Simplified: Sioux Falls Simplified spoke face-to-face with dozens of legislative candidates in the metro area. All candidates were asked the same slate of questions, and you can find comprehensive coverage for each district at sfsimplified.com.

Don't know your legislative district? This interactive map can help you find it.

Here's what we asked:

South Dakota for years has given public schools less funding than required under state law. How big of a priority are public schools and ensuring they’re adequately funded?

Here's what candidates said:

District 2

Adam Long: "I’m 100% for the funding of our public schools."

• Long said he's impressed with the Brandon Valley School District and what they've been able to accomplish – particularly the new elementary school that opened this fall.
• "We want more money at the schools, but at the same time we want less taxes, and we literally will have people voice that in the same sentence. We cant have both. The only way we can have both is if we truly buckle down on budgets if we truly look out more into the future, better planning."

Manuel Luschas cited the state constitution's requirement that the state provide public education – "that should be a big commitment," he said, adding that he's been "in awe" of South Dakota's education system.

• "I think from what I see right now, funding is not an issue," he said. "I think they are adequately funded. Do we want to take the funding away from them? No, obviously, of course not. I wouldn't take anything away, but I also have a hard time believing they need a lot more additional funds."

Blake Rife: Could not be reached for comment.

See more from District 2 candidates here:

Meet the Dist. 2 folks looking to represent you in Pierre

District 2's lone state senate seat has already been decided as Sen. John Sjaarda will return to Pierre unopposed and in a new chamber. But, the district has three men vying to represent its people in two open seats in the South Dakota House of Representatives.

Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

District 6

Garret Campbell: "Public schools have been a priority for me. We have a high property tax specifically for schools. I know people want lower property tax around here, but I want our state government to give more for that so that locally the people here don't have to give as much.

• "I want (state government) to up their share so we can down our share so overall there is more funding there."
• Campbell also cited legalizing recreational marijuana as a potential revenue source.

Jerry Jongeling: "I have to admit that's not my top expertise, but with that said, our kids are the future of everything."

• Jongeling also noted that kids need to be able to have proper nutrition, and teachers need to get paid for the hard work they do.

Elliott Neff: "I work with many public schools locally and nationally. In the legislature, we've got a job to do, and ensuring that we are following the laws. ...

• "I've not looked into all of these different current laws as to what's what, what's good, what's not. I'm not an expert on this topic. However, I believe that education of our kids, obviously, is very important. We home-school ours by choice. I was home-schooled. I was grateful for that opportunity."

Austin Wolf noted the fast growth in the Harrisburg School District where his 7-year-old daughter goes to school, and where he's seen several new schools built in recent years.

• "I don't like teacher pay being as low as it is," he said. "I think it's embarrassing that we’re as low as we are ... I think (schools) are desperate for proper funding. Part of that is getting good planning to understand why we're missing the mark so much on the population of these kids.
• "Why aren't we able to project out enough to see what we’re doing in 10 years? We’re not the first place in America to grow this fast and experience this. We can study what worked in other areas. ... It's critical to me – I want to keep our schools the best."

See more from District 6 candidates here:

Meet the Dist. 6 folks looking to represent you in Pierre

District 6's lone senate seat has already been decided, as Ernie Otten will return to Pierre unopposed. But there's a full slate of candidates vying for the two open seats in the South Dakota House of Representative.

Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

District 9

Amanda Potter said education funding is her number one priority.

• "The thing that people are not talking about is the fact that when the state does not fund education adequately at 3% or inflation as they're legally obligated to do, they are, in effect handing it down to the taxpayers.
• "Making up that gap becomes the school district's problem, and the only option left is a tax opt out. Over the last year we had a huge discussion about property taxes, but we never talked about the other side of the coin, which is the state has allowed this to happen by underfunding schools. I will be a strong proponent of funding at that 3% or inflation."

Megan Tschetter: "My family has used both public school and home-schooling. I believe that parents should have input in that, but as far as the funding goes, I believe that our schools should have what they need to survive.

• "I believe the formulas should reflect that. Our schools shouldn't suffer, and we shouldn't have programs being cut in our schools. But I also believe the schools need to be taking respoisnbility in that as well and making sure they're not overspending."

Tesa Schwans "The fact that it’s one of the largest items on the budget list — we have money that we’re putting toward the schools. How is it being allocated, and how is it being subdivided out? I would like an audit on that to figure out where the expenditures are broken down into.

