Montana
News, analysis, and opinion about K-12 education in Montana
Education
Trust Local School Leaders, a State Chief Says as Optional Reopening Date Nears
Montana Superintendent Elsie Arntzen offers practical advice to schools that could open as early as May 7, even as she says "how they open schools and how learning takes place is up to them."
Student Well-Being
Schools Struggle to Meet Students' Mounting Mental-Health Needs
Keeping up with students’ growing mental-health needs was a concern for districts long before the pandemic began. It’s even harder now, educators and psychologists say.
School & District Management
One State Polls the Public on Whether to Reopen Schools
As Montana's governor pursues a plan to gradually reopen the state, the state education department is relying in part on public opinion to decide whether to reopen schools this year.
Law & Courts
High Court Leans Toward Support for Religious Schools
In a case from Montana, conservative justices suggested they were inclined to rule for parents who seek to reinstate a state tax credit funding scholarships for use at religious schools.
States
From Our Research Center
Educational Opportunities and Performance in Montana
This Quality Counts 2020 Highlights Report captures all the data you need to assess your state's performance on key educational outcomes.
Equity & Diversity
What You Should Know About the Supreme Court Case the Education World Is Watching
The U.S. Supreme Court will arguments in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, a case that's been closely watched by both friends and opponent of private school vouchers and tax-credit scholarship programs.
Law & Courts
Long History Underlies Fight Over Religious-School Funding
The case being heard by the Supreme Court next week deals with a debate that has raged since the 19th century about federal education funding for private religious schools.
Law & Courts
High Court Case Tests Religious Schools' Use of Tax-Credit Scholarships
A national debate over whether public funds may go to faith-based schools is high on the list of cases before the Supreme Court in the coming term, stemming from a dispute in Montana.
Federal
Steve Bullock, Who Called It 'Absurd' to Arm Teachers, Runs for White House
Mont. Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat who's served as the Big Sky Country's governor since 2013, has also supported the teaching of Native American languages and better internet for his state's schools.
Equity & Diversity
Wealthier Enclaves Breaking Away From School Districts
Over two years, 27 communities have split from their home districts, and the new districts are mostly wealthier, whiter, and more property-rich than the ones left behind.
States
Educational Opportunities and Performance in Montana
This Quality Counts 2019 Highlights Report captures all the data you need to assess your state's performance on key educational outcomes.
School & District Management
Opinion
What It Takes to Make Suicide Prevention a Priority in School
In the state with the nation’s highest suicide rate, this principal and a school counselor have zeroed in on student mental health.
School & District Management
Former Montana State Superintendent Denise Juneau to Lead Seattle Schools
Former Montana state schools chief Denise Juneau will take the helm in Seattle, where she will be the city's third superintendent in six years. Juneau, the daughter of educators, was the first Native American woman elected to statewide office in the nation's history.
Ed-Tech Policy
New York, Montana Govs. Sign Orders Aimed at Preserving 'Net Neutrality'
The governors of New York and Montana say that internet service providers that fail to uphold "net neutrality" will be disqualified from winning state contracts.
