News

Lawmaker launches online education survey- Make your opinion count Montana!

A lawmaker on the House Education Committee has launched an online survey to solicit the views of parents and the public on what kind of “quality” education the state should offer its public schools students.

By Allison Farrell of the Missoulian State Bureau

Rep. Roger Koopman, R- Bozeman, said ordinary citizens can’t take the time to travel to Helena and testify about the public education system, but they can make their views known at http://www.qualityeducationsurvey.com .

“The process has been heavily over-weighted on the side of professional, public-sector lobbyists who are largely controlling the debate,” Koopman said Monday. “What’s being left out is the views of the consumers of education.”

Eric Feaver, president of the school and government union knows as MEA-MFT, said the survey won’t accurately reflect the opinions of all Montanans.

“Whenever you have a self selected process to evaluate anything, you don’t end up with valid responses,” Feaver said. “It’s not science.”

The online survey asks a few demographic questions, such as whether the respondent is the parent of a student or is an employee of the public school system. The survey then asks four open-ended questions, such as “How would you personally define quality schools or quality education?” and, “If you had a magic wand, what one action would you take to improve Montana’s public education?”

Koopman, a Bozeman businessman, launched the site and paid for it himself. He said he will compile all the answers and submit them to the state Board of Public Education, the Office of Public Instruction, the House and Senate education committees and the media.

He said he as no idea how people will respond but hopes they come up with some good ideas for change.

“The mantra we’ve been hearing is spend, spend, spend, rather than reform, reform, reform,” Koopman said.

Feaver said the results probably will be skewed.

“Roger has his agenda and he’s playing it out to the fullest,” Feaver said.

Koopman has introduced bills this session that would allow volunteers to teach school, would give tax credits to people who send their children to private schools and another to create charter schools in Montana.

The education lobby is asking the state to pump more than $100 million into public education in fiscal years 2006 and 2007 to give struggling schools immediate relief as the Legislature crafts a new system of school finance.

The Montana Supreme Court ruled in November that the state’s funding formula for schools is unconstitutional and inadequate and needs to be fixed by Oct. 1. The state must define what kind of quality education students are entitled to, develop a system to deliver it and then fund it.

Several bills attempting to define quality education have been introduced.

Posted in:

Sorry, we couldn't find any posts. Please try a different search.

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.