Blog Posts

Join the MFPE Rapid Response Team!

2/9/2023

The Montana legislature is in session for 90 days every 2 years and there are important issues being decided at the Capitol in Helena. If you are a member of GFEA and/or MFPE you can join the Rapid Response Team to find out important legislation that is being discussed and decided that may effect your life and work. The Rapid Response Team is composed of union members around the state who are dedicated to ensuring our representatives hear how we as Montanans would like them to vote on the issues and represent our interests. If you would like to get involved and/or would like to hear what legislation is being discussed and how it could effect public employees and those of us who work in schools go to this web page and sign up for updates and invitations to get involved. Click here

Primary Election Ballots due June 7th!!

4/12/2022

June 7th is just around the corner and ballots need to be mail prior to the day they are due or will need to be dropped off at the elections office or other voting location at the fairgrounds. Remember voting is important and who you select does make a difference!

GFEA endorses four Great Falls school board candidates

4/6/2022

The Great Falls Education Association has endorsed the following four 2022 School Board candidates:

Three-year term: One -year term:
Mark Finnicum Russell Herring
Gordon Johnson
Nathan Reiff

For information regarding ballots and voting protocol, call Brian Patrick at 406-268-6050.

Ballots will be sent on April 13-18 and in order to be counted, must be received by May 3.
Ballots can be mailed back or dropped off at the Cascade County Elections Office until May 3.
Voters may also vote in person at Expo Park on May 3.

Ballots may be returned at the Elections Office at the Courthouse Annex at 325 2nd Avenue North on Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. before Election Day.

On Election Day, ballots can be dropped off at the Exhibition Hall at the Montana Expo Park, 400 3rd St. NW or/and Courthouse Annex from 7 a.m. - 8 p.m.

GFEA School Board Candidate Endorsements

3/31/2022

The GFEA Executive Board will interview School Board candidates
on March 31 and April 4, 2022.
The final endorsements will post on Wednesday, April 6, 2022.
Please check back.

2022 Great Falls Public Schools Election Information

2/24/2022

Montana School Elections Calendar
Ballots will be mailed on April 13-18, 2022. Ballots can be returned by mail or in person to the Cascade County Election Office located at 325 2nd Avenue North, Great Falls, MT 59401. If sent by mail, please allow enough time for delivery prior to the May 3, 2022 deadline.

On behalf of the students and staff of Great Falls Public Schools and our Board of Trustees, we hope you will study the candidates and cast your ballot by May 3.

If you should have questions on the ballot, please contact the Cascade County Elections Department.
Trustee Election

The following four seats are up for election:

Three seats that represent both elementary and secondary districts on the board for three years, until May 2025. Anyone interested in these positions must live within the Great Falls Public School District boundary. The positions are currently held by Mark Finnicum, Jeff Gray, and Gordon Johnson.
One seat, a one-year position will fill out the remainder of Jan Cahill’s term. Nathan Reiff was appointed by the Board to fill Jan Cahill’s open position until the next regular election.

Position Description:

Candidates will need to declare their intent for either the one-year position or for the three-year terms.
Great Falls Public School trustees are unpaid volunteer positions.
Trustees are requested to attend an average of three to four monthly meetings that focus on curricula, policy, budget, administrative issues and other topics.
There are seven trustees on the Great Falls Public School Board. The seven seats represent both the elementary and secondary districts.

For more information, call Brian Patrick at 406-268-6050.

Ballots will be sent on April 13-18 and in order to be counted, must be received by May 3.
Ballots can be mailed back or dropped off at the Cascade County Elections Office until May 3.
Voters may also vote in person at Expo Park on May 3.

Ballots may be dropped off at Elections Office at the Courthouse Annex at 325 2nd Avenue North on Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. before Election Day.

On Election Day, ballots can be dropped off at the Exhibition Hall at the Montana Expo Park, 400 3rd St. NW or/and Courthouse Annex from 7 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Board of Regents vote to litigate HB 102

05.14.21

The Board of Regents voted UNANIMOUSLY to litigate HB 102 (guns on campus) on the question of constitutional authority early on the morning of May 19, 2021.

Each regent cited the overwhelming public comment in favor of litigation, including handwritten notes. They were referring to the advocacy efforts by MFPE and its partners.

Soon, educators, students and Montanans will know who truly is responsible for student and staff safety on college campuses across Montana.

Please use this link to thank the Regents for their courageous vote.
from Amanda Curtis, MFPE president

Last few days of session bring shenanigans

4/22/2021

There are always shenanigans in the last few days of any session. This is when legislators start amending otherwise fine bills with any bad idea that didn't pass on its own.

HB 651 is one example. It received some terrible amendments before passing out of Senate State Admin committee. It will be voted on second reading in the Senate TODAY AT 1 p.m.

The bill limits our democracy by adding all kinds of unnecessary red tape to our current ballot initiative process. There's no reason for this--our current ballot initiative process works great. In fact, this union and our partners successfully used the ballot initiative process to pass Montana's graduated minimum wage law in 2006!

Have you called your Senator lately?

URGENT ACTION: One last hill to climb

4/21/2021

Many thanks to all of you are in order, but first we have one last hill to climb.

Yesterday, HB 588 (reclassifying public employees to political appointees) DIED 20-30 in the SENATE! SB 232 (highway patrol compensation) PASSED 94-4 on second reading in the House! However, HB 279 will be voted on in Senate Finance any day.

The stress level is turned up to "eleven" in the Capitol right now as legislators suffer retaliation from the Governor's office and their own caucus and/or see their favorite bills die. Everyone is tired and homesick and wants to just be done. Before they go home, they will decide the fate of HB 279.

