Juneau talks on education issues

Denise Juneau, state superintendent of public instruction, visited the Hi-Line Friday to celebrate the launch of Graduation Matters Harlem, a voluntary effort by the school district in partnership with the state, to figure out ways to curb the school dropout rate.

Harlem is now the 54th Montana community to partake in the program and falls under the umbrella of the broader Graduation Matters Montana or GMM program.

In an interview with the Havre Daily News, Juneau discussed GMM, as well as other issues from Common Core, Gov. Steve Bullock's unsuccessful push for universal pre-k and more.

Graduation Matters Montana

GMM was first conceived by Juneau in 2010. When she took office a year earlier, the high school dropout rate was 5.1 percent, or 2,423 students.

"I knew that was way too many," said Juneau."That's larger than some of our small towns."

Unlike many state initiatives in Montana and elsewhere, GMM is a voluntary arrangement with solutions that come from within districts, rather than a common top-down approach where the state imposes a series of mandates.

Each district has a 10-person panel or Graduation Matters team, composed of faculty, business and community leaders, parents and students.

People on these panels are tasked with designing and implementing effective strategies, supported by research, at the local level as well as establishing local partnerships with institutions and businesses that provide public support.

"The great thing is, it's really locally designed, it's locally implemented and at the state level we just sort of act as a broker of best practices, and try to find the resources and share ideas," said Juneau.

Funding for these groups is provided by the state through donations from businesses and charitable foundations, most notably the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, which established the GMM Challenge Fund with an initial commitment of $450,000. It matched that commitment in 2014 with a second donation of $450,000.

Juneau says the Office of Public Instruction has raised $1.3 million so far. That money is then distributed to participating communities in the form of grants to continue fostering discussion and formulating strategies to further lower the dropout rate.

So far, according to Juneau, the approach has had the desired effect. Since GMM began, the graduation rate has increased and the number of students who have dropped out has fallen by a third to 1,593 or 3.7 percent in 2014, the lowest since the OPI began tracking the number of graduates in 2000.

Raising minimum dropout age to 18

Not all of Juneau's proposals have been embraced with enthusiasm though.

For the fourth time since she took office, Juneau has introduced and urged passage of legislation to raise the minimum dropout age to 18. Montana is one of 17 states that permit students to leave school at 16. Students are also allowed to leave school upon completion of eighth grade.

The proposal's most recent incarnation, Senate Bill 14, would hike the compulsory school attendance age to 18 or until the student graduates from high school.

Students would be able to leave before their 18th birthday if they wanted to earn their GED, enter a Jobs Corps program or pursue an alternate professional or educational opportunity.

The legislation would fund the education of students 18 or older, something that under state law Montana is not obligated to do. The change could yield an additional 190 students graduating high school each year.

But the bill was not taken up before the end of the most recent legislative session in April.

Juneau said the law has not been updated since 1921. The demands of a more globalized and technically advanced economy, she added, require at minimum a high school diploma. She said that at 16, when teens are not allowed to consume alcohol or tobacco or join the military, they are entrusted with making a decision that can adversely affect their future.

Though SB14 was written to exempt home schools, some worry such an effort would force home schools to follow the academic rules aimed at public schools.

Common Core

Perhaps no other subject has stirred more passion politically than Common Core.

In recent years the initiative sponsored by the National Governors Association and hailed by governors from both parties has been subject to backlash that varies from skepticism to anger. Critics say Common Core represents government overreach wresting control away from state and local districts where curriculum has traditionally been designed.

Juneau, however, said there are a great many misperceptions about Common Core. She said Common Core merely provides a consistent set of metrics to measure student progress and does not dictate how students are instructed. She said it actually reinserts flexibility and professional judgment by teachers back into teaching.

"We're saying here is the bar; here's where students need to get, and you figure out how to get them there."

Furthermore, Juneau said, in all the conversations she has had with parents, educators and districts they have reacted positively to the guidelines and have willingly fashioned their curriculum around them.

"I am watching some of my nieces and nephews go through the system now and seeing some of the phenomenal teaching and learning that is taking place," said Juneau.

Juneau described much of the white-hot political rhetoric surrounding Common Core as "goofy" and divorced from reality. Many of those leading voices she said, are using confusion about Common Core to undermine support for public education.

"There is just a community of people out there who take any sort of issue that's big in education and they try to turn it on its head in order to bash public education," she said.

In the end, however, Juneau said, she believes once the results of Common Core become known, popular support for it will increase.

Private schools

Charter schools have long been debated when it comes to education policy.

Supporters of private and charter schools subsidized at least partially using public tax dollars say doing so empowers students and families with options they might not otherwise have.

Many say that while wealthier, predominantly white children have access to private and charter schools, poorer and minority students are left with no real choice but to attend public schools.

Juneau said private schools do and can play a role, but public investment should stay within public schools.

"I don't mind private schools," said Juneau. "I just don't want public money to go to private schools.

As far as choice for more economically disadvantaged students, such as those on Montana's seven Indian reservations, Juneau said, there are options such as private religious schools on reservation which students can attend free of charge.

Juneau, though, said most Montanans and the majority of state lawmakers in both parties want to improve education through the public schools. She noted that even with both legislative chambers controlled by Republicans, no efforts to change laws on charter schools or provide school vouchers has made it to the governor's desk, sometimes not even making it out of committee or onto the floor.

This past legislative session, funding of public education was passed early on, with broad support on both sides of the aisle.

"There is always a small minority who will be loud and noisy but they always lose," she said.

Universal pre-kindergarten

During the recent legislative session, Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock made the establishment of a universal pre-kindergarten program a top priority. Despite the push, no bill passed the Republican-dominated Legislature.

"It was a great push, a really good conversation around it, it just didn't get through this time," said Juneau.

Montana is one of 10 states that lack a universal pre-kindergarten program and at least until the next legislative session in early 2017, it will continue to be on that list.

Opponents of universal pre-K said it was not needed and any money should instead go to bolster existing programs.

But Juneau said experience shows children who have been in a pre-kindergarten program are much more successful throughout the rest of their schooling than those who have not.

Juneau said legislators who are unconvinced by the arguments for providing state funding for preschool programs should speak with parents, educators and faculty involved with them. Those testimonials she said could change minds on the policy.

"Listening to those stories, talking to parents who have their child in those programs, it really needs to be a community discussion," said Juneau.

Communities that have preschool programs, Juneau said, can help advance the policy through example. A grant of $40 million over four years will be provided through the Department of Public Health and Human Services and the governor's office to 16 communities to help build preschool programs. She said those grants and the discussions surrounding them could show state legislators what a good quality preschool program looks like.

"We'll have a lot of good discussions coming out of those demonstration communities," she said.