Billings Gazette - Governor Highlights Dual Enrollment, Infrastructure and Preschool Funding on Schools Tour

News Article

By Mike Ferguson

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock was back in the classroom Tuesday, exploring dual-credit offerings at the Billings Career Center in human growth and development as well as web design.

"It's day four and you're already designing things?" Bullock asked Kirby Anderson's 15 or so first-year web design students. While they weren't quite ready for that, they explained, they were researching how to begin the design process.

In Lori Wilson's early childhood education class, students read children's books to one another in order to, as Skyview High School Junior Paige Conyers told the governor, "learn to keep children's minds going while we're reading to them."

Bullock, Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney and Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau were on hand to speak to students and learn more about the Career Center's dual enrollment program, where students can receive college credit for about 15 classes without paying tuition.

As the school year begins, Bullock, a Democrat, is on a statewide "Innovate and Educate" tour designed to highlight his education policy. One point of emphasis is dual enrollment, which has grown statewide from 2,500 enrollments four years ago to 4,100 during the most recent school year. Bullock wants to add another 1,000 students during the coming school year, which would save families about $5.5 in tuition payments.

Bullock said his biggest priority for the upcoming legislative session -- should he win re-election against Republican challenger Greg Gianforte -- is securing up to $200 million in cash and bonds for infrastructure spending, some of it on schools. Other items high on Bullock's agenda are passing early learning legislation and spending $1 million on fiber and high-speed internet connectivity for Montana's schools.

"We're one of five states that don't fund preschool," Bullock told Wilson's students. "If students aren't reading at grade level by third grade, they're four times more likely to drop out of high school. It's so important to get kids off to the right start."

Billings Career Center Principal Scott Anderson said enrollment this year will be up to 1,000 students who come to the Career Center from all three Billings public high schools -- West, Skyview and Senior.

As part of the tour, Bullock unexpectedly encountered a simulated murder scene, part of an introduction to biomedical sciences class.

By examining a "victim" shielded against passers-by by yellow police tape, students will spend weeks investigating just how the victim -- a mannequin -- died.

Juneau had to leave before Bullock arrived, but not before praising the work done at the career center.

"It's been great to see this program grow, and that's happening all across the state," Juneau said. "But here in Billings, things are really getting beefed up."

After his Career Center tour, Bullock took a flag flown above the Capitol following the April 3 death of Joe Medicine Crow over to the new middle school that bears the name of the Crow historian and scholar.

Bullock presented the flag to students during an assembly.

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