How much does it cost to teach a child in Montana? And what's the right way to pay the bill? That's the question a group of lawmakers and education advocates will attempt to answer over the next year and a half. MTPR's Austin Amestoy sat down with host Elinor Smith to explain why finding the answer could be easier said than done.
Elinor Smith Hi Austin. So tell us more about this group digging into education funding. Who are they and why should we care what they're up to?
Austin Amestoy So this is the School Funding Interim Commission. That's the formal name. They meet every 10 years per state law to take a look at how we pay for public education. They're composed of 12 state lawmakers split evenly by party, and eight other people, superintendents, the State Superintendent Susie Hedalen, even. Quite the diverse group in terms of their backgrounds and perspectives.
And anyone who pays taxes in Montana should care about this commission. They will, in theory, make recommendations to the next Legislature in 2027 on changes to the way Montana pays for public education.
Elinor Smith Well, Austin, I notice you said, "in theory" there. They might not make any recommendations at all?
Austin Amestoy That's the key here, they don't have to. By law, all this group has to do is study how Montana pays for schools now and determine if the state is paying enough for a basic system of quality education. The Constitution demands, actually, the state fund a quality education, but there is no requirement by law that this committee make recommendations to the next Legislature to change things.
Now, that doesn't mean there isn't pressure to make changes to the school funding system. There's a lot of pressure, actually. School leaders are in pretty much universal agreement that the current system isn't working. Inflation has made the cost of an education soar. Schools don't have the money for new technology, in a lot cases, to rebuild crumbling schools, to pay teachers what they want to pay them. There's agreement that there is work to be done, but on what those changes should be, it's not yet clear there will be any agreement.
Elinor Smith Do we know how this school funding commission feels about the way we pay for schools now?
Austin Amestoy This is where things get really interesting. Our newspaper reading listeners out there may have noticed this summer two editorials with two pretty distinct takes on what's wrong with the current school funding system. The first came from Republican Senators Sue Vinton of Billings and Becky Beard of Elliston, both on the School Funding Commission. I debriefed with Beard on a Zoom call recently.
Becky Beard: It is nearly unexplainable.
Austin Amestoy Beard argues the current funding formula is too confusing.
Basically, the path your property tax dollars take from your wallet to a school is way too hard to understand, she says. And if taxpayers can't understand how they're paying for schools, that means the system isn't transparent, which is a real priority for Beard and Vinton.
Becky Beard: I want to be able to explain it to the voters and the property taxpayers. Here's how much of your money goes to all of these different types of programs.
Austin Amestoy The senators in that editorial also argued Montana has continued paying more for schools without seeing academic improvement. And that's what caught the eye of the writers of that second editorial I mentioned.
Elinor Smith So, someone pushed back on that opinion?
Austin Amestoy A group of someones, yes; The Montana School Boards Association. Days later, they published their own editorial insinuating that Vinton and Beard wanted to cut school funding. Executive Director Lance Melton:
Lance Melton That's not what public education is. It is not a burden to be tolerated. It is a constitutional responsibility, and it fulfills constitutional rights of children.
Austin Amestoy Melton says the commission needs to be focused on figuring out how much it costs to educate a child to their fullest potential, and then find the best, fairest way to pay that cost.
Advocates for increased spending on schools note that Montana ranks in the bottom half of states when it comes to how much it spends on education per student.
Elinor Smith Well, who's right?
Austin Amestoy It's interesting, Elinor. The folks behind these dueling editorials actually agree on more than they let on here. Sen. Beard clarified she's not pushing for the state to cut school funding. She wants it to be adequate to give kids a quality education; which, as we've talked about, is something that Melton and the School Boards Association agree on. And they also agree the current formula is too complicated, that the commission should find recommendations for simplifying the way we pay for schools.
Those editorials, though, are something of a preview for how much work this diverse group of people has to accomplish before January, 2027. They have to decide what a quality education is, determine if the state is giving enough money to schools to fund that quality education, and if not, figure out how to pay for the difference, all the while considering ways to make it easier for taxpayers to understand where their money is going. It is a pretty monumental task to tackle in 16 months. And the devil, and likely the disagreements, will be in the details.
The commission is in the research phase right now. So I'll continue following along and will report when they start making some substantive decisions.
Elinor Smith Well, Austin, that is quite a can of worms. Thank you so much for the background on this.
