SIOUX FALLS S.D. (KELO) -- The committee that will handle some of the most controversial education bills during the 2025 South Dakota Legislative session received an hour-long presentation by Education Secretary Dr. Joseph Graves Friday morning. Graves, a former superintendent in Mitchell and DOE Secretary since 2023, told the House Education Committee the four major areas the state officials are dealing with currently are student achievement, teacher shortage, social studies standards and student absenteeism. Noem pledges transparency in DHS confirmation hearing Graves also added his support and statements regarding House Bill 1020, which would create education savings accounts as a way to use public funds for private schooling in South Dakota. After Graves's presentation, Republican Rep. Phil Jensen asked the first question if any teachers were required to take the COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic. Graves responded that would have been a district-wide decision. He said in Mitchell, they did not require vaccination for teachers. "I don't think I've heard any districts that did require that but I can't rule it out," Graves said. Jensen then asked about statewide science standards which Graves responded new standards were adopted last year. Student proficiency Graves discussed how students are currently assessed when it comes to reading proficiency. "So in 2023, 2024 we say about 51% of our students are proficient or advanced in reading. Sometimes someone will say, what, only 51% of our kids can read," Graves said. "No, only 51% of our students can read their grade level or above, so it's a significant difference and it shouldn't be taken like that." Last year, the legislature approved providing $6 million to the state Department of Education to offer professional development in literacy. Graves said the $6 million creates a statewide blueprint along with state universities about the science of reading. Republican Rep. Heather Baxter asked Graves if the literacy curriculum could be found online. Graves said he wasn't sure how in-depth the explanations online of the curriculum are. Reading wars occurred back in the 1970s and 1980s with educators arguing with educators about whether it was best to teach decoding skills or phonics, Graves said. He said teachers also argued whether it was just best to say just memorize the words and do things based on context. Graves said the dollars will be used to provide these reading courses through the Board of Regents and all teachers will be trained at a certain point. Teacher shortage In 2022-23, there were more than 580 teacher openings across the state at one point. Graves said one of the ways officials have tried to fix teacher pay was with a bill last year -- Senate Bill 127 -- which set a base salary of $45,000 for a first-year teacher and called for school districts to continue providing raises in the years ahead. Graves said there is currently another reason teachers are leaving the industry. "I've come to the conclusion, and I think a lot of people have, is that the bigger problem right now is not the economics, but the economics will always be important, but it is the fact that we have seen an increase in disciplinary issues in schools including increasing violence," Graves said. He added they are trying to address the problem and while their solution isn't perfect it does work. "One of the things we do in that area, and this is a good program, it's called PBIS or Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, and we do offer this programming to teachers and districts and many of the districts offered as well," Graves said. Graves said one of the bigger successes in teacher enrollment was their mentorship program "Many teachers don't feel supported and that can happen for any number of reasons, but if a teacher has one colleague like a mentor who they can go to, they can turn to for questions in a nonjudgmental way, that can really help their ability to work in the field and to stay in the field," Graves said. Republican Rep. Roger DeGroot asked the mentorship program Graves was explaining as a success was the same mentorship program Gov. Kristi Noem proposed cutting. Graves said all departments in the state have been asked to make cuts and there will be some reductions in the mentorship program. "We felt the cuts we made were small enough that we could still offer the mentorship program in a meaningful way," Graves said. Graves added retention of teachers has become a major issue. "It used to be very common for teachers to start even in the same district and finish their career 30, 35, 40 years later," Graves said. "That's increasingly not happening and people are leaving the profession. So all the efforts we make to bring people in are being eroded by the fact that people aren't necessarily staying at the rates they used to stay." House Bill 1020 Graves also spoke on House Bill 1020, which would establish education savings accounts. The bill would be a $4 million ongoing appropriation to DOE for ESAs and administration. The accounts will be funded at 40% of the per-student equivalent or approximately $3,000. Noem pledges transparency in DHS confirmation hearing Graves said education savings accounts would not be a school voucher system because it doesn't issue money directly to parents. "The Department of Education intends to create a menu of options that parents can select from," Graves said. Graves said the system would operate with a menu for parents or guardians to select options that would be applicable for them. "So we will have listed every private accredited school district in the state of South Dakota and then parents can click on that and say, 'OK, I want my money to go to the tuition for my child to go to that school.'" Applications for the program if it is approved will be accepted in the spring of 2026 to be used for 2026-27 school year. Eligible expenses include tuition, curriculum, ACT fee, and educationally-purposed technology. Republican Rep. Kathy Rice asked what type of materials would be approved for ESA's on the DOE website. Graves said the DOE would allow any homeschooling program to send all the materials they use and then the DOE would vet all the materials. "That's why we've given ourselves a year to prepare this program," Graves said. If material wasn't approved in year 1, groups could submit it to the DOE to be approved for a future year.