• Schwans also noted her work on the Teacher Compensation Review Board and how South Dakota teachers have moved from lowest-paid in the nation to 46th. She also said the hardest part is inflation and balancing being good stewards of tax dollars with protecting "our biggest asset" in schools.

See more from District 9 candidates here:

Meet the Dist. 9 folks who want to represent you in Pierre

District 9's lone senate seat has already been decided, and Sen. Joy Hohn will return to Pierre for another term. Three women are vying for the remaining two state house seats in a rare all-female district representing Hartford and northwest Sioux Falls.

Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

District 10

Liz Larson (Senate): "We’ve been slowly draining our investments in public education for decades. That is terrible, in my opinion, and sad.

• "I think education is the key to building our economy, and the more we engage in school vouchers, the more we don’t fund our public schools adequately. Moreover, we pay our teachers less than anywhere else in the country.
• "We are showing our values by that, and future generations are going to pay for those decisions. ... It affects things like recidivism and the broader economy. It just touches everything."

Michael Dupic (Senate): Declined to be interviewed.

Adam Bair (House): "South Dakota has some of the lowest per-pupil spending in the nation, and every dollar that a teacher has to spend on school supplies is an embarrassment for the state.

• "We need to stop politicizing our public school system and focus on the good of the students. We need to look seriously at increasing that funding significantly in order to ensure a bright future for South Dakota.
• "I am also very much opposed to the proposed school voucher programs. I don’t believe the way to fix public schools is taking more money away from them."

Kathleen Brudvig (House): "My personal views on education are that it’s foundational. That is the foundation for a successful life, a successful future, and a successful society. We have not done very well at that in South Dakota.

• "We consistently underfund education. We don’t pay our teachers appropriately to keep our good teachers here in South Dakota.
• We are not meeting the threshold that our state law says we need to be meeting. I would put that at a top priority for budgeting – to make sure we’re at least meeting that and, if not, finding ways to increase funding.
• "We have a budget surplus every year. We have our rainy-day fund. We have the funds to ensure our education is funded. We just need to make it a priority."

Kimberly Petterson (House): "I’m not exactly understanding why such a big part of our budget goes to education, but our schools are failing our students.

• "Reading levels and math levels, as studies are showing, are not where they should be. I have talked to a lot of teachers and people in education, and I don’t feel teachers are being paid enough. Without actually diving into the budget and understanding where these funds are going, I think administrative costs have continued to increase and are probably way higher than they should be, and the teachers are the ones that are paying for that.
• "I think there are probably multiple facets of why children and students are not necessarily at the levels they should be. I think if we do have good salaries and good pay for our teachers we’ll attract good teachers with high education. Hopefully that will help students in South Dakota."

John Pohlman (House): "Under Gov. (Dennis) Daugaard, the Blue Ribbon Task Force came up with a system that moved us up out of 51st in the nation in terms of teacher salaries, and I would want to revisit what happened there and what happened since before I make any kind of decision one way or another.

• "I hear it in District 10 – (a desire to make) sure the money that comes from the state gets to the teachers and isn’t squirreled away in reserves or administration.
• "It’s tougher than ever to be a teacher given a lack of quality parenting, in many cases, to prepare a child to be a functioning student. I’m hearing that more and more — it’s just a nightmare for the teachers — so I want to make sure the teachers are adequately compensated."

See more from District 10 candidates here:

Meet the Dist. 10 folks looking to represent you in Pierre

District 10 is one of few districts in the Sioux Falls area that was able to field both Democratic and Republican candidates in both the house and senate races. Meet the candidates here.

Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

District 11

Chris Karr (Senate): Did not respond to interview requests.

Aaron Matson (Senate): "I think it’s awful that the Legislature’s been not following their own law for so many years now.

• "I know I would just be one legislator, but I would use all the tools that I could to make sure the law was followed. I’m a son of two public school teachers, so education is a huge priority for me. ...
• "Hopefully there’d be common ground across the aisle with all sorts of legislators that our children are our most important resource in the state, and we need to do whatever we can to help them thrive and be successful. I don’t think our students have to settle for less. I think they could have a world-class education."

Brian Mulder (House): "I think it’s just a priority. We have to look when it comes to setting our state budget. I've advocated for fully funding the 3% that’s set in statute for our public education.

