Opponents fall short of derailing new social study standards

Board votes to accept controversial rewrite, incorporating more history, civics into learning

New social study standards will be implemented in South Dakota public schools over the next two years.

Following hours of public testimony and debate Monday in Pierre, the South Dakota Board of Education Standards voted 5-2 to adopt education standards that put more weight into history and civics. The vote caps a years-long rewrite of social studies curriculum in South Dakota, a process that brought criticism from progressives and conservatives along the way.

“Today is a wonderful day for the students in South Dakota. They are our future,” Gov. Kristi Noem said in a statement following the board’s vote. “Now, they will be taught the best social studies education in the country, one that is a true accounting of our history. We want our children to have honest and factual classroom teaching so they can be engaged participants in our civil society for the rest of their lives.”

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