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• Reaction to the decision fell largely on party lines: Democrats cheered the ruling, while Republicans were dismayed.
• Daugaard's decision not to implement the federal health care law adds to the partisanship that is making it difficult to solve the nation's soaring health care costs and lack of access to affordable care.
• We also believe that, before the November election, the Obama administration will accelerate adopting more of the Affordable Care Act's provisions -- many of which have yet to be written -- that may require state cooperation, or the federal government will act without state participation. What results may not be to South Dakota's liking.
• In our view, the governor should go ahead and create the insurance exchange in anticipation of Obama's re-election or a possible Republican free-market alternative.

• In November, the American people will decide between Obama and Romney based, in part, on their opposing visions for health care. Until then, Daugaard should put partisanship aside and act to improve access to affordable health care for all South Dakotans.
• ___
• Argus Leader, Sioux Falls. June 30, 2012
• Yearlong teacher training worth support
• Hands-on is often the most effective way to learn.
• It makes some sense then that those learning to be teachers would benefit from additional time in the classroom before graduating and taking their first teaching jobs. If assorted details and hurdles can be overcome, South Dakota likely will see more teacher candidates teaching for longer amounts of time before they are hired as certified educators.
• Last year, 10 college seniors co-taught in Sioux Falls elementary schools in the first year of a grant-funded pilot program aimed at increasing their experience in the classroom beyond the traditional partial-year student teaching. When it was over, educators liked it, and seven of the 10 were hired for first-year jobs in the Sioux Falls district.
• The effort is a recognition that the setting in which teachers learn should change from the college classroom to the elementary, middle and high school classrooms. Being an educator in today's technical world with increasingly complex standards and measurements can be a challenge. A number of teachers quit the profession within the first five years. In addition to preparing and actually teaching a classroom of children, teachers also face more and more black and white measurements of

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