Montana School Funding: Definitions, Deliberations and Decisions, 01/22, Helena

2005-01-22 09:00:00

Best Western Great Northern

Contact: Register online at http://www.montana.edu/wheeler, or call 994-0336

The Burton K. Wheeler Center at MSU, in cooperation with the MSU Department of Economics, will host a statewide, non-partisan public forum on education funding in Helena on Saturday, January 22nd. "Montana School Funding: Definitions, Deliberations & Decisions," will be held at the at the Best Western Great Northern.

With the Montana Supreme Court upholding the Sherlock court decision on school funding, the Legislature must now make important decisions with regard to both defining a basic, quality education and determining how to fund it. This dynamic forum features speakers from both in and out of state, and allows ample time for discussion. It is designed for legislators, educators, education groups, state agency personnel and the general public, and provides one of the last opportunities to weigh in on the issues prior to any final legislative action.

This Wheeler event has been generously underwritten by PPL Montana, First Interstate Bank and RBC Dain Rauscher. We very much hope that all those who wish to will join us. To see the program and to pre-register (by January 19), go to http://www.montana.edu/wheeler

Wheeler Center/MSU Department of Economics

"Montana School Funding: Definitions, Deliberations, Decisions"

Best Western Great Northern, Helena, MT Saturday, 1/22/05

8:45 – 9:30am Check- in

9:30 – 9:40 Introduction, Wheeler Board Chair Maxine Johnson & Gordon Brittan

9:40 – 10:10 Overview: Where have we been, where are we now? – Kirk Miller, Havre

10:10 – 10:40 School Funding: Across the Nation – John Munich, Attorney and Consultant, Atlanta

10:40 – 11:00 The Sherlock Decision – Jim Molloy, Helena

11:00 -11:15 Break

11:15 -12:15 School Funding: By the Numbers – Doug Young and Miles Watts, MSU, Bozeman

12:15 – 1:15 Lunch. Speaker TBA

1:15 – 1:45 Remedies and Options: the National Perspective – John Myers, Myers consulting, Denver

1:45 – 2:00 Break

2:00 – 3:00 Moving forward in Montana: Brian Kahn, Helena to moderate. Democratic perspective, Senator Jon Tester; Republican perspective Rep. Bill Glaser; Indian Education perspective (to be determined); Linda McCullough, OPI, Helena

3:00 – 3:45 General discussion, all

3:45 pm Governor Schweitzer to make final comments, and adjourn

Remember: "The State with the Best Educaton Wins!"