HB 279 creates a private school voucher system (a policy that Montanans oppose).HB 279 raises the allowable tax credit for donations to private and for-profit schools from $150 to $200,000 (a 133,333% increase). Corporations are also entitled to the tax credit.

HB 279 reduces our general fund, thereby reducing the funds available for not just our public schools but all public works such as public roads, public water systems and public safety to name only a few.

HB 279's fiscal note shows it will cost the state millions over the next four years--money that should be used to fund public education. Worse, the bill will likely cost Montana a dollar-for-dollar cut to our ARP funding--money we should use to recover from the pandemic and build critical infrastructure.

HB 279 will force schools to choose between raising local property taxes and cutting programs (Fixed costs don't go down when a handful of students leave for private schools.)

Two-thirds (2/3) of private schools are in the seven (7) largest counties. The consequence of this is that this tax credit bill leaves rural students out.

Equalizing the public/private sides of this bill won't fix it--Montanans can already donate to public schools for tax benefit, and they will never do so at a level commensurate with private school funders.

HB 279 allows the Governor and "his rich buddies" to fund their personal private school pet projects (like the Petra Academy) and forsake their duty to pay for the roads, bridges and public schools that we ALL use.

If you haven't called your Senator lately, please do so as soon as possible.

URGENT: Check in with your local Senator as soon as possible

4/14/2021

Bad news: HB 588, to allow the Governor to appoint up to 10 percent of all public employees, passed out of committee on Monday and is likely up for a vote in the full Senate tomorrow.

Scary news: We are expecting the supporters of HB 329 (public funds to private schools) to "blast" the bill out of committee today or tomorrow in the full Senate.

Good news: There may be enough common sense in this Senate to stop both of them.

The following contains the links to the one-pagers on privatization and power grabs.

Use this online form, call the Capitol Switchboard at 444-4800, or use the personal email addresses and phone numbers. Remember, texts work well, too!

Have you called your local Senator lately? It might be time to check in with each of them.

More about HB 588:

Allows Governor to appoint up to 10% of every state agency
Employees should be hired based on skill set, not relationships
Appointees have no pay scale, no benefits, no workplace rights and no grievance process
There's no fixing this bill--it needs to get voted down

More about HB 329:

Forces public schools to send their per-pupil funding to private, for-profit, and/or religious programs
The programs don't have to be located in Montana
The programs don't have to provide special education accommodations or even be accredited
HB 329 could cost public schools up to $187 million in revenue in just one year.
You can find the fiscal note here.
HB 329 is blatantly unconstitutional. You can see the legal review note here.
We offered amendments to fix the bill, and these were rejected

URGENT ACTION: Call your representatives now

3/30/2021

HB 279 passed out of the House and is being heard in the House Appropriations committee RIGHT NOW. The Governor's office is here in support of the bill.

Under current law, Montanans can receive up to $150 of their MT tax obligation forgiven for contributions to Student Scholarship Organizations (SSO's). SSO's fund tuition to private (primarily religious) K-12 schools. SB 279 increases the allowable tax credit to $200,000, costing the state nearly $25 million in revenue over the next two biennia. You can find the fiscal note here.

HB 279's fiscal note shows it will cost the state $25 million over the next four years--money that should be used to fund public education. HB 279 will force schools to choose between raising local property taxes and cutting programs (fixed costs don't go down when a handful of students leave for private schools).

Two-thirds of private schools are in the seven (7) largest counties, so this tax credit bill leaves rural students out.

HB 279 creates a private school voucher system (a policy that Montanans oppose).

HB 279 raises the allowable tax credit for donations to private and for-profit schools from $150 to $200,000 (a 133,333% increase). Corporations are also entitled to the tax credit.

HB 279 reduces our general fund, thereby reducing the funds available for not just our public schools but all public works such as public roads, and public water systems, and public safety to name a few.

Here is the MFPE one-pager on all of the school privatization bills.

Have you called your Representative yet?

URGENT ACTION: Request representatives to vote 'no" on HB 279

3/26/2021

Dear Rapid Response Team:

HB 279 passed out of the House Education committee and will be voted on in the full House of Representatives TODAY, Mar. 26, 2021.

Right now, Montanans can receive up to $150 of their MT tax obligation forgiven for contributions to Student Scholarship Organizations (SSO's). SSO's fund tuition to private (primarily religious) k-12 schools.

SB 279 increases the allowable tax credit to $200,000, costing the state nearly $25 million in revenue over the next two biennia. You can find the fiscal note here.

Please contact your Representative and ask them to vote NO on HB 279 on second reading.

Here is the MFPE one-pager on all of the school privatization bills:

You can use this online form, call the Capitol Switchboard at 444-4800, or use their personal email addresses and phone numbers. See mfpe.org for a list.

If you want to message the entire House, use the online messaging form to contact the Business and Labor, Judiciary, Taxation, Appropriations, and State Administration committees. You can use the "back" function to send the same message to a different committee.

Please don't copy and paste the talking points. Be kind! Remember not to use work time or devices. THANK YOU!

Talking points:

HB 279 raises the allowable tax credit for donations to private and for-profit schools from $150 to… $200,000 (a 133,333% increase)
Corporations are also entitled to the tax credit
HB 279 reduces our general fund thereby reducing the funds available for not just our public schools but all public works such as public roads, and public water systems, and public safety to name a few.
Shouldn’t we be working to increase revenue to support our schools and communities rather than finding tax breaks for the wealthy?
HB 279 is a page out of the ALEC playbook and this legislature should not be steered by out-of-state corporate lobbyists
HB 279 will force schools to choose between raising local property taxes and cutting programs (fixed costs don't go down when a handful of students leave for private schools)
2/3 of private schools are in the 7 largest counties, so this tax credit bill leaves rural students out
HB 279 creates a private school voucher system (a policy that Montanans oppose)