Latest news with #HouseBill320
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Teachers rally, one significant education proposal dies, governor's bill gains support
More than 500 people attended a rally organized by the Montana Federation of Public Employees at the Capitol in 2025 to support teachers, law enforcement, and local government officials. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan) Nearly 500 people, including teachers, rallied at the Montana Capitol this week to speak up for education and public employees, and a couple of major education proposals met divergent fates in the Montana Legislature. A 'school choice' bill, House Bill 320 died Wednesday once a number of legislators changed their votes after the legislation cleared its first hurdle on the floor and survived the Appropriations committee with a one-vote margin. Friday, however, the House gave another thumbs up for the STARS Act — Student and Teacher Advancement for Results — a key proposal in Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte's budget. It will be on its way to the Senate. Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, is the lead sponsor of House Bill 252, which is aimed at increasing starter teacher pay, a persistent problem in Montana. The bill also includes academic incentives for students and ways high-cost school districts can support teachers with affordable housing. It has significant support across the political spectrum. Some supporters argue it doesn't do enough for veteran teachers, but Jones has said it targets a specific challenge in Montana, and money is limited. House Bill 320, which failed, would have created a program to help families with children in private schools and a tax credit for financial donors. The proposal was criticized as costly and lacking adequate oversight, especially given its high cost, earlier estimated to be as much as $12 million by 2029. It was praised as providing resources to families whose children don't fit the mold in public school and face rising prices. Sponsor and Rep. Lee Deming, R-Laurel, said he was disappointed in the outcome and had believed concerns from detractors had been addressed with amendments. 'There's 5,700 kids that somehow don't fit in our system right now,' Deming said. 'They're not going to get a dime. We spend $2 billion on everybody else, but we can't cut $8 million loose for those kids.' The rally Monday, organized by the Montana Federation of Public Employees, was a call on legislators to support teachers, but also other union workers, school staff, law enforcement officers, and city, county and state employees. MFPE President Amanda Curtis said the group's message was to respect public employees and fund public schools and public service — 'public good.' 'In these crazy, divided times, it is important to show up in the right spirit,' Curtis said in prepared remarks. 'Today, I'd like us to show up in a spirit of gratitude. Every single person in this building, whether they vote the right way or not, is in service to their community and our state.' HB 320 was among the bills the union had opposed for sending public resources to 'voucher schemes.' David Reese, an academic advisor in Montana State University's Department of Education, said state universities graduate enough students to fill open teaching positions, but Montana still comes up short because of pay. So teachers go elsewhere. Reese, in prepared remarks provided to the Daily Montanan, said he sees potential in the STARS Act, but also wants it to do more. 'Yes, let's boost starting teacher pay, but let's also improve their career-earnings outlook by supporting the experienced educators who have stuck with the profession through years of attacks and negative, real wage growth,' Reese said.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bills to boost starting teacher pay, offer ‘school choice,' both advance in House
Photo illustration by Getty Images. The Montana House advanced a couple of significant education proposals this week including a bill to increase starting teacher pay and one to support children in private school. One bill passed with significant support, one by a hair. But both bills garnered criticism from legislators during debate and will need to withstand scrutiny in appropriations and another vote on the floor to move to the Senate. House Bill 252, to increase starting teacher pay, passed 93-7 with bipartisan support. House Bill 320, to provide support for 'school choice,' passed 51-48. Sponsored by Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, HB 252 provides incentives for academic achievement and offers other support for educators, such as tools districts can use for housing in areas of high cost, in addition to starting teacher pay. The STARS Act, the Student and Teacher Advancement for Results and Success, is supported by the Governor's Office, and Jones said it was designed with input from communities and education groups. 'It's had a lot of collaboration across the state,' Jones said. Previous legislation to try to boost starting teacher pay didn't lead to desired results, and Rep. Jane Gillette, R-Three Forks, wanted to know if HB 252 would be different. 'Why would this bill help schools retain new teachers better than the one that we passed?' Gillette said. Jones said the amount of money wasn't enough to encourage districts to participate before, but the proof of concept worked. He said at least one district is already negotiating based on the bill, and it puts sufficient money into the program, $50 million as opposed to a couple million. Rep. Luke Muszkiewicz, D-Helena, said he's a former trustee and supports the bill, but he would be remiss in not pointing out its shortcomings. He said many people feel it won't help school districts retain more experienced teachers, who help mentor newer teachers, and school districts still face an inflation gap of $92.5 million. 