Post by Logan on Feb 8, 2016 5:05:45 GMT -6
SIOUX FALLS | Jessica Ries settles in behind the counter of Tip Top Tux and phones a couple to remind them of an upcoming fitting before their wedding. In the back room, beyond the dapper mannequins and vest swatches of pink, yellow and blue, a tote filled with review packets for 24 of her Hayward Elementary School students awaits her attention if she gets any down time.
Ries dismissed her fourth-graders at 2:45 p.m. and, after an hour-long teachers' meeting, hurried to the strip mall shop to fill a three-hour evening shift. There's no time to head home or step out for dinner; a chicken breast reheated in the microwave will have to suffice.
"I don't get home until 9 p.m. those nights," said Ries, 26. "That's twice a week, and then I work weekends."
Second and even third jobs are the norm for many school teachers in South Dakota, where teacher pay ranks lowest in the nation, according to a state education task force. Gov. Dennis Daugaard has proposed a half-cent sales tax increase to help raise teacher pay, but his plan needs two-thirds approval in both the House and the Senate — a tough proposition in a legislature with an anti-tax lean.
Read more: siouxcityjournal.com/news/state-and-regional/south-dakota/low-pay-forces-south-dakota-teachers-to-hold-nd-rd/article_c08a6178-093a-5ac1-a1be-55fbf1b1226e.html
Ries dismissed her fourth-graders at 2:45 p.m. and, after an hour-long teachers' meeting, hurried to the strip mall shop to fill a three-hour evening shift. There's no time to head home or step out for dinner; a chicken breast reheated in the microwave will have to suffice.
"I don't get home until 9 p.m. those nights," said Ries, 26. "That's twice a week, and then I work weekends."
Second and even third jobs are the norm for many school teachers in South Dakota, where teacher pay ranks lowest in the nation, according to a state education task force. Gov. Dennis Daugaard has proposed a half-cent sales tax increase to help raise teacher pay, but his plan needs two-thirds approval in both the House and the Senate — a tough proposition in a legislature with an anti-tax lean.
Read more: siouxcityjournal.com/news/state-and-regional/south-dakota/low-pay-forces-south-dakota-teachers-to-hold-nd-rd/article_c08a6178-093a-5ac1-a1be-55fbf1b1226e.html