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South Dakota voters reject teacher merit-pay plan
• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- South Dakota voters have rejected Gov. Dennis Daugaard's plan to give bonuses to top teachers, phase out tenure and recruit candidates for critical teaching jobs.
• The Legislature approved the Republican governor's proposal earlier this year, but the state's main teachers union, the South Dakota Education Association, collected enough signatures to put the measure on the ballot for a public vote.
• Daugaard argues the measure will improve student achievement. But opponents contend it could hurt the quality of education because teachers might stop collaborating to help students as they compete for bonus money.
• The plan would have given annual $5,000 bonuses to the top 20 percent of teachers in each school district and provided scholarships and bonuses to recruit teachers in critical fields.
• GOP's Noem wins 2nd term as lone SD House member
• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Republican Rep. Kristi Noem has defeated Democratic challenger Matt Varilek to win a second term as South Dakota's lone member of the U.S. House.
• Varilek is a former member of Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson's staff. He argued throughout the campaign that Noem had shirked her duties by skipping committee meetings and failed to protect South Dakota's interests in getting a farm bill passed before Congress adjourned before the election.
• Noem is 40-year-old rancher and former state lawmaker from Castlewood who was first elected to Congress as part of the 2010 Republican wave. She says she has worked to cut federal spending and taxes, has a 99 percent voting record in committees and did all she could to get a farm bill passed.
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Republican Romney carries SD in presidential race
• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Republican Mitt Romney has defeated President Barack Obama to win South Dakota's three electoral votes.
• Romney continues a long tradition of Republicans winning presidential races in heavily GOP South Dakota.
• No Democrat has carried South Dakota since 1964, when President Lyndon Johnson prevailed over Republican challenger Barry Goldwater.
• The presidential race was expected to be close nationally, so both candidates (Continued on page 29)
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