Mary Sheehy Moe: Budget cuts turn teaching into crowd control, strip away innovation

In 2008, facing a national recession and the city’s entanglement with Electric City Power, Great Falls voters rejected the school district’s mill levy request. School trustees had no choice but to cut $2.65 million from the general fund budget. In 2009, they cut another $614,894 and pulled $1.5 million from reserves. In 2010, a small levy passed, but trustees still had to cut $311,000 from the general fund and pull $937,000 from reserves.

By Mary Sheehy Moe