Governor outlines education plan

By Charles S. Johnson of The Standard State Bureau - 05/16/2006

HELENA — After reading to students at a Helena grade school, Gov. Brian Schweitzer said he wants to show that education is “seamless” from kindergarten to post-graduate school in Montana.

Schweitzer read to two all-day kindergarten classes at Bryant Elementary School, and then came outside to announce he had appointed Clayton Christian of Missoula to the state Board of Regents.

“I want to send a message that education is seamless,” Schweitzer said in an interview. “And in Montana, education will continue the rest of your life.” For Montanans, he said, education is something “that goes from before they enter the first grade until they breathe their last breaths. Education is something that touches every family and ought to touch adults consistently.” Schweitzer reiterated that full-day kindergarten will be a top funding priority in the 2007 Legislature. Some school districts such as the one in Great Falls already offer all-day kindergarten, while others such as Helena offers it at one school, using federal money to target at-risk kids.

Schweitzer’s proposal calls for funding voluntary, full-time kindergarten for all Montana kids. His budget director, David Ewer, has not yet come up with a final price-tag for this plan, Schweitzer said.

The governor has not yet recommended a budget for higher education or K-12 education.

“We’re going to look at the dollars we’ve got,” Schweitzer said.

On the higher education side, Schweitzer said he would strongly urge the Legislature to add more money to the Governor’s Postsecondary Scholarship Program he started. Its goal, he said, is “so that every family in Montana can begin affording the dream of another college graduate, or, maybe the first college graduate.” As for K-12 schools, Schweitzer said: “The limited number of dollars we have, we need to get it on the ground for education. I can tell you that Montanans are tired of taxpayers suing taxpayers and taxpayers paying for lawyers on both sides. That’s going to stop.” That was a reference to the successful lawsuit filed by some school districts and individuals challenging the state’s school funding system. District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock of Helena ruled in 2004 that the state’s system was unconstitutionally inadequate, and the Montana Supreme Court unanimously concurred.

Although Schweitzer and the Legislature pumped more money into K-12 during a special legislative session in December, some school organizations, including some involved in the lawsuit, contended it was inadequate. Although Schweitzer has declared the lawsuit fixed, at least some plaintiffs strongly disagree.

In a recent letter to Montana newspapers, David Puyear, executive director of the Montana Rural Education Association, said all day-kindergarten deserves to be a priority, despite flaws in the funding system.

“Rural schools will swallow hard and support this worthy program knowing full well that the increased funding will not be distributed fairly to our schools because of a broken funding system that, despite a Supreme Court opinion, still has not been fixed,” Puyer concluded.