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Time for more and better education, not less
By Pat Boyd, Executive Director, South Dakotans for
the Arts
In many South Dakota communities, there is a sense of resignation about the plight of our schools. Some individuals are willing to accept a most un-American concept—that next year may not be better. They concede that the fourth grade class will have to get by with less than last year’s class and that tenth graders next fall will just not get as complete an education. Others are willing to accept that the band will have to make do with ancient uniforms and that the art teacher will now come in for only half an hour once a week. It is too bad, but dance will be dropped from the PE curriculum and the school secretary will have to supervise the yearbook committee. The small and large budget cuts go on and on, and everyone tries to cope.
But what is the real cost of the cuts and stringent budgetary measures? How much color can be removed from the educational picture before the life goes out of our schools? How attractive will these communities be to new families and those who might return to raise their children here? And looming before some is the haunting idea that band uniforms may not matter, if enrollment drops to the point where we cannot form a band, or a football team.
It is time to realize that our children need more and better education than we did, not less. They need every advantage we can muster. We need to realize that the erosion of cultural experiences and creativity from education is as devastating to our rural communities as the drought. If there are fewer children to educate, then let us educate them better. We need to give each child our full attention, and a complete education.
School boards alone cannot find the answers to the challenges that plague education across our state, especially with fewer resources. Let us give those school boards more, and help them make next year better. The answer may lie with more parent participation, more creative funding solutions, more combined programs. If we always think "More, rather than less," we can make things better. The solutions will be different in every community, but the challenge to make next year a better school year is worthy of our best efforts.
For more about cultural development in South Dakota, visit www.sdarts.org, a joint website of South Dakotans for the Arts and the South Dakota Arts Council.