'While the STARS Act represents a significant ongoing investment, it will not serve as the leap forward we would hope if it doesn't at least close that inflation gap,' Muszkiewicz said. *** HB 320, Montana's Academic Prosperity Program for Scholars, or MAPPS, is a program to help families afford to send their children to private schools, said sponsor Rep. Lee Deming, R-Laurel. It offers donors and families a tax credit. Deming said the bill was amended in committee to set a $10 million aggregate ceiling limit for parents buying 'qualified' education expenses, and the same ceiling for donations to the MAPPS account. An escalator clause allows the ceilings to lift up to that point, but only if both sides hit 80% of their limits. Before the bill was amended, critics said the credits in it and another existing education credit had the potential to cost the state $100 million in revenue within a decade, and cost remained a concern on the House floor. The bill passed on second reading by one vote but drew bipartisan opposition. Legislators questioned cost and a lack of accountability. Rep. Sherry Essmann, R-Billings, raised numerous concerns, including that a program manager wouldn't get a job review for five years. 'How many of us had jobs where we could work … for five years before we got a job performance review? That is totally out of line,' Essmann said. Deming countered that the bill provides for termination. Essmann also said the types of things for which parents can claim a credit are broad, and they're things parents of students who go to public schools cannot claim — 'they just have to pay for them.' Rep. Mark Thane, D-Missoula, also said he saw multiple problems with the bill, including that it could cost the state more money every year with the 20% escalator. A fiscal analysis estimates it's projected to cost the state nearly $12 million by 2029. 'You can see that over time, this could be a runaway freight train in terms of cost,' Thane said. Thane, a former superintendent, also said a savvy accountant could help a client avoid paying income taxes, for example, with a $200,000 donation that credits a corporation or individual with $65,000 during the span of three years. 'For the next three years, I can zero out the bottom line of my Montana state income tax return with this credit,' Thane said. 'That means those individuals or those corporations will not contribute to any state initiatives or state programs during that three-year period.' But in favor of the bill, Rep. Terry Falk, R-Kalispell, said he views the 'value proposition' in the bill similar to the way he sees money that goes to fight crime or build roads — 'I think school choice, universal school choice, is right there.' Children who aren't in public schools also save taxpayers costly infrastructure, he said, and he believes the time has come for the 'school choice' legislation. 'School choice is a necessary, reasonable need in our American society,' Falk said. Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe, R-Billings, said families are wondering how to pay the bills with the economy. She said Montana is funding public education at a high rate, and legislators shouldn't be afraid to do the same for families who want something different. 'They also want to have the opportunity to put their kids through private school,' Seekins-Crowe said.
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Controversial ‘school choice' tax credit proposal under consideration
Illustration by Getty Images. 'School choice' proponents are pressing Montana lawmakers to approve legislation they argue would offer children more educational options with the financial support they need. Private school can be so expensive, some parents have to choose which of their children will attend, and a bill to offer tax credits for donations and educational expenses would help, proponents told the House Education committee at a recent hearing. Tuition at Loyola Sacred Heart High School in Missoula will top $14,000 next year, said Tom Noonan, president of Missoula Catholic Schools. Noonan said parents need financial support to attend, and the bill will help students achieve. 'School choice is not just a policy, it is a remarkable tool of empowerment,' Noonan said. Opponents, though, said in just a decade, the credits could cost the state nearly $100 million in combination with an earlier education tax credit, given the way the bill allows a cap to continue to increase. Opponents also argued the bill creates a new separate system of education even as public schools struggle, and it fails to allow public school students the same opportunities as private school students. In recent years, parents who support 'school choice' have pushed for state support for private schools. In 2020 in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, the U.S. Supreme Court found the state's prohibition on allowing religious schools to participate in a tax credit in the state to be unconstitutional. The Montana Supreme Court had invalidated the tax credit program altogether based on a prohibition against aid to schools controlled by churches. In a hearing last week, bill sponsor Rep. Lee Deming, R-Laurel, said the program in House Bill 320 is written to align with the Espinoza case, and he pushed back against criticism it would hurt public education in Montana. 'I'm a 43-year public school educator, and I have no interest in harming public schools whatsoever,' Deming said. 'In fact, I want them to be the best public schools in America, and I think this is one of the ways we can do it.' But Lance Melton, with the Montana School Boards Association, said the bill, 'ironically enough,' runs contrary to Espinoza by discriminating against people who choose to enroll their children in public school and excluding them from participation. He said a bill adopted last session offers tax credits for both public and private schools, 'equal measures on both sides,' and he helped it pass. 