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tions Committee has been hearing an extensive briefing from the SD Department of Education and all legislators are interested in the issues of education assessment and work-force readiness. Providing adequate funds to ensure a quality public education has always been the highest priority of the Democratic Caucus. An extensive report from the four Technical Institutes reminded legislators of the vital importance of these schools to our workforce development.
• Simply put, there are not enough skilled workers in SD.  Some of the reasons cited for this include our aging population and declining number of young post-secondary grads in their twenties. The population centers are growing on the far east and far west sides of the state with small towns in the vast center.  But to those of us who live in the vast rural areas of the state, these are not simply "fly-over" or "drive-through" spots on the map.  This is our home and if our state is to prosper, these hundreds of small towns must prosper too.
• Make no mistake; other states want our students and our quality labor force. The Tech School Administrators testifying before the Joint Appropriations Committee reminded us that there has been increased recruitment of SD high school students by surrounding states.  These states have dramatically increased their marketing and recruitment of our students.  Many surrounding states have lower education costs; and once in other states, students find internships or employment and don't return to SD.
• Our four Technical Schools in Watertown, Mitchell, Rapid City, and Sioux Falls could help provide real solutions to skilled workforce shortages, but not if we continue to pay less and expect more. The PSA (per student allocation) for Technical Institutes has decreased by 32% from FY09 to FY13.  Factoring in the annual inflation factor and the drop is even more dramatic; a 38% decline in the PSA since 2009. This has put an increased burden on students to fund their own education.  Among our 7 neighboring states (IA, MN, MT, NE, ND, SD, & WY) SD ranks last among the seven states in the percentage of state and local aid we provide for our students. (SD provides 28%; Minnesota provides 33%; Iowa = 35%; Montana = 35%; ND = 34%; Wyoming = 58%; and Nebraska = 59%).
• To address these needs, in addition to offering increased help to students through scholarships, we need to establish a formula where the Tech School PSA should increase 8% annually until caught up to the 2010 levels.  This would help hold down tuition increases and help close the gap with industry for instructor pay.  The Governor's previous attempt to hire skilled workers from other states through the Manpower program led to close to a million taxpayers' dollars spent to an out-of-state recruitment firm with very few workers recruited.  The program is now being

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