Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer stresses early education. “Education begins when you are born in Montana and it ends when you die in Montana.”

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has a new mantra, and it goes like this: “Education begins when you are born in Montana and it ends when you die in Montana.”

When it comes to funding education, Montana can no longer draw lines between K-12, four-year campuses and colleges of technology, Schweitzer said in remarks Thursday to the state Board of Education, a combination of the Board of Public Education (K-12) and the Montana University System’s Board of Regents.

“We have to compete in the world economy,” Schweitzer said. “We are no longer competing with Idaho – we are competing with India; we are no longer competing with Colorado – we are competing with China.”

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Montana Early Childhood Business Summit, 10/4, Missoula http://www.matr.net/article-19762.html

CED Releases Report on Economic Benefits of Investing in Preschool http://www.matr.net/article-19761.html

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In order to be competitive in a world economy and to grow the state’s economy, Schweitzer said, Montana must have a more seamless approach to its education system. That approach must also be responsive to needs in the ever-changing job market – particularly in the technology sector, where it doesn’t matter where you live, but what you know.

Success, he said, relies on having students who are better prepared for school and having schools that are better prepared for helping students.

By BETSY COHEN of the Missoulian

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/articles/2006/07/14/news/local/news03.txt

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Governor urges teachers to tap ‘spirit of ingenuity’

By KRISTI ALBERTSON
The Daily Inter Lake

Education and economic development in Montana pose a sort of chicken-and-egg conundrum. Each depends heavily on the other.

“If we grow our economy, we can invest in education,” said Gov. Brian Schweitzer. “[But] we cannot grow our economy unless you produce the kind of graduates we need.”

Schweitzer addressed the interconnectedness of education and the economy at the State Board of Education meeting Thursday morning at Flathead Valley Community College. Members of state agencies expanded on the topic.

Full Story: http://www.dailyinterlake.com/articles/2006/07/14/news/news05.txt