Teacher Compensation Policy
Shortage-subject Areas: South Dakota offers the Dakota Corps Scholarship Program, which provides full tuition and reimbursement for generally applicable fees to selected qualified applicants who promise to enter a "critical need occupation." The required number of years to work is equal to the number of years of scholarship received, plus one year. For the 2017-2018 school year, the state has defined the following occupations as critical need: high school math teacher, high school science teacher, and elementary/secondary special education teacher.
High-need Schools: South Dakota does not
support differential pay by which a teacher can earn additional compensation by
teaching at high-need schools.
South Dakota offers a salary incentive for teachers who earn National Board Certification. Teachers are eligible to receive a stipend of $2,000 a year for five years. However, this type of differential pay is not tied to teaching at high-need schools.
Support
differential pay initiatives for effective teachers in high-need schools.
South Dakota should encourage districts to link compensation
to district needs. Such policies can help districts achieve a more equitable
distribution of teachers.
Expand
differential pay initiatives for teachers in shortage-subject areas.
Although the state's program is a desirable recruitment and
retention tool for teachers early in their careers, South Dakota should expand its
program to include those who are already part of the teaching pool. A salary
differential is an attractive incentive for every teacher.
Consider tying National Board supplements to teaching in high-need schools.
This differential pay could be an incentive to attract some of South Dakota's most accomplished teachers to low-performing schools.
South Dakota declined to respond to NCTQ's analyses.
8B: High-Need Schools and Subjects
States should help address chronic shortages and needs. States should ensure that state-level policies (such as a uniform salary schedule) do not interfere with districts' flexibility in compensating teachers in ways that best meet their individual needs and resources. However, when it comes to addressing chronic shortages, states should do more than simply get out of the way. They should provide direct support for differential pay for effective teaching in shortage subject areas and high-need schools.[1] Attracting effective and qualified teachers to high-need schools or filling vacancies in hard-to-staff subjects are problems that are frequently beyond a district's ability to solve. States that provide direct support for differential pay in these areas are taking an important step in promoting the equitable distribution of quality teachers.[2] Short of providing direct support, states can also use policy levers to indicate to districts that differential pay is not only permissible but necessary.