One year later, did salary boost keep teachers in S.D.?

Teachers across the state got raises in 2016, but one year later, state and school officials say it's too soon to tell if higher salaries are keeping more teachers in South Dakota. 

Last June, South Dakota began collecting an extra half-cent sales tax aimed at increasing the state's last-in-the-nation teacher pay. 

Today, the number of open teaching positions is lower than it was this time last year, but the state doesn't have the research or evidence to conclude that the tax increase was responsible. 

"We don't really have the data to give it any credit or blame or anything," said Randy Royer, director of the South Dakota Teacher Placement Center.

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Royer added that while numbers are going "in the right direction," it could turn around, especially with the state's lagging sales tax revenue.

The latest data from the Teacher Placement Center shows openings for the month of June at a five-year low, with 173 openings compared to 186 last June. 

From September to June, the overall number of openings is also down year-over-year, continuing a slight overall decrease from peak teaching vacancies in 2015. 

While the state can't contextualize the data's relationship to teacher pay, at the local level the impact of the pay increase is more apparent.

In Garretson, Superintendent Guy Johnson has seen several teachers who were eligible to retire instead choose to keep teaching. 

Johnson doesn't know for sure how much of a factor salaries played, but added, "I don't think that hurt anything as far as keeping them in the business." 

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In Sioux Falls, Human Resources Director Becky Dorman hasn't seen a change in the number of open teaching positions, and that's not a bad thing. While the pay raise hasn't decreased overall vacancies, it may have prevented shortages from getting worse. 

"I think it really gave us a chance to keep our head above water ... I'm afraid what things would have looked like if we didn't have the half-penny sales tax," Dorman said. 

Jarod Larson, superintendent of the Brandon Valley School District, said the increase is too new to have an impact on the pipeline of incoming teachers, but the money is having a positive impact in terms of retention and applicants. 

And higher salaries are causing more students to think about a career in education, Larson said. 

"We have some young people who are giving that career a real hard look," Larson said.

Tony Venhuizen, chief of staff for Gov. Dennis Daugaard, agreed that it's too soon to say for sure what role teacher pay increases are playing in recruitment and retention. 

Anecdotally, though, he's seeing teachers stay longer and schools get more applicants for open jobs. 

"It remains a struggle in rural areas," Venhuizen said. "Just as it is for professions of all types, but overall, good progress."