A few years ago, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Heather Hunsaker of Hot Springs, S.D., sought a new educational path for her daughter after learning that the 5-year-old would be required to wear a mask all day at a public school.

In response, Hunsaker and her husband homeschooled their daughter but later sent the girl and her younger sister to classes at Bethesda Lutheran School and Early Learning Center, a private Christian school and day care in Hot Springs.

The flexibility to decide where and how their children will be taught is a principle that has become fundamental to the thinking of the Hunsakers and an increasing number of parents who, both before and after the pandemic, have turned to homeschooling or other educational options outside the traditional public school system.

And it’s one critical reason Hunsaker supports legislative attempts in South Dakota to enact a voucher program that would allow parents to move their children, and the money the state uses to educate them, and shift them to a private school like Bethesda.

“I believe the voucher system would give parents more freedom of choice of where to educate their children,” Hunsaker told News Watch in an interview. “One of the biggest hurdles parents have in bringing their children to a private school is the cost.”

According to a recent poll conducted by News Watch and the Chiesman Center for Democracy at the University of South Dakota, nearly half of registered South Dakota voters support creation of a school voucher program in the state.

South Dakota is not one of the 16 states that offer school vouchers. A legislative measure to enact a voucher system failed by a wide margin in its first committee stop in 2023.

As of Jan. 10, a voucher bill had not yet been filed for the 2024 legislative session, which just began, though some backers do expect some form of legislation will be filed this session.

The poll showed that 48.8% of respondents support development of a voucher system, while 45.6% do not, with 5.6% undecided. Support for vouchers in the poll was highest among Republican respondents, at 64.5%, but was lower among Independent/No Party Affiliation voters, 41.4% support, and lowest among Democrats, 24.6% support.

Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy conducted the cellphone and landline poll of 500 random registered South Dakota voters Nov. 27-29, 2023. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.5%.

In general, school vouchers allow parents to use the per-student government funding typically provided to public schools to instead pay for tuition at a private school of their choosing. 

On a basic level, opponents said the program hurts public education by shifting significant dollars away from schools that are required to provide education to any student who enrolls. The per-student funding forms the foundation of school budgets that pay for teachers, administrators, materials and buildings to house them.

Conversely, proponents frequently argue that parents should have the right to determine where their tax dollars for education are spent, including at private schools if they decide that is the best path for their children to learn and succeed, and especially if the child has struggled in the traditional public school environment.

In estimates related to the 2023 voucher proposal, which featured a three-year phase-in, the voucher program would attract about 3,300 primary school students in the first year, with a total price tag of $12.9 million. As the vouchers expanded to middle schoolers in year two and and finally to high school students in year three, the LRC estimated that about 9,650 students in total would request vouchers and cost about $45.1 million annually.

The political action group Americans for Prosperity is a proponent of vouchers and has testified in favor of a voucher program in the past, according to Don Haggar, a former state lawmaker who is director of the South Dakota chapter of the national organization. 

On Jan. 8, the group released its priorities for the upcoming legislative session and included a strong focus on school choice policies, such as vouchers, that “allow parents to freely pursue the education that fits their child’s unique needs, regardless of ZIP Code or family income.”

About 90% of South Dakota children attend public schools, with roughly 138,000 in public schools and 14,000 in private schools.

“At the heart of it, what we’re really interested in is recognizing that every child has unique needs and they ought to have the opportunity to pursue the kind of education to achieve their fullest potential,” Haggar said. “And sometimes that’s not where they are right now in the education system.”

While some parents may have the time, financial means and abilities to homeschool their children or send them to private schools, many do not, Haggar said. 

A voucher system or other choice programs that provide tax incentives or other financial educational assistance to parents simply provide parents with the opportunity to make the best possible decision for their child’s education, he said. That is especially true for parents whose children are not succeeding or thriving in traditional public schools or those who want a religious component baked into the teaching, Haggar said.

“Some parents have a child with unique needs and they don’t have the income to send their kids to the private schools that are around or to homeschool,” he said. “For some, they just need another option.”

Haggar said he expects some form of voucher legislation will be proposed in the 2024 legislative session but likely will not have the votes to pass.

Doug Wermedal, executive director of the Associated School Boards of South Dakota, said the organization opposes vouchers because they siphon state funds away from public schools and do not lead to improved outcomes for students. Private schools also lack of academic and financial transparency, he said.

"How can a state wring its hands about teacher pay and then at the same time turn those taxpayer dollars over to private schools?" he asked.

— This article was produced by South Dakota News Watch, a non-profit journalism organization located online at sdnewswatch.org.