SDEA Endorses Billion. (Isn't that like an Argus Endorsement?)

From a Billion for Governor campaign press release:
South Dakota Educators Political Involvement Committee (SD-EPIC), affiliated with the South Dakota Education Association (SDEA), has endorsed Dr. Jack Billion in the June 6th Democratic primary for governor.

The endorsement reads, in part:

"It is my pleasure to inform you that the SD-EPIC Steering Committee, upon recommendation of the EPIC interview committee, is recommending your candidacy for Governor of South Dakota in the 2006 primary election," according to the letter from Donna DeKraai, SD-EPIC president and Robert Whitehead, SDEA executive director. "We have many challenges ahead of us as we work to ensure that schools can afford to have quality public schools for all students. We believe you are committed to our goal of providing a quality public education for every child in South Dakota regardless of where they live."
How is an SDEA endorsement like an Argus Leader Endorsement? Republicans just don't get them. But, maybe that's an over simplification. Maybe what I should say is that "As a Republican, you're more likely to be endorsed by the Argus Leader, than you are by the SDEA."

I hear it time and again that while many local rank and file teachers are Republicans and proudly vote that way, local education associations and SDEA on a state level remain utterly politicized and dominated by Democrats.

I've heard more than one tale from Republican legislators and legislative candidates who have been called in to interview with local education boards, and the attitude they have is "why bother?" At times it seems that the only way that a Republican can get an SDEA endorsement is if they're unchallenged. And that's still an iffy proposition.

It's not that they don't care about education, many of them care intimately. But when you've run more than once, and everytime the association blindly supports the democrat, you tend to become a little jaded about the process.

In the 2004 election, the SDEA PAC, EPIC supported 9 Republicans and 41 Democrats. Of the Republicans, three were unopposed, and you could argue the rest were lopsided in GOP favor.

Tom Hennies was the only Republican to earn a donation of $500 and Alice McCoy (running against Gary Loudner, so it was a shoe-in) got $200. The rest got $100 donations, while 19 of the Democrats got over the "$100 base" PAC donation.

SDEA a Democrats only club? It's possible that it's not. But when the rubber hits the road, and the support is balanced 72% to democrats and 18% for Republicans, I'd say it's not probable. (note - that's just on the people supported - not the cash.)

Comments

Anonymous said…
I have never met a "proud Republican" educator in my life. And I went to school in rural South Dakota.
Anonymous said…
To the first "anonyous," I'm friends with many dedicated and lifelong educators who are also proud to be Republicans, despite their party's irrational positions on supporting (or undercutting) public education systems.

To PP, didn't George Mickelson get the SDEA endorsement in his Governor campaigns? He worked hard to get the title "education governor," and his mantra and his plan, which he claimed had been working, the more we do for economic development the move we can do for education, and the more we can do for education, the more we can do for economic development. Mickelson, who had served as the attorney for the Brookings School Board, called it the cycle of progress.

I think the SDEA endorsements were critically important to his narrow victory over Lars Herseth in 1986. Relating it to the more dubious Argus endorsement as a kiss of death sounds more like sour grapes.
Anonymous said…
As a TAR Camper in '89, I questioned Gov. Mickelson on an education issue and mentioned that SDEA endorsed him. He was quick to clarify that SDEA did not endorse either candidate in that election.
Anonymous said…
Don't forget that the SDEA is really nothing more than a labor union, and as such, always blindly endorses Dem candidates. The "hate the boss" attitudes of big labor have done nothing to improve economic development or education in the USA, and have driven thousands of jobs to foreign countries. This Republican registered as a Dem last week so I could vote for Wiese in the primary. Please join me, the deadline is tomorrow (May 22).
Anonymous said…
Sort of like Dems who support gun rights think, "why bother?" when trying to get an endorsement from the NRA. Face it, certain groups know which side of their bread is buttered. It doesn't mean the non-endorsed don't care about their issues, it just means the group feels stronger about the other candidate. I guess that's what most people call freedom of speech and freedom of association.
Anonymous said…
Anon at 10:22.

Give it a rest on the "unions drive jobs oversees" crapola. God forbid employees have any sort of equality when negotiating their working conditions. Jeebus. Get a clue.
Anonymous said…
Janklow was the first republican candidate for governor endorsed by SDEA. He received the endorsement in his race against Roger McKellips. One of the strangests days in any campaign was when all the Pierre republican volunteers were in the SDEA auditiorium stuffing envelopes with the endorsement announcement to be mailed to SDEA members.
David Newquist said…
In Brown County, the SDEA EPIC commmittee endorsed Republicans. The endorsement is based upon reponses to educational issues and support for education. The local committee endorsed Steve Cutler. But during the sessions following that election, Cutler accrued an anti-education record.

NEA and SDEA were professional organizations until they became collective bargaining organizations. They held the professional workshops and annual teachers' inservice seminars. Bill Janklow in conjunction with SDEA president Diane (I think that's how her name is spelled) Miller put an end to that. Collective bargaining became the main task of SDEA because state policy and law manipulated it into that role. That manipulation allows the sisters of perpetual resentment to dismiss it as a labor union.

If one looks at what the single-party rule has made of public education, one must ask why any professionally qualified teacher would work in South Dakota. The answer is nearly always family connections.

Republicans generally do not get endorsed by SDEA committees because they don't like public education, they dismiss teachers as low-level bonded servants, they meet any request for finanical support with the reply that it doesn't do any good to simply throw money at education, and for other reasons see Sibby.
Anonymous said…
SDEA has gone to great lengths to point out that the Billion recommendation "Is for the primary ONLY" Other decisions will be made once the primaries are over. We want the best choices to win the primaries for the general.
Anonymous said…
Gee, lets see, after Rounds first term, our teachers have the lowest pay in the country, schools are falling apart, and the Republican majority in Pierre can't get a long term funding package in place causing at least 56 districts to sue the state. So why isn't the SDEA endorsing a Republican, they have done so much for education in South Dakota to this point?

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