• "The whole idea of that is we should pay our obligations and what we said we’re going to pay for before we go and build shiny new projects or put money toward shiny new things.
• "It'd be a priority for me, but at the same time finding those opportunities to grow our state economy and bringing the tax dollars that would fund us at that 3%. ... we have to find those opportunities and work with good-faith partners to find those revenue sources."

Sonja Mentzer (House): "We need to fund education first. It should be the first line (in the budget). The state passed its own bill to fund the big three at their requirements, and I think we need to make that the priority and then work on everything else."

Tracey Quint (House): "I think obviously education is a huge issue and extremely important to me.

• "Knowing how far behind we are with education funding here in South Dakota, I think it’s just taking a look at where our budget is and what we can move around and how we can make sure that our children are being educated the way we want them to be.
• "Not being immersed in it at the moment, it’s hard for me to say where that funding is going to come from, but I do want to look at ways that we can offset the cost and what we can do to look at different avenues to make sure our kids are educated."

Keri Weems (House) "Here’s the deal with public schools – we need to be able to have a strong education system for our kids and our grandkids and for the future. Eighty-five percent of parents choose to send their kids to public school.

• "So when you’re talking about funding it and not hitting the levels that have been put in place in the past, the real issue is we have a formula that we follow and then we try and hit the 3% and that’s always a challenge depending on where we come in with our money, and you never find that out until the end of session. It takes a while to figure all of that out.
• "From my standpoint I really think we need to look at what we are doing. Is the special ed formula appropriate? Is there anything we can do for special education? That’s where I would love to start to look to see if we can make that appropriate."

See more from District 11 candidates here:

Meet the Dist. 11 folks who want to represent you in Pierre

Six candidates are looking to represent this geographically small but populous district, and both house and senate seats are contested.

Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

District 12

Amber Arlint (House) pointed to her experience serving on the education committee the last four years as well as her own master's degree in education. She said education is a top priority.

• "I’ve been paying really close attention to our sales tax trends in our state. It is trending in a good direction. Of course, it is way too early to promise any increases, but that does at least lead me to believe it’s a good indicator of seeing those increases to education.
• "As far as a funding priority, we’re looking at building a new prison in South Dakota. And some of the stats around reading level attainment (show) if you can’t read by the time you reach 3rd grade, your trajectory of ending up in some kind of incarceration or public assistance – there is a really strong correlation there."
• "The more we can invest in education – kids being our greatest resource – the more prosperous our state is going to be in the long run."

Stephanie Arne (House) detailed her experience with public schools both as a student and in her career as a wildlife educator. "I’m incredibly passionate about it.

• "I am extremely concerned that after many years of talking about how important teachers are, we’re still, like, 47th in the country for teacher pay.
• "If we want to keep good teachers in our state, we need to pay them not just appropriately – but well. They are teaching our children how to become successful South Dakotans and contribute to our future economy and culture. We need them to have the top teachers and top curriculum designers. I will be on that."

Kerry Loudenslager (House): "I have to get to know the budget better since I haven’t been in the Legislature yet. I’d have to take a deep dive into how the budget items are allocated, look year-over-year, and see how the education system has been funded in the past and where it’s supposed to be funded. I’m a big advocate of education.

• "I’ve got three grandchildren right now and I want to make sure our education system is funded to do the job the right way and make sure the curriculum is conducive to healthy education and does not get radicalized by some of these issues in other states.
• "We need to take a look at that budget, recognize our teachers – they’re underpaid. If there’s a way we can reallocate in the budget, maybe excess in one department can be shifted to help pay our teachers and pay a little more."

Kari Shanard-Koenders (Senate): "That’s a rather tough question. having discussed with various people, including some of the Sioux Falls school system folks, about the funding that has happened and the funding changes and the fact that the Legislature voted for raises for teachers and with the funding formula that’s come out of Pierre that hasn’t been able to take place."

• "I also hear questions from constituents about whether the funding that’s been provided is all going to teachers and where that’s going. I think perhaps some more transparency around that would be valid for all to see where that money’s going in the schools.
• "How we ensure adequate funding is a tough one. That starts with the budgetary process and the governor. I would be for the best funding possible just because those (kids) are our future."

Joe Zweifel (Senate): Could not be reached for comment.

