Education on the chopping block

Last night, I attended a wonderful student concert at Glacier High School. While sitting in my seat enjoying the students’ intensity on never missing a note, I was thinking how our newly-elected state legislature is ready to put education, both K-12 and higher education, on the chopping block.

It took only hours after our newly-elected legislators arrived in Helena to vote themselves new lap-top computers and sign up for state government health care, while forming plans to reduce educational funding, decrease full-day kindergarten, eliminate Medicaid coverage benefits, reducing mental health services and the list goes on.

Bottom line — if you’re indigent or an aspiring young student, you’re a non- person. You are the first in line to be targeted. Our deciders in Helena have already reduced financial assistance to students who are pursuing degrees in education and general practice medicine.

If Montana wants to attract new jobs to our state, we need excellent schools, teachers and general medicine doctors. These attacks on our educational system only deepen the “brain drain” from our state, which has a direct effect on employment and quality of life here in Montana.

I see no forward thinking in Helena, only a knee-jerk reaction which has deeply imbedded  thinking in politicians who are misguided in what is best for the people they serve.

Roger Sherman

Whitefish