Why is Elsie Arntzen advocating for school privatization?!

Where's Montana Superintendent of Public Education Elsie Arntzen today? She's attending an ALEC conference in Arizona and promoting the privatization of our schools.

What's wrong with this picture?

Jeanna Allen is the CEO of a corporate-backed special interest group focused on selling off our schools so private companies can make a buck. Even worse, ALEC is a corporate bill mill, which consistently churns out anti-public education legislation and propaganda.

Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen should know that Montanans do not want to sell off our public schools and privatize our system. We can not afford to funnel scarce public resources to private, for-profit institutions which is exactly what organizations like ALEC and the Center for Education Reform want to do. 

Let’s support our students, teachers and communities by working together to ensure that they all have the resources needed to build a strong Montana for everyone. Let’s NOT get in bed with those who would want to profit off our students, teachers, and communities and would leave the most vulnerable behind. 

HERE ARE THREE WAYS YOU CAN HELP

1. Call 406-444-3095 ext. 5 and tell Superintendent Arntzen you want her to support public education, not for-profit corporations.

2. Sign our petition

3. Donate so we can keep fighting to keep education public in Montana

Great Conversations: Public Bucks for Private Schools

In 2015 the Legislature created a tax-credit program directing money to private religious schools, setting Montana on a path to the US Supreme Court in the pending case Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue.

Helena loves its public schools and there is no better example of this passion than the Helena Education Foundation, which works to enhance the experiences of students and teachers in local public schools. One of my favorite events put on by the Helena Education Foundation every year is Great Conversations.

I am particularly excited about one of the tables this year:

Public Bucks for Private Schools. The 1972 Montana Constitution prohibits the appropriation of public money for private, sectarian education. In 2015 the Legislature created a tax-credit program directing money to private religious schools, setting Montana on a path to the US Supreme Court in the pending case Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. Join Helena attorney Jonathan McDonald to explore how Montana ended up in the center of a fight about educational funding that has been brewing for 200 years.

Great Conversations is Wednesday, November 20 at the Great Northern Hotel in Helena. Registration for this event is now open.

Click here to register or learn more.

Great Falls Tribune: "Montana group takes aim at school privatization"

A group was announced Tuesday that states its main purpose as defending students’ interests and the Montana Constitution by opposing school privatization in the Treasure State.

The Montanans Organized for Education (MOFE) Action Fund was announced by Rep. Moffie Funk, D-Helena, who is serving at its executive director.

The group says it opposes public school privatization, opposes public dollars being used to fund private for-profit schools, supports publicly funding public pre-kindergarten, supports recruiting and retaining educators and “adequate”  investments in public education.

Funk said while Montana’s commitment to public education has been strong,  in- and out-of-state special interests are spending money in an attempt to privatize schools.

“It’s our intention to draw a line in the sand on this issue before Montana becomes like so many other states whose public schools have been scrapped and sold for parts,” she said.

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