See more from District 12 candidates here:

Meet the Dist. 12 folks who want to represent you in Pierre

District 12 has some heavy hitters who are no longer in play. Here's a closer look at who's looking to represent the central and southwest Sioux Falls district.

Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

District 13

Ali Rae Horsted: "Public schools are a huge priority for me. My mom was a teacher in the Sioux Falls School District for almost 35 years. I attended public school in Harrisburg and Lincoln High School and the University of Northern Iowa. I'm a Big fan of public schools.

• "I think it’s a tragedy that they haven’t been funded as they were supposed to be funded in recent years. If elected, I would work on holding our state government accountable to the promises it made. Another benefit of funding education properly from the state level is that it puts less pressure on local governments to make up for it with things like property tax increases."

John Hughes "Huge.

• "There’s a real tension, and it’s built into the fact that the state doesn’t impose property taxes. Property taxes are a local effort. So the way that school districts budget is exactly the opposite of how you and I budget. We look at income and determine what we can afford. The school districts set a budget for what they need or what they think they need and then the county assesses budget. Sadly, I think our public is too distracted working too hard to pay the bills; they don’t really have time to participate. ...
• "There is really no process for scrutinizing administrative costs or very large facilities that are built or a $40M high school. ... If we can’t look at the whole picture, how can you come to me and say I want fully funded public education? But it’s like how do we define that? I want a workable standard. What does fully funding our public education system really look like, and what do we really need?"

Jack Kolbeck: "I’m a very big supporter of the public school system. My three kids went through the school system here in Sioux Falls. ... I’m definitely an advocate of the school system.

• "I think that our school board has done a great job as far as implementing and being as conservative as they can. It costs a lot of money to run a school system – there’s just no doubt about it – and property taxes is how they’re funded.
• "I really think our public school system has done a good job. As far as budgeting for them out at the legislature, I have been a very big advocate of trying to get as close to the formula we have out there — 3% or cost of living. Last year we had the governor say no we’re not gonna give them anything and then in appropriations we fought to get them to 1.4% (increase), which was acceptable for them."

See more from candidates in District 13:

Meet the Dist. 13 folks who want to represent you in Pierre

District 13's lone state senate seat has already been decided as veteran lawmaker Sue Peterson will run unopposed. Meanwhile, three people are vying for the two open seats in the South Dakota House of Representatives.

Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

District 14

Taylor Rae Rehfeldt: Could not be reached for comment before deadline.

Tyler Tordsen: "This has been an issue that I’ve cared about since I was probably 10. I remember seeing how are we 51st in the nation and being frustrated with our teacher pay.

• "I remember being a kid and being in public schools – they're educating our future politicians, lawyers, doctors. We have to get that right. ... I’m an all‑of‑the‑above. I want us to keep pushing to have the best outcomes and best experiences for students, parents, families and the schools. I want to make sure they have the tools, funding, resources to do so. It's a top priority."

Erinn Williams: "The teacher pay in South Dakota is embarrassing. My kids are at Sonia (Sotomayor Elementary). We do this huge amount of fundraising to make up the difference in what the state gives us and what we need to be able to bring in these student teachers from other countries."

• Williams noted other schools in her district that aren't as lucky to be able to fundraise or don't have a parent-teacher organization.
• "I can't quite put my finger on why and how kids can be such a low priority – and of course our teachers. If we want to have better test results and better attendance and better results in graduation rates, then we have to maintain the teachers that we have. And if we’re not paying them enough they're going to continue to leave."

See more from District 14 candidates:

Meet the Dist. 14 folks who want to represent you in Pierre

District 14's senate seat is already decided as Larry Zikmund will return to Pierre unopposed. That leaves three people vying for the two open seats in the South Dakota House of Representatives.

Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

District 15

June CopperStad:  "For me they’re a huge priority ...

• "We really need those to be a first priority of investment, especially because we’re talking about people from every facet of life bringing their children to the same place. We need to make sure everyone in those environments can be supported to the same degree.
• "(Regarding) teacher pay – we need the folks in the room to be able to come to our youth and be their best self. They don’t need to be stressed by multiple jobs or paying out of pocket for school supplies. They need to be adequately supported, full stop.
• "We also need to make sure that no matter what neighborhood our children live in they have the very best materials, supplies, technology. All of our youth need access that says you matter, you are worth investing in. ... Video lottery money goes to the general fund. There are many places in our budget where we can reallocate dedicated funds to bring education investment up to where it should be."