'This bill is not that. It actually bypasses the very equality that we've previously agreed upon,' Melton said. *** The bill would create Montana's Academic Prosperity Program for Scholars, or MAPPS. In its first year, it would offer an aggregate tax credit for up to $4 million for taxpayer or corporate donations toward educational expenses, and it would offer another $4 million in credits for which parents can apply. If the programs reach 80% of their limits, both can bump up 25% each succeeding year. The bill would offer an incentive to donor taxpayers or corporations to contribute up to $200,000 for education expenses and receive an equal credit, Deming said. It would allow families at or below 500% of the poverty level to apply for support for education expenses up to $7,000 a year, he said. Qualified expenses include tuition, textbooks, fees, and other resources approved by an oversight council. Parents also can apply for an education tax credit. 'The $8 million aggregate for MAPPS is a small expense for a life changing program for families seeking education choice for their children, just like the current tax credit scholarship,' Deming said. A fiscal note has been requested to assess the cost of the bill but was not available at press time, although the bill also is expected to be amended. The bill also would create a council with members appointed by the governor to oversee MAPPS. The legislation would apply to 'qualified education providers,' defined in part as nonpublic schools and nonprofits, which may or may not be accredited. At the hearing, Chair Linda Reksten, R-Polson, estimated at least 75 and as many as 100 people wanted to testify, and proponents and opponents shared their perspectives on the bill in light of other 'school choice' legislation. Sen. Sue Vinton, R-Billings, told the committee demand for a separate program adopted earlier, the Big Sky Scholarship Program, is high, but that program allows support only for tuition and tutoring. Sometimes, parents want to customize education a different way, and Vinton characterized MAPPS as a 'universal program that offers all children all the educational options available in our state.' Additionally, Vinton said some 'significant school choice' programs adopted by the legislature have yet to take effect. 'Many of these new laws are tied up in court, and thereby Montanans, like those sitting behind me, are being denied the freedom to direct the education of their own children,' said Vinton, a co-sponsor of the bill. Critics of the bill, however, said it would eventually cost everyone. Jenny Walsh, a mom of three in Missoula, said the program is a handout for rich families, and families already have many educational choices in Montana. 'This is a way for families, wealthy families, to pay less in taxes and would ultimately cost us all more,' Walsh said. Kim Popham, with the Montana Federation of Public Employees, said public schools already work with scarce resources. The bill would divert those resources, and it runs contrary to other legislation aimed at increasing teacher pay and widely supported, Popham said. The committee heard House Bill 252 earlier in the week. 'This committee is poised to make significant progress in addressing Montana's school funding crisis,' Popham said. 'This bill would set us back by siphoning those tax dollars away from the general fund. 'Many of our rural schools are already operating on a shoestring budget. Starting a new parallel system of funding education could have devastating effects, especially in those rural schools.' The Montana Rural Education Association also spoke against the bill. Melton, with the school boards association, calculated that the pair of credits, in conjunction with a tax credit already in law, will reach a cost of roughly $100 million in a decade if the triggers on a cap in the bill are reached each year. But organizations that favor 'school choice' spoke in support of the bill, including the Alliance for Choice in Education, Ed Choice, and the Montana Family Foundation. One proponent, Henry Kriegel, with Americans for Prosperity Montana, said many dropouts fall through the cracks, and the impact of their decision is not studied, but he said they cost society as a result. 'I'm not saying that every kid who falls through the cracks can be helped by alternative education, but a number of them can, and it's up to us to be able to provide that for these kids, which is why we stand in support of this particular bill,' Kriegel said. And outcomes are good, said Lisa Russell, with ACE Scholarships of Montana. Russell said since its founding, the organization has provided more than 10,400 partial student scholarships through nearly $22 million in private funding. 'I'm incredibly proud to report that of those 10,411 students, we have a 100% graduation rate for scholars,' Russell said. 'The best part of my job is getting to talk to those families and hearing their stories about how the right school and a scholarship has completely transformed their child's life.' Opponents, though, raised questions about the lack of oversight allowed by the bill. Doug Reisig, with the Montana Quality Education Coalition, said the legislation delegates to the MAPPS council the power to define 'qualified educational expenses with no guiding principles or guardrails,' and as such, is unconstitutional. At least one opponent pointed to foibles in Arizona's 'school choice' program, and Rob Watson, with School Administrators of Montana, said this state isn't immune to fraud and waste. A records request of expenses approved under a separate bill, House Bill 393 from last session, showed 'a lot of acceptable expenditures,' but also some questionable ones, Watson said. He pointed to reimbursement for a circus camp, likely a quality program, he said, but questionable as a taxpayer expense. 'We do have an issue of using taxpayer money to fund a circus camp when everyone else would probably fund that out of their own pocket,' Watson said. The committee had yet to take action on the bill at press time, and draft amendments had not been posted.
