Northern Valley Beacon

The SDEA Education Political Action Committee (EPIC) interviews South Dakota legislative candidates each election cycle on issues of public education. EPIC has a record of endorsing more Democrat candidates than Republican. That causes much whining and gnashing of teeth over in the Republican camp.

Within factions of the Republican Party, dismantling public education is part of the platform. In South Dakota public education is underfunded and generally dismissed as a taxpayers' nuisance.

EPIC has endorsed the following candidates in Brown County:

District 2

Senate
Jim Hundstad

House of Representatives:
H. Paul Dennert
Burt Elliott

District 3

[No recommendation for Senate]

House of Representatives

Tom Black
Ted Kneebone

Jim Hundstad, Burt Elliott, and Ted Kneebone have all been teachers, with Burt Elliott currently a teacher at Aberdeen Central. District 3 Senate candidate, Al Hoerth, who came into the race too late for an interview, retired from Aberdeen Central this spring.

If you want to see what teachers face in South Dakota and the reasons that bright and talented students go to other states to teach, if that is their calling, read the post regarding the EPIC endorsements on South Dakota War College and the thread of comments. This thread may represent what controls education in South Dakota more than we like to admit.