Reservations endorse Windy Boy charter school bill

A charter school bill proposed by state Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, won the support of a majority of tribal council members on the Rocky Boy's and Fort Belknap Indian reservations Monday, when both passed resolutions backing the bill.

Windy Boy said the Chippewa Cree Business Committee, of which Windy Boy was once a member, voted 9-0 in support of the resolution.

Business Committee member Jody LaMere said the vote took place Monday during a meeting of the committee’s administrative committee, where Windy Boy spoke about his proposal.

Windy Boy said he spoke to the Fort Belknap Indian Community Council later in the day about the bill, and they later also passed a resolution supporting the bill, 7-4.

Both reservations are in Windy Boy’s House District.

The Fort Peck Executive Board is looking at passing a similar resolution, though they have not yet decided to pass it, Windy Boy said.

“We just feel like the current charter system doesn’t seem to capture all our students and maybe we should do something different,” Azure said Tuesday.

In Montana, charter schools can be established if a school district’s publicly elected board of trustees votes to submit a charter to the Montana Board of Public Education. If the board approves it, a charter school is then formed and overseen by the school board.

There are now charter schools in Bozeman and Libby.

Windy Boy said without having rules in statute about charter schools, rather than in the administrative rules where the regulations now are located, the state may miss the boat if more funding comes along.

Under Windy Boy’s proposal, a seven-member statewide charter committee would be created and chaired by the Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction. The six remaining members would consist of two members appointed by the governor, two by the state Senate president and two by the speaker of the Montana House of Representatives.

Under the bill, a public hearing regarding the creation of a charter school would be held in a school district if at least 20 percent of voters petition for the establishment of one.

Windy Boy has said charter schools are a way to help address the dropout rate, especially on Indian reservations, by attracting and retaining students by offering unique programs.

Windy Boy also said he believes that the support President Donald Trump and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos have voiced for charter schools could also lead to an infusion of education dollars from the federal government.

At a time of budget cuts to education within the state, Windy Boy said charter schools represent a creative way to maintain funding.

Windy Boy’s bill passed the House 55-44. North-central Montana House members Jim, O’Hara, R-Fort Benton, and Casey Knudsen, R-Malta, voted for it, while Jacob Bachmeier, D-Havre, voted against it.

The bill now advances to the committee.

Windy Boy has said he is confident the bill will ultimately pass the Republican-led Legislature, but that an aide to Gov. Bullock, a Democrat, said the governor is leaning toward vetoing the bill.

Critics have said the bill would siphon funds from public schools and lack oversight. Windy Boy denied both claims.

Windy Boy said he is open to any amendments from skeptics that could ensure the bill’s passage.