Education committee opens up the microphone

By Jennifer McKee, of The Standard State Bureau - 01/11/2007

HELENA — Ever wonder what Montanans given 24 hours notice, no script and a five-minute time limit have to say about education?

Rick Jore, the Constitution Party member and chairman of the House Education Committee evidently did.

Here’s a sampling of what he found: One home schooling mom said public schools fail to instill Biblical values. One retired teacher said classrooms have turned into “chaos.” Another man said problems with education could be solved if God, prayer and Bibles were welcomed back into the classroom.

With no bills on its Wednesday agenda, Jore decided to open up his committee to anyone who happened by to give their thoughts on the general topic of education. The testimony, which lasted the better part of an hour and a half, was not intended to influence any particular bill. Most of the people who testified spoke on their own behalf; there were almost no lobbyists.

Jore sent the word out about what was dubbed “open mic” day at the committee late Monday afternoon by way of a press release and notices on the desks of all 100 state representatives. People who came had 5 minutes to testify.

The turn-out, while not overwhelming, represented a good mix: One retired Helena teacher bemoaned what she characterized as excessive bureaucratic interference in the school day, with educational staples like reading and writing relegated a back seat to any number of peripheral lessons, like anti-bullying and anti-drugs classes.

The classroom, said Barbara Rush, the teacher who testified, “has become chaos. Autistic and untrainable” students disrupt teaching.

Mike Keckes, of Helena, said public schools began deteriorating when public prayer was removed, decades ago. Removing prayer from public schools was just the beginning, he said. Then came legalized abortion and now a social approval of “sodomy” in the form of marriage for gays and lesbians.

Marriage for gays and lesbians, which was never allowed under Montana law, was formally banned in 2004 when an overwhelming majority of Montanans voted to amend the state Constitution to forbid the practice.

But some people said public schools are doing just fine, thank you.

Erika McMillin, said she loves her job and thinks the grade-schoolers she teaches are coming out beautifully.

Two superintendents came in for meeting, one, Jerry House, from Whitefish, and a second, Jerry Pauli, from Thompson Falls.

House said his school district does a fine job educating students, but he said the decades-old federal law requiring public schools to teach special education students is woefully under-funded, forcing his school to cut back on programs for other children.