School privatization reduces choice

In all of the handful of recent guest editorials promoting the use of public funds to pay for private or “alternative” education in Montana (usually authored by someone who stands to make a profit from such proposals), there are several critical facts that are typically hidden from view.

School privatization, inaccurately called “school choice” by some of its proponents, removes choice from many more people than those limited few who might gain under such proposals.  

Using public funds (whether through vouchers, tuition tax credits or any other statutory adjustment to the tax code) for private education essentially makes “private” education now “public,” only without the accountability, rights and choices made available to the public when interacting with their existing public schools.

“What kind of choices are at risk under such an arrangement?” you might ask. Start with each of the following rights or choices under current law that would be notably absent if public funds were used to support private schools:

• The choice of which trustees to vote for and elect to represent the community and oversee how the school district raises and spends taxpayer funds.

• The choice of whether to support requests for funding and other voted matters required to be placed before the voters by public schools.

• The rights to observe, participate in and challenge the deliberations and decisions of public schools through open meeting laws that don’t apply to private schools.

• The right to know and assess how well the schools you are supporting with your taxes are performing on various measures of student performance (e.g. graduation and drop-out rates, performance on standardized tests, percentage of students testing at proficient or above, etc.). Private schools are exempt from collecting, compiling and disclosing these performance measures to the public, or even from assessing performance in any manner whatsoever. 

Even those who might perceive a benefit from being allowed to redirect taxes that would otherwise be collected and subject to the appropriation process like everyone else could find that their choices regarding where to send their children would be limited.

Unlike public schools, which are required to serve all resident school-aged children, private schools are generally free to pick and choose who is allowed to attend the schools and to deny admission for any variety of reasons that would be unlawful if used as a basis for denial of admission in a public school. 

Montana’s public schools have increasingly innovated and adapted throughout the state to meet evolving wants, needs and preferences of parents and others in each community. Through the link between their elected school board and the communities they serve, Montana’s school districts are able to engage their communities in meaningful and thoughtful discussions regarding how to best serve Montana’s school aged population.

These discussions have resulted in options and choices that abound throughout the state. Some of the more notable examples of choice available to parents and their children include, but are not limited to:

• Open enrollment in most (more than 90 percent) of public school districts with no tuition charged in all but a handful of instances to parents for students choosing to attend public schools out of their district of residence. 

• Multi-grade learning options in many of our rural schools.

• Four-day school week programming in several rural school districts in Montana, resulting in decreased absentee rates, lower rates of student discipline, fewer instructional interruptions, improved professional development for instructional staff and cost savings;

• Online learning options through the Montana Digital Academy that have been used by more than 160 high and middle schools throughout the state for a variety of purposes, including improved access to a broader curriculum in many rural school districts in the state; part-time enrollment options to supplement programming for students receiving a majority of their schooling through home schooling or private schools; advanced placement and dual credit courses (at reduced tuition) for students looking to get a head start on their post-secondary schooling; and credit recovery for struggling students to get them back on track for high school graduation and an economically-viable future.

• Montessori school models implemented in some school districts.

• An International Baccalaureate program adopted in Kalispell and currently being considered in Missoula.

• A health sciences academy in Missoula that provides a curriculum focused on the interests of students who want to pursue a future career in the medical field.

• Explore School in Helena School District, which provides a part-time enrollment option for home school students in collaboration with the Exploration Works Children’s Museum.

• Star-Base, an inquiry-based curriculum integrating science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) available to all fifth-graders in Great Falls and Helena.

• Vocational, Career and Technical Programs throughout the state that provide a streamlined transition from school to work and post-secondary schooling.

• Performance-based alternative programs where students achieving high standards is the constant, and time is variable.

• Religious Instruction release time that allows school districts to release students from instruction to attend offsite religious instruction at the parents’ request without negatively affecting the student’s attendance record or the funding of the school district.

The bedrock principles of what we like to call the “public school choice movement” in Montana, which cannot be replicated through public funding of private schooling, include:

• Collaboration with parents and taxpayers, not just because it is a good idea but because the law requires it.

• Accountability to voters through their rights to elect trustees in supervision and control of such offerings; approve or disapprove discretionary levies requested to support such activities; and demand transparency through open meeting and open record laws and the access such laws provide to information regarding school performance and expenditures.

• The engagement of classroom teachers and other educators as the sources of both ideas for innovation and delivery of resulting content.

• The assurance that all such offerings are provided on a nondiscriminatory basis in pursuit of the full development of the educational potential of each student as required under the Montana Constitution.

With all of the choices available within our accountable statewide system of public schools, why would we sacrifice any, much less all of the benefits for children above by using public funds to pay for private education in any form that lacks the accountability, transparency and voter control present in our public schools?

The short answer is that we should not accept anything less and should in fact be pursuing an increased presence of the voice and role that the public currently enjoys in influencing the decisions of our public schools as they work to serve the children of this state.

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Denise Ulberg, executive director of the Montana Association of School Business Officials

Eric Feaver, president of MEA-MFT

Dave Puyear, executive director of the Montana Rural Education Association

Lance Melton, executive director of the Montana School Boards Association

Mark Lambrecht, executive director of the Montana Quality Education Coalition

Kirk Miller, executive director of the School Administrators of Montana