Editorial

The Merger

The Montana Federation of Teachers and the Montana Education Association have voted to merge, creating the largest union in the state. Although a national merger has been delayed, leaders of the two Montana affiliates expect to complete the reorganization within two years. The editors of The Montana Professor hail the merger as of great potential benefit to all of public education in this state. The new union will greatly strengthen the voice of educators.

Even more importantly the merger presents a unique opportunity to bridge the gap that historically has existed between educators who teach primary and secondary grades and those who teach college--essentially grades 13-16. We have common problems with and common aspirations for, public education. There is no reason why educators at the various levels must work in total isolation from each other. Without losing sight of our essential differences we can and should recognize our essential similarities. We can help each other to address the ever-increasing problems that face almost all educators in the state. In a meeting with Jim McGarvey (MFT) and Dave Smith (MEA) both of whom are interested in promoting common efforts between the two level of public education, the editors agreed, as a start, to begin sending copies of MP to each member of the Montana Teachers Forum which is made up of 174 teachers, administrators, lay persons, and others interested in the public schools. We hope these new readers will feel free to communicate with us about their concerns.

Campus Concerns

The academic year is off to a rough start judging by the comments we have received. Faculty members are concerned because: promised salary increases are being postponed on most campuses; the system-wide health benefits plan appears to be in trouble; class sizes have been increased, often without consulting with faculty members; there is an unprecedented spate of capital construction while the administration claims there is a budget deficit; faculty feel alienated from the decision-making process; and faculty members in general are feeling more dispirited. The Montana Professor, of course, cannot solve these problems, but we want to help by encouraging letters, commentaries, articles, etc. on any aspect of these problems. We will publish as many of them as we can. And, beginning with this issue, we have another tool to use (see Announcement below). Our web-site is up and running at <mtprof.msun.edu>. Steve Lockwood (English, MSU-Northern) is the webmaster. He has created a weekly column called "From the Crow's Nest." This column can become a place where faculty members can air views, exchange ideas, or just generally get thing off their chests. We urge you to take advantage of this opportunity to communicate with your colleagues. It could make a difference!

Legislative Concerns

Of the seven issues to appear on the ballot in the upcoming election, two are of special concern:

Announcement

We're pleased to announce that The Montana Professor is in the process of placing each issue on the Internet at <mtprof.msun.edu> starting with this issue, our 27th, and working back to issue #1. Please bear with us while this posting continues. Normally, you should be able to access the site Tuesday through Sunday. Mondays are reserved for maintenance of the computer and software. However, if service is interrupted on other days, retry the connection later.

Our web site is designed to be accessible both to text-only browser software (e.g., Lynx) and to graphical browsers (e.g., Netscape Navigator). Instructions for downloading articles are available from the home page, as are the submission instructions for articles and book reviews.

With the fall issue we also begin a new feature which will appear on the home page but not in the print version of MP. It is an opinion/editorial column, 500 words or less, titled "From the Crow's Nest." Our hope is that readers will submit pieces for this column frequently enough to enable us to post a different one each week. Readers interested in contributing to this column may e-mail it to the editor at <mtprof1@attbi.com>. Names must be included on the submission, but will be withheld from publication upon author's request. The contribution may be edited for length, appropriateness to this publication, and protection against possible libel. Most op/ed pieces will continue the MP's focus on issues that affect public education, though some may simply compile reports from various campuses that speak for themselves, such as student-faculty-administrator ratios, faculty and administrative salaries, and so on. Future additions to the web site include a search engine for the site's contents, and whatever our readers suggest that might improve our electronic presence. Please send such ideas to
Steve Lockwood
Cowan Hall 302B
Montana State University-Northern
Havre, MT 59501
<stlockwood@msun.edu>.

Editor's note: My most sincere thanks to Steve Lockwood for all he has done to get this home page working. It will do great things for this publication and would not have been possible but for the work of Steve and his students. --George Madden

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