Volume XLV                                June 2024

No. 340

School's Out for Summer, Not Forever!
by Taylor Salmi, MCASE President 

Wow! I cannot believe we are at the end of the 2023-2024 school year! I don’t know about you but it has been a whirlwind year in my part of the state! Watching the news I feel like we are entering a very uncertain season in public education with the funding uncertainty and negativity in the narrative that exists. Mixed results in the passing of much-needed levies, huge budget cuts occurring, and the cutting of many positions are disheartening.  Despite all of these things, I choose to be optimistic and focus on all the amazing things we have seen public educators do with minimal resources.  As we leave for our much-deserved summer breaks, I think it is imperative that we keep our big goals at the forefront and continue to stive to advocate for public education! 

When will our staff and students get the essential resources that they deserve? None of us know! I think this proves the importance of telling our stories, advocating for public education, and making sure the general population knows all the wonderful things happening within our school buildings! If we don’t start the narrative, it will be controlled by those who don’t understand or don’t know what we do all day, every day to support kids. We are charged with supporting children across a wide range of needs, levels, diverse cultural backgrounds, placements, and on and on!  I saw multiple districts create self-contained programming on the fly this year, I saw more students served and make huge gains with fewer people, I saw teachers doing incredible project-based learning lessons without additional funding, and I saw our students in public education thriving! I have also watched MTSS systems being created and implemented without more resources and teachers using creative scheduling to meet the unique needs of our students.  These strong systems have ensured that all our students at Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III are receiving everything they need to make progress in light of their own unique circumstances.  As administrators I think we need to lean into our teachers and service providers working with our students to continue to generate creative ideas for serving students and cultivate cultures of collaboration for student success.  

I think in special education we celebrate the small victories all of the time because sometimes victories that seem small end up being HUGE! The same principle applies when we think about the small victories we see in the perception of public education.  In order to protect our most valuable resource of education, we need to continue to move the needle towards more global support.  I find myself sharing with anyone who will listen about how school funding works, what amazing things are happening, and what they can do to help almost every day! I am also shocked by the number of people who say “I had no idea”.   I would challenge each and every one of you to start having these conversations with people.  They need to know and hear our perspectives not only as educators, but as parents and community members. This year disappeared in the blink of an eye because despite what it might feel like on some days, we sure do have fun in public education!!! Thanks for all you do to support our kids! Have a great summer.

Taylor Salmi
MCASE President

SAM Delegate Assembly: It is time to set our priorities 

June always brings an opportunity to take a breath and refocus. To that end, we welcome the SAM delegate assembly process happening on June 13 and 14 in Helena.

The delegate assembly gives us a chance to “cuss and discuss” various issues facing public education in Montana. As your advocate during the upcoming 2025 legislative session, the assembly provides me with clear marching orders, as I consider when to support, when to oppose, and most importantly, when to stay quiet. Each of these actions is an equally important strategy that we use to advocate for you during the session.

Next week, we gather as “delegates” - representatives from each of our 6 affiliate groups. Based on total membership, each group is allowed a certain number of delegates - each with a vote. We will review various position statements and resolutions - found HERE.  The delegates may decide to make changes to the published statements. They will also decide which ones are a priority for the 2025 session (Action Items) vs. which ones are important, but not necessarily a priority for the 2025 session (Support Items). We won’t get everything we want during the session - so it is important to identify where we want to focus our attention.  

In a quick review of our current proposal document, one would find the following marked as high priority (action) items for the 2025 legislative session:

1. Technology:  funding based on ANB

2. Technology: resources for adequate bandwidth

3. Technology: student data privacy agreements

4. Staffing: recruitment and retention

5. Opposing vouchers, tax credits, tax savings accounts

6. Opposing diverting public funds for privatization efforts

7. Home Schools - supporting changes for accountability

8. Public school employee health insurance

9. School based mental health services

10. Special Ed funding and flexibility for sped funds

11. Special Ed Co-Ops, funding and reorganization

12. Funding: support for the decennial study

13. Funding: support changes to the formula to address inflation

Thank you to those who have volunteered as delegates. Your discussion and decisions help to create a shared advocacy platform for all our members.