State Board of Education examines shared goals and challenges for students across Montana’s public K-12 and higher ed systems.
by Alex Sakariassen 11.22.2021 11.23.2021
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MISSOULA — Leaders of Montana’s K-12 and higher education systems convened on the University of Montana campus Friday to discuss strategic goals and ongoing challenges to improve the quality of education for students across the state.
Addressing an in-person meeting of the State Board of Education, Gov. Greg Gianforte gushed about the scenes he’s witnessed firsthand this year in classrooms from Frenchtown to Glendive. He lauded the passage of a new law in the 2021 Legislature that provides incentives for schools to increase starting teacher pay and efforts to increase financial aid for college students and expand flexibilities in licensing of qualified teachers in Montana. However, Gianfore said the state also faces “heavy-handed mandates” from Washington, D.C., that “threaten our schools and students.”
“I’ll continue working with Superintendent [Elsie] Arntzen and our congressional delegation to rescind the CDC illegal mask mandate on school busses,” Gianforte said. “I’ll also continue working with Attorney General [Austin] Knudsen to prevent vaccine mandates, which are illegal in Montana. While I continue to encourage Montanans to consult their health care provider in getting vaccinated, they should do so voluntarily, not under an edict that has not been passed through the legislative process.”
Gianforte applauded the Montana School Boards Association for withdrawing its membership in the National School Boards Association over an episode relating to the debate about parental rights and the federal response to threats from members of the public against teachers and school officials nationally. He encouraged other education associations to evaluate their membership in national organizations to ensure those relationships are in the best interest of Montana.
The State Board of Education is comprised of Gianforte, Arntzen, Commissioner of Higher Education Clayton Christian, the Montana Board of Regents and the Montana Board of Public Education. Gianforte listed his key priorities for Montana’s education system, which include:
Board of Regents Chair Casey Lozar informed the group of the “incredibly impressive strides” Montana’s higher education system has made this year in recruiting and retaining Native American students. Data collected from the Montana University System this fall showed an 8% increase in Native student enrollment statewide over the previous year and a retention rate increase of 8%, Lozar said.
“We’re doing a better job of holding on to these students,” Lozar said, adding that at the University of Montana alone, Native student enrollment increased nearly 25%. “This is just incredibly exciting news, and while there’s more work to be done, the progress is real and it’s substantial and it’s been strategic.”
Lozar also noted that the MUS has also made progress in improving the pathway for transfer students from tribal colleges to state institutions, with Fort Belknap’s Aaniiih Nakoda College and Rocky Boy’s Stone Child College joining a standardized state course-numbering system this year to make those transfers easier.
Lozar said there was a significant increase in 2021 in the use of an online college application portal called Apply Montana, which allows a prospective student to apply to any state campus without paying an application fee. According to Lozar, more than 9,000 students submitted applications through the portal this year, and he estimated the fee savings for Montanans at roughly $500,000. Lozar said the MUS plans to scale up a new pilot project called Montana 10, which offers focused support for students in key areas that typically impact retention.
“This year alone, we saw a 16 percent retention gain from fall to spring in the Montana 10 cohort as compared to the non-Montana 10 participants,” Lozar said.
Board of Public Education Chair Tammy Lacey shared a brief glimpse of what she and her fellow board members discussed during a packed three-day agenda. The top note was a comprehensive strategic plan the board approved prior to the State Board of Education meeting. That plan, Lacey explained, not only honed the Board of Public Education’s mission statement but also laid out six broad goals the board will focus on in the coming months. Among those goals are revising the state’s standards for school accreditation and teacher and administrator licensing through an ongoing regulatory review process, and promoting safe learning environments for students and for teachers.
“We know that students and teachers can’t learn and work unless they feel that they are safe and supported in their educational institutions,” Lacey said. “So we’ll work with educational partners to help school districts navigate a variety of federal and state regulations and funding and other aspects in order to provide a safe environment.”
Lacey added that as the entity overseeing the Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind, one of the board’s immediate priorities will be to hire a permanent superintendent for the school. Paul Furthmyre has been filling the position on an interim basis for more than a year. Lacey said the board is currently accepting applications and will close that application window on January 1.
