Even after extensive amendments, the South Dakota Senate Education committee killed the charter school bill, sponsored by Senator Tom Katus, D-Rapid City. The Rapid City Journal article said the bill had been stripped down before this second vote by the Education committee.
The public school graduation rate in Rapid City, SD is 78%. Last year only 37% of Rapid City's Native American students graduated.
"That's just tragic to give up on another generation of kids who can be rerouted through a charter school curriculum," Katus said. "This legislature has a chance right now to begin salvaging lost educational opportunities for this generation and the next.
South Dakota remains one of the ten states without public charter schools. In Colorado, 7.07% of the public school students attend a charter school. The Colorado law passed in 1993 with bipartisan sponsorship: Sen. Bill Owens (R-Aurora) and Rep. Peggy Kerns (D-Denver).
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