In a discussion with the Missoulian editorial board, Schweitzer acknowledged a change in his focus on education, joining a nationwide trend to push for all-day kindergarten.
“When the Legislature comes back to town, we're going to push and run a couple of things. One of them is very straightforward and it's education,” the governor said.
“As we are changing the economy in Montana, we want to be able to rapidly retrain adults,” he said, giving businesses the tools to train folks for relevant job opportunities.
He still believes in that, but his ideas on the “best bang for the buck” in education have changed.
At a recent Western Governors Conference, Schweitzer said four noted education specialists - one from universities, one from two-year programs, one from high school and one from kindergarten through eighth grade - all agreed that if states had an extra dollar to spend, they should spend it on kindergarten.
Schweitzer took it to heart, and will now be promoting all-day kindergarten statewide.
“The problem with that, is that broke the bubble of every governor there,” he said. “Many of us have come to believe, like myself, that the best place (to spend education money) is two-year institutions” because you're going outside state borders and recruiting businesses to come here, train adults and place them in the work force - an immediate boon to the economy.
“That gives me a payoff,” Schweitzer said. “In other words, I'm only governor for another 2 1/2 years and I'd like to have as much economic development during those 2 1/2 years as I can. Within two years, I can get another business in here and I can get somebody in a college and get them trained and get them on a job.”
While he wants to maintain that direction, he also wants to veer toward all-day kindergarten, which has a much longer impact.
“The payoff for that isn't going to be for another ... 20 years,” he said. “People won't even remember who the governor was in 20 years, and yet it's the right thing to do.”
National research agrees. There has been a trend toward all-day, every day kindergarten for years, with the prescribed benefit that the playing field is leveled for children with cognitive, physical, emotional or social setbacks or students who cannot afford quality preschool experiences who otherwise would not thrive in the half-day setting.
“Education is the great leveler ... in our society,” Schweitzer said. “Where we are right now is that if a kid comes from an upper socio-economic group ... they come to first grade probably knowing how to read, probably knowing how to socialize in groups of other kids, probably come with the health and nutrition to put them on the track for success.”
Students who start schooling with an advantage have a better chance to succeed later in education. And now, with half-time kindergarten, those who start with a disadvantage often aren't making it.
“What happens is kids start falling through the cracks before they get to the first grade,” Schweitzer said. “We start losing potentially talented kids because they start dropping behind. And some of those same kids came from families who may not put as much time in for school.
“It isn't necessarily more money in education that improves an outcome, but I can guarantee you more parent involvement always improves the outcome.”
And it takes entire communities to make it work, he said.
“It takes folks who believe in a mission,” he said. “If you don't believe in the mission, why should we put fuel in your boat if you don't plan to go anywhere?”
Schweitzer also reiterated his position on the Montana University System's need for accessibility, affordability, relevance of curriculum and transferability of credits.
He's been touring the state listening to students' concerns and has taken an earful about rising tuition costs.
“Everybody wants to know if I can lower tuition,” he said. “Well, I can't. What we can do is we can stem the tide of the increase.
“And I think we can put some money in scholarships. Put the money in the pockets of the students, as opposed to putting the money in the pockets of the Board of Regents.”
Spreading the accessibility of the university system to satellite campuses and community colleges around the state will only improve the sense of pride and increase Montana's percentage of college graduates. Only 25 percent of Montanans have a college degree, he said.
The glaring weakness in the Montana University System, Schweitzer said, is transferability of credits, where the state has made very little progress, he said.
One area in which Montana has made significant strides, the governor said, is in its confidence level. Three out of four residents think the state is heading in the right direction, the economy is the third-fastest growing in the nation, the unemployment rate is at an all-time low, and the attitude is upbeat - all signs, Schweitzer said, that Montana is on the right track.
“The psyche in Montana says we can do this.”
City editor John Doran can be reached at 523-5268 or at jdoran@missoulian.com
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