South Dakota News Watch Content Director Bart Pfankuch discusses some of the challenges of producing in-depth articles about significant statewide topics.

Legislation passed in 2017 in South Dakota opened the door to licensing of a new classification of “professional midwives,” who can become certified to perform home births with less training and education than “nurse midwives” who have been regulated in South Dakota for 40 years. While midwives with the new

Editor's note: This is the third of three articles that make up Part 2 of a two-week special report in which South Dakota News Watch is examining the failure of the state’s public school system to adequately educate Native American students. Last week, News Watch examined the

A push is underway for legislation to allow creation of charter schools that would integrate Indian culture, language and history into a curriculum designed to improve academic achievement among Native American children, who have historically underperformed in South Dakota. Charter schools are publicly funded, tuition-free schools run independently of traditional

Editor's note: This is the first of three articles that make up Part 2 of a two-week special report in which South Dakota News Watch is examining the failure of the state’s public school system to adequately educate Native American students. Last week, News Watch examined the

Editor's note: This is the second of two stories in Part 1 of a two-week special report in which South Dakota News Watch will examine the historical and current educational achievement gap between Native American and white students in South Dakota. This week: An examination of the problem

Editors note: This is the first of two stories in Part 1 of a two-week special report in which South Dakota News Watch will examine the historical and current educational achievement gap between Native American and white students in South Dakota. This week: An examination of the problem and its