Tuesday, November 5, 1996, Montana voters will decide the fate of the Montana Board of Education, Board of Regents and Commissioner of Higher Education. At the same time they vote for candidates for president, governor, congress, and the state legislature and make many other political decisions. They will vote "FOR" or "AGAINST" a proposed constitutional amendment "replacing the board of education, board of regents, and commissioner of higher education with a department of education and a state education commission."
Through passage of HB 229, the 1995 legislature has given voters an opportunity to amend our constitution and to reshape how Montana governs our system of higher education. If Montanans vote "FOR," the commissioner will disappear into "a department of education with a director appointed by the governor. The department and the director shall have duties as assigned by law." If Montanans vote "FOR," the board of regents will disappear into "a state education commission, consisting of eight members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate to staggered terms as provided by law." "The commission shall have duties assigned by law."
If Montanans vote "FOR," gone is the constitutional language "the government and control of the Montana university system is vested in a board of regents of higher education which shall have full power, responsibility, and authority to supervise, coordinate, manage and control the Montana university system."
If Montanans vote "FOR," the governor may create the new education department and commission right away to do whatever the legislature assigns it to do. The current board of regents, however, could continue to perform its constitutional duties until it finally, conclusively disappears, January 1, 2001. This is plainly goofy.
If Montanans vote "FOR," the state board of education will simply disappear. State board of education? More on this later.
We oppose HB 229. We urge Montanans to vote "AGAINST."
The proposed constitutional amendment would make the governor, the commissioner of higher education, and the legislature the board of regents. There would no longer be an autonomous or even semi-autonomous university system. The opportunities for political caprice, abuse, and neglect are abundantly clear.
The legislature rejected a companion piece, HB 228, that would have dissolved the superintendent of public instruction and board of public education into presumably the same department of education and state education commission. Perversely, since the legislature adopted HB 229 and rejected HB 228, it presents to Montanans an opportunity to remove the governance of higher education from the constitution but leave governance of K-12 alone. In our judgment, this perversity will not stand.
If Montanans vote "FOR," we believe the 1997 legislature will necessarily work to "fix" inherent flaws in our new curious looking school governance system. We believe the legislature, by referendum, will seek to amend away constitutional language that states, "There is a board of public education to exercise general supervision over the public school system and such other public educational institutions as may be assigned by law."
Interestingly, the legislature may not need a constitutional amendment to eliminate the superintendent of public instruction from school governance as contemplated in the failed HB 228. The constitution establishes the superintendent as one of five executive branch officers and a member of the board of land commissioners. Otherwise the superintendent is already an exclusive function of the legislature. "The superintendent of public instruction shall have such duties as are provided by law."
If Montanans vote "FOR," we believe the 1997 legislature will do two things: pass a legislative referendum for the voters' consideration in November 1996 to dissolve the board of public education; by statute, simply remove the duties of the office of public instruction to the department of education and assign the education commission authority over K-12 as well as the university system. Except for service on the land board, the superintendent would become little more than a title. But what if voters in November 1998 reject the legislative referendum to dissolve the board of public education? What then?
First, defeat HB 229 at the polls. It is politically and educationally dangerous.
Second and concurrently, implement Article 10, Section 9 of the Montana State Constitution. Put the state board of education to work as the clear language of the constitution says, "There is a state board of education composed of the board of regents of higher education and the board of public education. It is responsible for long range planning, and for coordinating and evaluating policies and programs for the state's educational systems. It shall submit unified budget requests."
To our knowledge, the state board of education has never met to do any such thing. Never! When the board of regents and board of public education meet as the state board of education, they meet to greet. End of meeting. Critics, including us, can and have made much of these superficial, inconsequential meetings.
We believe the failure of the board of regents and board of public education to take their total constitutional charge seriously is at least in part responsible for HB 229 and chronic disconnect between the two governing boards. Governor Marc Racicot's Task Force to Renew Montana Government, meeting throughout much of 1994, concluded there is demonstrable dysfunction, lack of communication, and lack of coordination between K-12 and higher education. The task force recommended amending "Article X of the Montana Constitution to create a Department of Education, headed by a director appointed by and reporting to the governor and the creation of a constitutionally based State Education Commission. The recommendation would require a constitutional amendment because the proposal eliminates the Board of Regents (and commissioner of higher education), the Board of Public Education (and its executive secretary), the Board of Education and the elected superintendent of public instruction."
The task force further articulated four objectives for its recommendation:
- To coordinate kindergarten through graduate school education, providing management of a "seamless" educational system, necessary to the making of management and policy decisions on those issues common to kindergarten through 12th grade and higher education.
- To provide a more cohesive executive level structure for education, thereby facilitating statewide planning, coordination and improvement of the state's educational efforts.
- To provide earlier integration of educational interests in the overall budget process.
- To separate education policy from partisan politics.
Ironically, the task force also adopted a statement encouraging "the governor, Board of Regents, commissioner of higher education, Board Of Public Education, and superintendent of public instruction to continue their efforts to implement Article X, Section 9 of the Montana Constitution." In effect, the task force acknowledged and underlined the historic failure of the board of regents and board of public education to meet as the state board of education to do what Article X, Section 9 says must be done.
In October 1994, Governor Racicot issued an executive order creating a "Joint Planning and Coordination Committee as a standing committee of the state board of education...to fulfill the responsibilities of Article X, Section 9, of the Montana Constitution." The governor appointed all the right people to this committee: representatives from the board of regents, board of public education, superintendent of public instruction, and the governor's office. From our point of view, Governor Racicot was on the right track. Unfortunately, the committee met only casually before the beginning of the 1995 legislature and not once since! Maybe folks thought since the legislature divided the task force recommendation into two parts, HBs 228 and 229, and passed only one part, HB 229, the heat was off. Perhaps the governor lost interest.
We encourage Governor Racicot to put the heat back on. We believe a working board of education would help to eliminate much of the energy folks are now spending to dissolve the board of regents and commissioner and inevitably the board of public education and superintendent of public instruction.
Furthermore, we believe a working board of education would resolve ongoing difficulties in thought and action in regard to K-12 accreditation standards and university system admission standards, high school course offerings and remediation, teacher preparation standards and university interest in limiting the number of hours necessary to graduate, and a host of other issues related to policy, budget, and long range planning.
Let the state board of education live as intended.
Third and finally, the constitution establishes three ex officio, non-voting members of the board of regents and board of public education, the governor, commissioner of higher education, and superintendent of public instruction.
To our knowledge, the governor and commissioner or designees have never sat ex officio on the board of public education. At no time has the superintendent of public instruction or designee sat ex officio on the board of regents. We urge all three current elected and appointed ex officio members of both boards to get on with it, to do their constitutionally-mandated jobs. Their very presence, albeit non-voting, their political and educational input consistently exercised, will enhance and legitimize the constitutionally-endowed educational work of both boards and state board of education.
Montanans do not need to turn school governance on its head in order to get better governance. We need only to do what our constitution already says we should be doing.