Blue Ribbon Panel on Education looks at salaries

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO AM) - The blue ribbon panel on education in South Dakota today tackled the difficult issue of raising teacher salaries.

The Commissioner of Finance and Management, Jason Dilges says one proposal is to raise average teacher pay to $48,000.

Dilges says a school district with under 200 teachers may have average pay of $42,000, a district with 200 to 600 teacher may have a target salary of $48,000 and if the district is 600 or above they could be at $54,000.  But, Dilges says, the statewide average would be $48,000.               

This is the panel’s last meeting before making its recommendations to the governor and legislature.