Authored by: Maggie Walters, Montana PTA Advocacy Vice President

Madam President, the Montana PTA’s Legislative Platform states that we will recommend, initiate and support legislation and appropriations for public schools that will ensure all children and youth in Montana a high quality education.

The Montana PTA will support legislation for the improvement of community programs and facilities which provide maximum protection against moral, emotional and physical hazards for children and youth and strengthen home and family life.

The Montana PTA believes all levels of government play varying roles in ensuring that the educational needs of all citizens are met. In order to ensure effective and efficient use of limited public resources, the responsibilities of each level should be clearly defined.

Controls of the public schools belong to the taxpayers through their nonpartisan state Board of Education and elected nonpartisan local Boards of Education and the Montana PTA shall oppose any legislation that would curtail the power and responsibility of local Boards of Education. No local, state or federal legislation policies or procedures would be passed that will erode the authority of local Boards of Education.

The State roll in education should include the responsibility of providing a system of financing education to ensure adequate and equitable financing of public elementary and secondary schools and to ensure the continued strength and diversity of post-secondary institutions. In addition, the State should be formally committed to ensuring all persons within Montana an equal educational opportunity without regard to race, sex, national origin, handicapping condition, ethnic heritage, economic condition or geographic location.

The Federal role in education should include the responsibility to ensure access to and equality in educational opportunities, to invest in research and development, to improve the quality of education, to uphold basic civil rights protections, and to prepare a workforce that will meet the nations economic and defense needs. We believe these areas of responsibility are of such importance to the achievement to national goals that the federal budget must reflect a share to the investment necessary for their implementation.

Currently the Montana PTA is working in conjunction with the National PTA in supporting the top four National PTA Priority Issues for 2004. They are:

1. Parent Involvement: Support parent involvement policies in federal legislation.  Support employee release time for parent and community involvement.  Support school-linked parent resource centers.  Support the inclusion of parents in governance and decision making roles.
2. Safe and Nurturing Environments: Support school-based early childhood education and before-and after-school programs.  Support initiatives that foster a supportive climate, including: violence prevention measures, child protection and delinquency prevention initiatives, class-size reduction efforts, school modernization proposals, counseling programs. Support health and welfare reforms that meet the needs of underserved children and families.
3. Support for public Education: Support federal education programs, including: The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Recruitment and development of qualified professionals.  Support finance measures that would provide adequate levels of funding to: Support comprehensive school reform, Support equity in school finance and services, Direct money to public schools.  Oppose vouchers/tax subsides, Oppose block grants that reduce funds, eliminate targeting, or weaken accountability, Assure accountability for charter schools, promote sound and appropriate testing/assessment policies.

Throughout the last year National PTA fought against vouchers, tax subsidies, and other schemes that undermine public education or promote the idea of education as a private commodity. The round was won, but these issues will continue to arise and we must continue the fight against these proposals that will reduce revenue while doing nothing to improve public schools, which enroll 90 percent of America’s school children. National PTA will continue to urge lawmakers to restrict the use of public funds to public schools.

July of 2004, Montana PTA was represented at the third annual Children’s Land Alliance Supporting Schools. It was at this seminar that I learned with dismay that millions of School Land Trust dollars are being funneled through the State’s General Fund instead of going directly to the beneficiaries. Montana’s beneficiaries, as stated in the State’s Constitution, are all of Montana’s schools. As advocates for Montana’s schools, we must become more vocal with our lawmakers, insisting they do what is Constitutionally correct. Revenue from School Land Trust lands must go directly to the schools.

July of 2004, I was sent to Washington D.C. as one of three teachers from Montana.  This opportunity was given to me due to my advocacy for special education rights.  National PTA and Montana PTA placed me in positions in Washington D.C. in February of 2004 and in April of 2004 in Missoula ,Montana.  Both these events led

me to contacts with Conrad Burns and in return I was able to share my advocacy with the Department of Education.  Being an advocate for children is truly the most important thing you can do for your child and other children.

Montana PTA has also joined the Stand Up For Education campaign. This coalition stood up for education in cities across Montana, spreading the word that in order to have strong public schools and colleges, we must succeed in receiving adequate state funding for K-12 schools and higher education in Montana.

It is unfair that in order to receive adequate funding from a state who declares to be so educationally oriented, we must fight this battle every year. Montana PTA will continue to speak out on behalf of funding and we, as advocates must do our part.  I recently had a conversation with the administrative secretary where I work.  We began to talk about what she did before she came to Montana, she told me she was a teacher in Philadelphia, PA.  I asked,” why are you not teaching in Montana?”  She began to tell me a heart- wrenching story about how hard it was to teach in her district.  She then told me how one of her students was killed in a drive by shooting.  She taught kindergarten.  The stories like hers are endless.  As PTA members we advocate for the children in Montana and in Pennsylvania and the rest of the United States. Please consider joining The Member- To- Member Network.  The Member-to-Member network is an excellent place to begin. By joining, we add our voices to be a collective voice, which will be heard locally, state wide and nationally. We need to take a stand today to protect the educational rights of children in Montana and children in the United States.  Let your voice echo through the nation, every child one voice.  I want to leave you with a quote tonight that my son’s kindergarten teacher gave me just a few day ago, "Parents the decision to have a child is momentous- it is to have your heart walk around outside your body forever." by Elizabeth Stone. Thank you for coming to the 2005 Montana PTA convention.