New Op-Ed: It’s Time to Rebuild Montana’s Office of Public Instruction

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 18, 2024

CONTACT
gaby@montanademocrats.org

Hogan: “Montana needs someone who has dedicated her life to improving our public schools and who will work with the Legislature to meet our obligation of a quality education.”
 

Helena, MT – In a new op-ed, Montana Democratic Party Executive Director Sheila Hogan explains Elsie Arntzen’s disastrous tenure at the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) and the threat that her deputy and handpicked successor is to Montana’s school system and our children’s education.

From leaving half of our kids below proficiency in math and reading, to leading Montana to first in the nation in lowest pay for new teachers – Republican candidate for OPI Susie Hedalen will no doubt continue Arntzen’s catastrophic legacy at the Office.

Read more below.

Billings Gazette: It’s time to rebuild OPI with Shannon O’Brien

June 15, 2024

Sheila Hogan, Montana Democratic Party Executive Director

• As head of Montana’s public schools, Arntzen and her deputy, Hedalen, have been responsible for insufficient communication that cost school districts tens of thousands of dollars.

• They have refused to implement programs related to early childhood literacy. 

• They stalled public charter schools, created confusion regarding out-of-district student enrollment, and failed to report new requirements for Indigenous education.

• What we can’t do is elect another Arntzen, which is exactly who Susie Hedalen is. Having served as deputy superintendent under Arntzen, Hedalen is equally responsible for undermining our public education system.

• Instead, Montana needs someone who has dedicated her life to improving our public schools and who will work with the Legislature to meet our obligation of a quality education. As a legislator, a teacher, and a mom, Shannon O’Brien won’t allow this incompetence to continue.
   

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