fbpx

Democrat Who Lost Montana Superintendent Race to Run Again

Melissa Romano is a fourth-grade teacher in Helena who won Montana Teacher of the Year in 2018

By Tristan Scott

HELENA — The Democrat who lost to Republican Elsie Arntzen in the Montana public school superintendent election three years ago says she’ll run again in 2020.

Melissa Romano is a fourth-grade teacher in Helena who won Montana Teacher of the Year in 2018. She said in a statement Tuesday that Arntzen showed a lack of leadership as the head of the Office of Public Instruction by staying silent on some education-related issues during the legislative session.

That included proposals to make public education voluntary and to use tax money for private schools.

Arntzen spokesman Dylan Klapmeier says the agency’s priorities advanced during the recently ended session, including restoring education funding and protecting student safety.

Arntzen has not announced whether she plans to run for re-election. In 2016, she beat Romano by 16,200 votes out of 491,380 total votes cast.