education Expenditures As a Percent of Total Expenditures U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

Revenue breakdowns

See also: Public school system revenues in the U.S.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system revenues in South Dakota totaled approximately $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table and chart below present further detail, including revenue sources, for South Dakota and surrounding states.

Revenues by source, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)
	Federal revenue	State revenue	Local revenue	Total revenue
South Dakota	$262,395	$374,648	$658,100	$1,295,143
Montana	$264,594	$713,886	$640,138	$658,100
Nebraska	$571,969	$1,153,077	$2,076,882	$3,801,928
North Dakota	$186,844	$630,430	$445,402	$1,262,676
U.S. total	$74,943,767	$267,762,416	$264,550,594	$607,256,777
Source: National Center for Education Statistics

\| \n <pbars size=650x300 title="" grid=true ymin=0 ymax=100 legend colorscheme=excel> ,Federal revenue,State revenue,Local revenue South Dakota,20.26,28.93,50.81 Montana,16.35,44.10,39.55 Nebraska,15.04,30.33,54.63 North Dakota,14.80,49.93,35.27 U.S. total,12.34,44.09,43.56 </pbars>

Public school revenues by source, fiscal year 2011 (as percents)

Expenditure breakdowns

See also: Public school system expenditures in the United States

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system expenditures in South Dakota totaled approximately $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table and chart below present further detail, including expenditure types, for South Dakota and surrounding states.

Expenditures by type, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)
	General expenditures**	Capital outlay	Other***	Total expenditures
South Dakota	$1,105,964	$199,636	$34,799	$1,340,399
Montana	$1,506,467	$103,728	$25,691	$1,635,886
Nebraska	$3,222,194	$349,683	$85,120	$3,656,997
North Dakota	$1,099,271	$124,967	$28,501	$1,252,739
U.S. total	$520,577,893	$52,984,139	$29,581,293	$603,143,325
**Funds spent operating local public schools and local education agencies, including such expenses as salaries for school personnel, student transportation, school books and materials, and energy costs, but excluding capital outlay, interest on school debt, payments to private schools, and payments to public charter schools. ***Includes payments to state and local governments, payments to private schools, interest on school system indebtedness, and nonelementary-secondary expenditures, such as adult education and community services expenditures. Source: National Center for Education Statistics

\| \n <pbars size=500x300 title="" grid=true ymin=0 ymax=100 legend colorscheme=excel> ,Current expenditures,Capital outlay,Other South Dakota,82.51,14.89,2.60 Montana,92.09,6.34,1.57 Nebraska,88.11,9.56,2.33 North Dakota,87.75,9.98,2.28 U.S. total,86.31,8.78,4.90 </pbars>

Public school expenditures, fiscal year 2011 (as percents)

Personnel salaries

See also: Public school teacher salaries in the United States

Note: Salaries given are averages for the state. Salaries may vary between a state's urban, suburban, and rural districts and should be adjusted for cost of living. For example, a MacIver Institute study of average teacher salaries in 60 metropolitan areas found that salaries in New York City were the third-highest in absolute figures but 59th-highest when adjusted for the cost of living.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average national salary for classroom teachers in public elementary and secondary schools declined by 1.3 percent from the 1999-2000 school year to the 2012-2013 school year. During the same period in South Dakota, the average salary decreased by 0.4 percent.

Estimated average salaries for teachers (in constant dollars**)
	1999-2000	2009-2010	2011-2012	2012-2013	Percent difference
South Dakota	$39,728	$41,456	$39,450	$39,580	-0.4%
Montana	$43,896	$48,845	$49,354	$49,999	13.9%
Nebraska	$45,421	$49,345	$48,955	$48,931	7.7%
North Dakota	$40,810	$45,862	$46,825	$47,344	16%
U.S. average	$57,133	$58,925	$56,340	$56,383	-1.3%
**"Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis. The CPI does not account for differences in inflation rates from state to state."

Organizations

Unions

In 2012 the Fordham Institute and Education Reform Now assessed the power and influence of state teacher unions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Their rankings were based on 37 different variables in five broad areas, including: resources and membership, involvement in politics, scope of bargaining, state policies and perceived influence. South Dakota ranked 34th overall, or "weak," which was in the fourth of five tiers.

The main union related to the South Dakota school system is the South Dakota Education Association (SDEA), an affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA). SDEA is the largest education association in the state. For the 2003 tax period SDEA had: $2.31 million in total revenue, $2.10 million in total expenses and $655,432 in total assets.

Government sector lobbying

See also: South Dakota government sector lobbying

The main education government sector lobbying organization is the Associated School Boards of South Dakota.

Transparency

Open.SD.gov is South Dakota's transparency website. Information pertaining to contracts, revenues, expenditures, and more is accessible here.

Studies and reports

State Budget Solutions education study

See also: State spending on education v. academic performance (2012)

State Budget Solutions examined national trends in education from 2009 to 2011, including state-by-state analysis of education spending, graduation rates and average ACT scores. The study showed that the states that spent the most did not have the highest average ACT test scores, nor did they have the highest average graduation rates. A summary of the study is available here. The full report can be accessed here.

See also

• Public education in South Dakota
• South Dakota
• Education Policy in the U.S.