Montana School Funding Commission Votes Against Including Education Organizations in Policy Working Group

Members of Montana’s School Funding Interim Commission voted June 23 not to include organizations representing educators, school administrators, school business officials and school board trustees as part of a working group whose research would inform the commission’s study, and potentially legislative policy surrounding public education funding.

The School Funding Interim Commission gathers every 10 years to complete a decennial study of K-12 public school funding. It consists of lawmakers and members of the public. It also has representation from the governor’s office, superintendent of public instruction, board of public education and the Board of Regents, which rules over Montana’s university system.

The commission gathers to look at school funding and makes recommendations to the state legislature. It does not have any authority to pass legislation. Rather, the commission’s work offers legislators recommendations as they navigate decisions about the state’s complex way of funding public schools.

This year, the state legislature added a step to the decennial study process. The passage of House Bill 153 created an innovation and excellence in education working group. The group is meant to convene prior to the decennial study and will examine best educational policies domestically and internationally. They will also create a recommendation plan to implement those policies in the state.

State Rep. David Bedey, R-Hamilton, the commission’s chair, carried HB 153 through the legislature. He said the hope is the information they collect will inform the study’s funding recommendations.  

“The idea here that’s different from previously is that in addition to examining the adequacy of the ‘funding formula,’ we are taking a look at potential policies that would impact how that funding would look,” Bedey said. “We’re trying to be forward looking, and this working group is aimed at that.”

HB 153, which passed with broad bipartisan support, also states the commission “shall include representation from teachers, school administrators, school trustees, and parent advocacy groups in forming the working group.” Members of the working group, per the bill text, are to be determined by the commission.

In a 13-7 vote on June 23, the School Funding Interim Commission members nixed a recommendation to include representatives from the Montana Federation of Public Employees (MFPE) — which represents Montana’s teachers — along with the School Administrators of Montana (SAM), Montana School Boards Association (MTSBA) and the Montana Association of School Business Officials (MASBO) in the working group.

Lance Melton, the executive director of MTSBA, said from his perspective, the committee made a strategic error with that decision.

“I think it’ll all come out and work, but I think they lost an opportunity to get real buy-in and collaboration from some pretty spectacular leaders,” Melton said.

Shelley Turner, who leads MASBO, said she doesn’t view the vote as a dismissal of her organization’s perspective. She believes the commission still values the organizations’ expertise.

“Our purview remains vital,” Turner wrote in an email. “MASBO members are deeply embedded in the day-to-day realities of Montana public schools. We manage the challenges of high staff turnover, navigate complex and often burdensome processes to secure funding, and ensure that schools uphold their fiscal responsibilities to taxpayers, staff, students, and families. These realities are essential to any conversation about innovation and excellence in education.”

The commission’s vote also keeps a representative from a parent advocacy group in the working group. The commission hasn’t yet selected which parent advocacy group or groups to include. It considered the Montana Parent-Teacher Association. A lone public commenter on June 23 urged the commission to select a different parent organization, or an additional one.

Tom Burnett, a Montana State Library Commissioner and former lawmaker from Bozeman, first suggested not including the groups in the June 23 meeting. He raised concerns their participation in the working group would make it grow too large and create difficulties reaching consensus.

Bedey said HB 153’s intent was to ensure teachers, administrators, trustees and parent advocates had a voice on the commission. There was no guarantee that commissioners would have experience on those fronts when the bill passed. But, he said, having that experience included in the study process was important.

Bedey said there were two ways to go with ensuring those groups were represented.

The first was explicitly including the organizations representing them. The second: the commission’s membership fulfills those roles.  

“There is a message or misunderstanding that somehow this commission ignored teachers, administrators and trustees but the fact is that the commission is full of teachers, administrators and trustees, and people with experience in all of those areas,” Bedey said.

