Public school issues discussed at Havre forum

Editor’s note: This version corrects comments attribute to Pax Haslem actually made by Todd Hanson.

Montana Office of Public Instruction Superintendent Elsie Artnzen was at Montana State University-Northern Tuesday to talk to local educators, parents and school leaders about the legislative session and get their feedback.

Arntzen said people in the room may not always agree on everything but they are united by their desire to help make student's lives better, and she's hoping the conversation will be a good one.

The largest subject of discussion at the event was over a pair of bills, a subject which spilt the audience, though most who spoke were against or at least concerned about the bills.

HB 562 would authorize the creation of "community choice schools" under the jurisdiction of a new, autonomous, statewide commission attached to the Montana Board of Public Education.

Under the bill, parents and community groups could seek approval for such a school directly from the new commission or from an authorized local school board. Choice schools would be subject to the same federal laws as K-12 public schools, but governed at the state level by their own set of curricular, licensing and academic reporting regulations.

The other bill, House Bill 549, seeks to place state oversight of charter schools directly in the hands of the Board of Public Education. Public charter schools would be governed by the same laws and administrative rules applied to public schools, and be under the local jurisdiction of either an existing elected school board or a locally elected charter school board under this law.

HB 549 more or less codifies what is already in Montana law, as the state already permits the creation of charter schools provided they have the same accreditation standards as public schools.

Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, who attended Tuesday's meeting, was the primary proponent of this push for charter schools, saying public schools aren't for every student and touting them as a possible solution, particularly for Native American communities who benefit form more flexibility in learning styles, which Arntzen agreed with.

"Public schools don't work for everybody, and yet we are demanded by the federal government to make that happen," she said,

Todd Hanson of Havre also attended the event and joined Windy Boy in advocating for charter schools.

He said the western model of education promotes equality over equity, which pushes students into a restrictive and standardized style of education, one that doesn't work for a majority of students.

He said communities are looking for reform and charter schools may be a way to provide that.

However, most of those who spoke on the subject were not receptive to the idea, including Rep. Paul Tuss, D-Havre, who said he's not against charter schools philosophically, but feels that they are not what the state should be focusing on when public schools are so underfunded.

He said if there was money on the table for that kind of stuff, he might be more receptive to it, but public schools are in crisis at the moment and he feels that investment of time and resources should go there instead.

"Public schools are the foundation of American democracy," he said.

Havre Public Schools Interim Superintendent Brad Moore said the his district has been able to provide more flexible individualized learning for students in the past few years, but to continue doing that, they need more support from the state.

This sentiment was echoed by others at the meeting who said the focus should be on solving the ongoing problems at public schools, the teacher shortage being one of the biggest areas of concern for those present.

Moore said the shortage is the core issue around which so many of public education's current problems are connected.

He said the problem is getting worse and worse with an ever shrinking recruiting pool and that, along with low teacher pay, has affected teacher morale.

"We need to make teaching a noble profession again," he said.

He said if they can hire enough teachers, they can further improve individualized learning by reducing class sizes, allowing teachers to connect with students more directly.

Havre Public Schools Board of Trustee Chair Curtis Smeby agreed and said teachers need better pay and while his board is doing the best they can to give teachers what they need, they can't do it on their own and the state needs to invest in solving this problem.

Arntzen said she definitely understands this issue, saying that more than 60 percent of the teachers her office licenses are from out of state, so there is clearly a problem to be solved.

She touted a residency program her office was able to set up with COVID-19 relief money as well as a bill making its way through the Legislature that would create a health insurance trust for teachers, which may be a huge help to them.

Tuss said both he and Windy Boy are on the House Appropriations Committee and he's confident that bill will be taken off the table and will eventually pass.

During the meeting Smeby talked about the Teachers of Promise Pathways program, which allows high school students in 15 communities across Montana to work in classrooms earning high school and college credits toward education degrees while getting practical experience and getting paid for their work.

Arntzen praised the program as did others in the audience, but some said while that is a great thing, those students are still years away from actually becoming teachers and the years in the meantime need to be addressed as well.

Susan Brurud of Havre said she thinks low teacher morale is also having an effect on students who potentially want to become teachers but see their own educators struggling so hard.

"Our kids aren't wanting to be teachers because they don't see their teachers wanting to be teachers," she said.

When asked by Arntzen what the university was doing to help solve this ongoing problem, Northern Chancellor Greg Kegel said their education programs face the same issues as those in the schools, not enough students are interested.

Kegel said he thinks that is a problem that needs greater scrutiny, and while he thinks the people at Northern are doing good work for those in the programs they need to get more people interested.

Other members of the audience brought up other issues, like teachers fearing the prospect of active shooter situations and being expected to take on more responsibilities that should be being filled by parents.

However, pay and funding were not the only subjects of discussion at the event, Lindsey Ratliff a Havre High School teacher and member of Havre's City Council said she's also concerned about recent bills increasing penalties for school libraries found to offer "obscene" materials.

The bill in question, HB 234, was criticized for its unclear definition of "obscene" and for the attitude of fear many felt it would create in schools.

Critics of the bill have linked it to bills being introduced around the U.S. to curtail schools offering books that depict LGBTQ characters and themes.

Ratliff said the bill doesn't address a serious issue in Montana and only serves to make educators more fearful that they will get into legal trouble based on unclear standards.

"We need to treat them like professionals," Ratliff said.

Windy Boy agreed, saying his tribe has many people who are part of the LGBTQ community and these kinds of bills are a detriment to them and all people who want to be treated equally.

Tuss also agreed, saying the Legislature shouldn't be dictating these kinds of standards to local school boards when they seem to be able to make judgment calls like that effectively on their own.

"The best government is that which is closest to the people," he said.

Arntzen also briefly talked about ideas to streamline the school system by making accreditation happen every three or five years instead of every year or helping districts develop safety and mental health plans, but time ran out and some subjects had to be cut short.

Tuss, Windy Boy and others thanked Arntzen for holding the event, with Tuss saying it's clear that not everyone there agrees on how to solve the issues at hand but he feels this was a productive conversation.

"Embrace children, embrace our future, because that's what they are," Arntzen said as the meeting closed.