Dear Members of the South Dakota Board of Education Standards,
The South Dakota School Superintendent Association Executive Board opposes the Proposed South Dakota Social Studies Standards. The School Superintendents of South Dakota formally request the members of the State Board of Education Standards vote to not accept the currently proposed social studies standards at their upcoming meeting on April 17 in Pierre. The School Superintendents of South Dakota join the outpouring of 940 formal opposing comments submitted to the Department of Education by South Dakotans. The School Superintendents stand with all nine tribes in South Dakota and the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association that have passed formal resolutions opposing the 2022 proposed social studies standards.
The Superintendents recommend the Board of Education Standards propose an alternative motion to request the submittal of the SD Social Studies Standards Revised (July 26, 2021 Version) by the Secretary of Education for review as required by SDCL 13-3-89. It would be our recommendation that the revision committee follows past precedence on reviewing and integrating public comment between State Board meetings as outlined in SDCL 13-3-90.
The Executive Board of South Dakota School Superintendents opposes the proposed standards for many reasons and highlights the following:
● School Boards, as elected by their local community, determine the curriculum used in their school district, and the Board of Education Standards adopts standards. The proposed standards outline a classical curriculum rather than proposing standards. Examples indicating curriculum rather than standards included required memorization, required books and documents to study, and specific task completion.
● South Dakota’s current social studies standards are in a 44-page document. The proposed standards are 178 pages with specific details many undergraduate college courses do not require.
● Elementary children need to focus most of their time on learning to read and on learning basic mathematics. English/ Language Arts and Math build the foundation for success in all other content areas. South Dakota elementary students are proud Americans who say the Pledge of Allegiance daily. Many school districts partner with local American Legions to teach patriotism throughout their K-12 school careers to embrace their community, state, and country through our current social studies standards.
● The content is developmentally inappropriate. First-grade standards introduce multiple wars, second-grade standards introduce barbarian invasions, and fourth-graders are introduced to political corruption. These are a few of many examples of content that should not be introduced to young children.
● Middle school and high school students' current amount of time in social studies is aligned with current SD High School Graduation requirements. The SD BOES would need to realign the graduation requirements due to the increase in the volume, specificity, and sequence of proposed standards. For example, the proposed standards do not include a Geography course which is currently a requirement for graduation.
● All nine tribes in South Dakota and the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association have passed formal resolutions opposing the 2022 Proposed Social Studies Standards.
● The State Legislature, local community businesses, and school districts across South Dakota have invested millions in the infrastructure of workforce development courses through the Career and Technical Education pathways. The time commitment required to support the proposed standards takes away from the time students spend in courses supporting their desired career pathway.
Social studies are the foundation of teaching American democratic principles. The Executive Board of Superintendents respectfully asks each of the members of the Board of Education Standards to uphold these principles.
Please hear the South Dakota voices and respect the democratic process in which you serve such an integral role.
Our state motto is, “Under God, the People Rule.” The people of South Dakota are speaking and respectfully following the practices and processes our Country and our State were built upon with fidelity because they trust the process and trust their voices will be heard. We respectfully request you listen to the people of South Dakota and oppose these standards.
-Respectfully,
South Dakota School Superintendent Association Executive Board
Dr. Summer Schultz, President
Mr. Tim Graf, Past-President
Mr. Joel Jorgenson, President-elect Mr. Brian Jandahl, Treasurer
Dr. Jennifer Lowery, Secretary
Dave Hutchison, Region 1; Pat Mikkonen, Region 2; Orion Thompson, Region 3; George Seiler, Region 5; Justin Downes, Region 6;
Michael Fischer, Region 7;
Becky Guffin, AASA Governing Board; Mark Naugle, AASA Governing Board; Donavan DeBoer, AASA Federal & State; Rob Monson, SASD Executive Director
UPDATE 4/13/23: Since this letter was released, the following organizations also released opinions coming out against the social studies standards proposed: High School Principals Organization, Special Education Administrators, South Dakota Association of Elementary School Principals (SDAESP), and the South Dakota Association of Supervision of Curriculum Development. In addition, 1,312 pages of public comment will be submitted at the April 17, 2023 meeting to vote on whether the standards are adopted. Earlier studies showed a strong majority of opinions against adoption of the proposed standards.