The commission’s 20-person membership includes Bedey, who was a school board trustee prior to his time in the legislature; Superintendent of Public Instruction Susie Hedalen, who was Townsend’s superintendent prior to assuming public office; and Rep. Melissa Romano, D-Helena, who was named Montana’s Teacher of the Year in 2018. Others on the commission also have experience as teachers, administrators, school board trustees or school business officials, Bedey said.

Since the commission’s membership consisted of people who currently hold or have held the roles HB 153 outlined, for Bedey, the vote was about maintaining efficiency.

He said the group has a tight budget and a tight deadline. Their analysis must conclude by January, and in order to complete it, Bedey said they must bring on a consultant. And with 20 members serving on the commission, he’s already struggling to schedule times for everyone to meet. 

Romano, however, said during last month’s meeting she hasn’t been in her teaching role for seven years.

“I think that there is great value in adding the five groups that were stated on the memo, and particularly, although I think that there are several of us who have been classroom educators, I don’t know that there is any one of us who are currently in a traditional classroom,” Romano said. “So I think having an educator perspective on the group to inform would be incredibly valuable.”

Other legislators added they had looked forward to working with members from the organizations throughout the decennial study process.

Leadership in the organizations involved have mixed opinions about the vote.

Sue Corrigan, the outgoing president of MTSBA and a member of Kalispell Public Schools’ board of trustees, said the organization lobbied hard to be a part of the working group. She said the exclusion felt disappointing. Melton, MTSBA’s executive director, said by taking away voting power, the commission members chose a more “adversarial path.”

“If we’re at the table we can help them help, and help them help us. If we’re out in the audience, it can set us up for something more adversarial,” Melton said.

Rob Watson, the executive director of the School Administrators of Montana, shares Bedey’s view. His organization already has representation on the commission and, therefore, in the working group. While commission members may wear multiple hats, he said three members are part of SAM.

Turner, executive director of the Montana Association of School Business Officials, shared Watson’s sentiments, too. In an email, she said she views the choice as a “structural decision” within a broader process.

“I fully believe MASBO — and our partner organizations — will continue to have meaningful opportunities to engage with the Commission,” Turner wrote. “I remain committed to ensuring our voice is heard as key topics arise, and MASBO will always be available to provide insight, context, and recommendations.”

The commission’s meetings remain open to the public. Members of each of those groups can offer public comment, as can any individuals interested in education in the state. Watson, Corrigan and Melton all said they plan to continue offering public comment and engaging with the commission.

Watson has already done that throughout the process. At the commission’s first meeting, he advocated to keep a parent representative included in the working group. The commission plans to do so.

“What’s really missing on the committee is an active teacher in the classroom,” Watson said.

As president of MFPE, Amanda Curtis represents more than 20,000 members across the state. Many are school employees; namely, teachers.

“The teacher members especially feel that, because they spend so much time with students, they were really looking forward to having their voice heard in a really significant way on the interim commission,” Curtis said.

When teachers read the bill, they interpreted it to mean teachers would have inclusion on the commission. Curtis said she doesn’t view the vote as one that aligned with HB 153’s intention. While MFPE members respect the experience of commission members in education, Curtis said teachers had counted on “a seat at the table that felt meaningful to them.”

“Being grouped in with all the rest of the public to give public comment just didn’t feel great,” she said.

And, by including a parent advocacy group, Curtis said it seemed the commission carved out separate rules for parents as opposed to other stakeholders.

But like the rest of the organizations, Curtis said MFPE’s members will still give public comment. MFPE will share information with its members about when meetings will take place and how to submit comment.

And all parties agree they hope the commission’s work will be valuable.

“I think what I’m hearing about the previous (decennial study) is there wasn’t a lot of recommendations that really amounted to anything specifically in terms of changing the funding formula, whereas this time around, there’s a lot of interest in trying to make the funding formula better,” Watson said.

But at the end of the day, Watson is clear that the working group’s recommendations are only that — recommendations.

“It will be a great discussion, but we won’t really know what happens until after the 2027 legislature,” Watson said.

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