Brenda Lawrence (Senate): Could not be reached for comment before publication deadline.

Erik Muckey (Senate): "(Schools) have been an extremely high priority of mine in the Joint Committee on Appropriations.

• "I think it’s important for South Dakotans to understand that it’s that committee that sets the state budget. I’m one of 18. To have the votes to be able to convince 17 colleagues is no small feat.
• "The thing I’ll say I’m proud of this last session is I was extremely vocal in committee about moving away from the governor’s 0% increase (for education). I was still in the room saying you cannot fall backward on a commitment you’ve made for literal decades. ...
• "If we’re not thinking about not just teachers but the intensive increases in operating costs in general, particularly in insurance premiums – if we’re not thinking about the entire school, we’re never going think about the entire child or the entire teacher either.
• "If we’re not prioritizing the education system that is bound in our state constitution, we’re not doing a particularly good job of guaranteeing a future for our state or guaranteeing one where our kids are going to stay here."

Joni Tschetter: "To be honest, right now I do not know the specifics of the school funding.

• "Being a past schoolteacher in Iowa, schools are very important. Education of any child is important. I have to get more information on that. I can’t tell educators how to teach at all, but it’s important our children are taken care of and that we can expend the money most efficiently and effectively.
• "I think that’s why we have school boards, because school boards are much more knowledgeable about that than I am. They can bring the info to us and possibly have solutions for us instead of us inventing them. I think we indeed need to lean heavily on every school board member to help us understand the need."

Kadyn Wittman: "I think public schools are one of the single most important ways we can invest in our communities and the future of our cities and state.

• "We’re seeing a lot of parents come to the legislature and say they want 'school choice,' and that means something different to different families and different parents. After talking to a lot of these parents, the end goal is always they want their child to have all the resources and support systems they need to succeed and thrive. I also want that for their child. I want their child to experience that in a public school.
• "I would like our schools to be overfunded. I want teachers to have more resources than they know what to do with. I want ... public schools to have all of those things so they can meet the needs of every student."

Andre Zachariahs: "My wife is a teacher for special education kids with emotional and behavior disorders. The work that they are able to do is incredible.

• "We need our public education. That’s one of the top issues I’ve been hearing going door-to-door with people: education funding. We have a minimum cost-of-living or 3%, and that’s our baseline target we have to get to. As we get down the road, Minnehaha County’s opted out of property tax limits. That’s just going to be the case if we don’t continue from a state level. We do have to, at a bare minimum, get to what we’re required by state law."

See more from District 15 candidates here:

Meet the Dist. 15 folks who want to represent you in Pierre

District 15 one of few districts in the Sioux Falls area in which every single seat is hotly contested by both parties.

Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

District 16

Lisa Bogue: Could not be reached for comment.

Tim Rhead: "Number one. My entire life has been in education. I was a teacher for a number of years and just retired as superintendent and elementary principal of Alcester-Hudson.

• "There’s no greater investment in the country than the youth. They are going to someday be in charge of this country and we need to give them every opportunity to be as successful as there possibly can be. When it comes to funding, that has to be first and foremost.
• "There’s a commitment from the state that we’re going to give a 3% increase (or inflation, whichever is lower) every year. It seems like education is an area where the state feels that we can save money. If there’s any kind of a budget shortfall it falls on education.
• "I do believe that it should be an opportunity to invest in education. That should be our number one investment. Coming from a school I know money doesn’t fix everything, but it all starts there."

John Shubeck noted he, his wife and many of his relatives have worked in schools, and he's a very big supporter of public schools.

• "I was really frustrated this last session with the lack of support for school funding. I got really annoyed with starting new programs – voted against starting new programs. If you’re not going to pay your teachers properly then why would we start new programs? Pay your bills first. We have to at least keep up with inflation. We need to properly fund these schools and keep up with inflation before we think about anything else."

See more from District 16 candidates:

Meet the Dist. 16 folks who want to represent you in Pierre

District 16's lone senate seat has already been decided, as Kevin D. Jensen will return to Pierre running unopposed. That leaves three people vying for two open seats in the South Dakota House of Representatives.

Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

What happens next?

Election Day is Nov. 3.

You can check your voter registration on the Secretary of State's voter information portal. The voter registration deadline is Oct. 19.