Seth Tupper is editor-in-chief of South Dakota Searchlight. He was previously a supervising senior producer for South Dakota Public Broadcasting and a newspaper journalist in Rapid City and Mitchell.

The leader of South Dakota’s public universities gave a telling answer recently when a legislator asked him why the higher education system isn’t churning out enough teaching graduates.

“We’re seeing a drop-off in interest,” said Nathan Lukkes, executive director of the Board of Regents. “If you go back 10, 20 years and you look at the percentage of students that were coming and wanted to be teachers versus today, the interest is going in the wrong direction.”

Gee, I wonder why.

Maybe it’s because South Dakota raised its state sales tax rate by a half-percentage point nine years ago, ostensibly to increase teacher pay, only to lose focus and let the state’s average teacher salary slide back to 49th in the nation.

Maybe it’s because in 2019, instead of solving real problems in education, lawmakers passed a bill that requires every public school in the state to display the national motto, “In God We Trust.”

Maybe it’s because in 2022, then-Gov. Kristi Noem politicized the revision of social studies standards by disbanding the original working group and reappointing her own handpicked, ideologically aligned members.

Maybe it’s because last year, legislators passed a law mandating higher teacher pay without providing school districts any more funding than they typically receive.

Maybe it’s because this year, the governor is proposing a 1.25% increase in state funding for public schools, which is less than half the current rate of inflation.

Maybe it’s because public schools and their lobbyists had to fend off three bills so far this winter that would have diverted millions of dollars from public education and doled it out as various forms of vouchers for private school tuition, homeschooling and other nonpublic alternatives.

Maybe it’s because public schools and their lobbyists also had to fend off bills this winter that would have required displays of the Ten Commandments and the state motto, “Under God, the People Rule,” in every public school classroom.

Maybe it’s because some legislators reacted to the defeat of the voucher bills and the Ten Commandments and state motto bills by trying, unsuccessfully, to punish school boards by barring them from using public funds to hire lobbyists.

Maybe it’s because a state representative — Phil Jensen, a Rapid City Republican — tried to defund Huron schools recently after somebody told him a transgender girl was using girls’ bathrooms in the district.

And maybe it’s because another state representative — Brandei Schaefbauer, an Aberdeen Republican — is trying to create a law that would turn teachers and school administrators into bathroom police.

Or perhaps it’s because of the way some Republican legislators routinely demonize teachers, administrators, school boards and their lobbyists for having the audacity to seek adequate resources for public education.

House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach, R-Spearfish, sponsored one of the voucher bills and cosponsored the legislation to bar school boards from using public funds to hire lobbyists. During a recent Republican leadership press conference, he complained about the education lobby’s influence.

“They come up with one answer to everything, and that’s more money,” Odenbach said.

In the state Senate, Republican Lauren Nelson of Yankton has been a legislator less than two months but is already aggravated about schools wanting additional funding. And she has teaching experience, although notably in private and homeschool settings in addition to public schools.

“The question I have is, when will the public schools have enough money?” Nelson blurted during a bill hearing recently. She was advocating for legislation that would have provided property tax credits for nonpublic educational costs.

Nelson seemed to be railing against the public education establishment at large with no expectation of an answer, but I’ve got one for her: Enough money to rise out of 49th place in average teacher pay would be an obvious place to start.

That doesn’t appear likely to happen this legislative session. A growing number of Republican legislators are openly hostile to public education and are on a mission to strip away its funding and redistribute it to nonpublic alternatives that operate with no accountability. Some of them are waging a holy war, motivated by an unconstitutional craving for taxpayer support of religious instruction.

Those lawmakers should stop treating public education lobbyists like enemies of the state. School board members, administrators and teachers can’t come to Pierre every winter, because they’re busy trying to educate South Dakota’s children. Public education lobbyists are their voices in the halls of power.

One of those lobbyists is Rob Monson, a former teacher and principal from Parkston, who serves as executive director of School Administrators of South Dakota.

“Public education is absolutely what made this country what it is,” Monson told reporters recently. “If we lose public education, we will lose this country.”

“And that is my core,” he continued. “That is our belief as an association, that we will fight all we can and with every breath we have to protect the sanctity of public education where all students — no matter their color, race, economic status or disability — are welcome in our doors every single day.”

What if the governor and every South Dakota legislator felt that way about public education and worked that hard to protect and support it?

Maybe young South Dakotans would once again view teaching as a viable career path.