Supporting Student Success

 
By: Gov. Larry Rhoden

December 5, 2025  

Ultimately, education is about our future. We want our kids and our grandkids to have the very best opportunity to learn and grow so that they can become well-informed and productive members of our society and get into the career of their dreams. Education is about having the freedom to learn so that our students can chase down opportunity.

I unveiled my budget recently, and it strengthens freedom to learn by supporting continued growth at our tech colleges. I’m proud of South Dakota’s tech colleges – they are some of the very best in America. They’re creating all kinds of opportunities for our kids to get into the careers of their dreams.

Truth be told, I never graduated from college. I did take a year of ranch management at Western Dakota Tech. I thought I’d spend my whole life running the ranch, but God had other plans. Maybe some of our students will follow a similar path – maybe they’ll follow a different path entirely. That’s the beauty of a strong education system: it gives our kids those options and opportunities.

My budget invests $6 million one-time in a new James Abdnor Center for Advanced Manufacturing at Southeast Technical College in Sioux Falls. This facility will increase student capacity by 130 in several programs. The proposed project will include more than 53,000 sq. ft. of new and renovated space that includes state-of-the-art labs, classrooms, and collaborative spaces. This will benefit students in the Advanced Manufacturing Maintenance Tech, Advanced Manufacturing Automation Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology, and Welding programs to meet the demand in these growing industries. As a welder myself – I approve! The state will support one quarter of the project, and the rest will come from a mix of federal, local, and private funds.

My budget also supports $4.3 million one-time for equipment upgrades at all four of our tech colleges. This will provide two-thirds of the investment as we have done in recent years. Our tech schools will be able to make sure their students meet industry expectations, provide higher safety standards for students and instructors, and grow overall student capacity. My budget also increases ongoing aid to our tech colleges by $1.7 million because of rising enrollment – which is great news! It means more kids are using our tech colleges to pursue opportunity and chase down their dreams.

There’s been a lot of chatter about the fact that we have to keep K-12 education flat this year, and I want to talk about that a bit. I wish we could give an across-the-board increase to the Big Three: K-12 education, Medicaid providers, and state employees. Unfortunately, with nearly all of our ongoing revenue spoken for by mandatory increases, that just isn’t possible right now. But it was important to me to protect K-12 education to the greatest extent possible.

Some legislators have tried to push for 5% across the board cuts in the budget, which would result in a big chunk being taken out of K-12 education. I don’t support that. I don’t think it’s right for South Dakota kids, teachers, or schools – so my budget did not make any such recommendation. So though I wish we could give an increase to K-12, I’m glad that we protected our schools from a budget cut.

I am committed to keeping South Dakota education strong, safe, and free. Thanks to our strong K-12 schools, growing educational freedom options, and state-of-the-art tech colleges, South Dakota kids have tremendous opportunities for their futures.

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