Learn 2 Earn Montana

Statement

Let's help every Montana child reach their full potential, and prepare our kids for the high paying jobs of the future

Computer Science in every high school
Renewed Emphasis on Trades Education
Strong public schools. Local control. More parental say.
Connecting education and jobs

A strong education system is vital to Montana's economic future. I think we can all agree that the goal of our education system should be to help every student reach their full potential. It's a goal that we have a moral obligation to pursue. We have great schools, and even greater teachers. But we can and must do more.

Doing More

Right now Montana sits at 49th in the country in wages. Plus, we're last in the country in income for Millennials. As a result, our kids have become our most precious export. A study from the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research found that, since 1991, Montana has seen a net outmigration of college graduates from the state. However, we also hear from many employers across the state that they have trouble finding skilled workers.

I learned from over 30 years starting and growing businesses that jobs and opportunities are only created in the private sector, not by government programs. Streamlining regulations, lowering taxes and slowing the growth of government will energize our economy and create more high wage jobs so we can stop exporting our kids. A strong economy and the associated state tax revenues are essential to fund education. We must have an education system that prepares Montana students for the high wage jobs of the future and we must keep that education affordable.

Computer Science in every high school

I think computers are here to stay and if we don't teach our kids how to author technology, they won't be in control of their future. Understanding computers (particularly how to code) is a skill that our students need to succeed no matter what their career field.

In 2013 Montana Universities combined graduated only 40 computer science students and yet the high technology industry (www.MThightech.org) is already 15% of our state economy and growing 7 times faster than other sectors while creating jobs with wages double the state median.

That's why we helped promote a number of programs to increase college enrollment in computer science including:

CodeMontana which made computer science curriculum available to all Montana middle school and high school students. 1,200 kids participated the first year.
Looney the Robot, an engaging robot presentation, was presented to 15,000 middle school and high school students per year in Montana.
The Joy and Beauty of Computing class curriculum was adapted for high school delivery and piloted in a number of Montana public schools.
Montana STEM teachers have been trained at MSU the last few summers to certify them in the Joy and Beauty of Computing curriculum.

We've seen results, too. Since we started, college enrollment in the Computer Science is up over 50% at Montana State University and over 25% at the University of Montana. Plus more kids will be able to stay and prosper here in Montana. And those techies will create jobs in accounting, sales, marketing and administration for non-techies. Their families will build homes creating construction jobs and will enroll their kids in our schools making them stronger as well.

I will work to make sure we have computer science education in every Montana high school and push to make a computer programming language an alternative high school foreign language graduation requirement.

More Trades Education

Montana manufacturing and construction firms can't find skilled workers. We need carpenters, plumbers, electricians, welders, cooks and machinists. These are good paying, noble jobs that allow hard working Montanans to prosper. We need to put more emphasis on trades education, particularly in our high schools and two year colleges. We also need to encourage more partnerships between the private sector and educators.

That is in part why we started the Gianforte Manufacturing Scholarships program via the Commissioner of Higher Education's office a number of years back. Over 300 Montana veterans and lower income Montanans have benefited from these scholarships so far that provide 50% tuition assistance for welding and machining certificates at Montana two year campuses.

One scholarship recipient, 22 year old young man in the Flathead, told me he was the first one in his family to ever graduate from high school, that he was married and had two kids and, with evident pride and determination, told me he was learning to weld to be able to put a roof over his young family. We have received dozens of thank you cards describing changed lives, like this one, from scholarship recipients. The work has been very rewarding.

We owe every Montanan the opportunity to acquire skills so that they can prosper here in Montana.

Strong Public Schools. Local control. More parental say.

We need strong public schools in every community. An important aspect of having strong public schools is allowing for local control and more parental say in how their kids are educated.

There are currently too many mandates and regulations coming down from Washington, D.C. and Helena. We have great teachers, but they are increasingly overburdened by bureaucracy and, consequently, not enough money gets to the classroom. We don't need Washington D.C. bureaucrats running our schools. With less bureaucracy and fewer mandates dollars can be freed up to actually flow to the classroom where they are most effective.

For example, Montana spends about $12,500 per year per student in K-12. If you have a class of 20 students in a classroom that's $250,000 in student funding per year. Yet, our teachers often make less than $50,000 a year. The remaining $200,000 per classroom is consumed in complying with bureaucratic rules and overhead. We must work to get more of our education dollars to the classroom and to our teachers.

In our rural areas, we need to ensure that our kids are getting the same access to educational opportunities as those in our larger towns. The good news is that technology is increasingly removing geographic barriers. This is why we should expand and build upon the Montana Digital Academy. Using the digital academy we can give rural students more access to dual enrollment programs and expand the reach of Advanced Placement classes.

In our larger towns, options in education benefits all students because one size does not fit all well. That is why we brought ACE Scholarships (www.ACEScholarships.org) to Montana four years ago. ACE started in Colorado and helped increase graduation rates in Denver from just over 50% to over 90%. Targeted at lower and middle income families, who have less options, ACE provides partial scholarships to help parents pick the school best for their children. Over 60 Montana schools now participate and about 750 Montanan kids receive the $2,000 scholarships annually.

Finally, only a strong economy will give us a tax base to allow us to pay a great education for our kids. That's why jobs and a thriving private sector is so critical to education.

Connecting Education and Jobs

There is a disconnect between educational pursuits and jobs. Only about 45% of our University students in Montana graduate in 6 years and many who do, must leave the state or take lower paying jobs outside their field of study to stay. I think we can do better and creating a better informed consumer is part of the answer.

We have the data. Let's help high school students and parents make better decisions about what to study. I will promote a simple web site to high school guidance counselors, parents and students about the outcomes of their choices. I have named it www.Learn2EarnMT.com. You can try an early prototype. It is very simple. And effective.

The Learn2Earn website allows visitors to compare the job prospects and salaries for graduates of the various certificate, 2 year and 4 year programs in Montana. It will help students and parents make better decisions and achieve better outcomes.

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