In the Press
The Great Falls Tribune
Dec 15, 2007: Senator calls for special legislative session
by John S. Adams
Tribune Capitol Bureau
State Sen. Sam Kitzenberg, D-Glasgow, wants legislators to return to the Capitol to try to fix a shortfall in public school funding for 2008-2009.
Kitzenberg, who is running for Superintendent of Public Instruction, called for a special legislative session during the joint Education and Local Government Interim Committee meeting on Friday. If passed, Kitzenberg's motion would have called on the committee to officially urge Gov. Brian Schweitzer to call a one-day special session to mitigate budget shortfalls at districts around the state.
"I think today we realize what the crisis is going to be," Kitzenberg told the committee. "It is hard for one individual to go down and talk to the governor about a special session. I think it takes a group recommendation."
Kitzenberg's motion failed 9-3, but not before a long discussion on what many deemed a "crisis."
He made the motion after the committee heard testimony from a legislative fiscal analyst and representatives from the education community They said that many of the state's school districts will be in dire financial straits in the coming year unless the Legislature fixes the flawed school funding formula. Anbother option is to approve an increase in state entitlements for the coming school year, they added...
Dec 14, 2007: Special session for school funding fails in committee
HELENA—Sen. Sam Kitzenberg wants legislators to return to the Capitol for one day to try to fix a shortfall in public school funding for the 2008-2009 school year.
The Democrat from Glasgow — who also is running for Superintendent of Public Instruction — called for a special legislative session during the Education and Local Government Interim Committee meeting on Friday.
"I think today we realize what the crisis is going to be," Kitzenberg told the committee. "It is hard for one individual to go down and talk to the governor about special session. I think it takes a group recommendation..."
Dec 10, 2007: New Funding Formula, statewide salary?
by Sam Kitzenberg
Thank you for the provocative series on "Shrinking Schools." I have crisscrossing Montana in my race for state superintendent—and have noticed the inequality.
It gives me heartburn to realize that 60 percent of school districts have declining enrollments and that 109,000 students of 144,418 are not getting the same resources. The mental picture I have in my mind is of a fifth-grade student thoroughly enjoying school but being shortchanged by living in a school district with declining enrollment. Our funding formula works with increasing enrollment—and doesn't work with declining enrollment.
Solution No. 1: States like Oregon give extra money to small school districts. We are currently examining their plan in our Education and Local Government Interim Committee to see if parts of their plan could be adopted in Montana.
A new education formula similar to a train with different boxcar components would have a specific one for schools with declining enrollment.
It would contain a lump sum—without strings—to be used to address needs in that district. The meeting is in Helema, State Capitol Room 137, Dec. 13.
Solution No. 2: A state salary schedule that would pay all teachers in the state the same wages regardless of where they teach.
The Billings Gazette
Dec 15, 2007: Schools face grim financial picture
By JENNIFER McKEE
Gazette State Bureau
HELENA - More than 170 Montana school districts will face budget cuts and potential layoffs beginning in July, legislators were told Friday, despite more than $100 million in new education money approved by lawmakers earlier this year.
The picture is so stark, said Sen. Sam Kitzenberg, D-Glasgow, that he made an unsuccessful push at a meeting of the interim Education and Local Government Committee to convene a special legislative session to spend more dollars for schools. He urged the panel to ask Gov. Brian Schweitzer to convene a one-day legislative session.
"I'm the kind of person who thinks you have to face reality," said Kitzenberg, who is also running for the office of superintendent of public instruction. Reality, he said, is that many schools are going to run out of money at the beginning of the 2009 fiscal year, which starts next July.
The Missoulian
Sept 30, 2007: Candidate goes the distance for OPI bid
by Robe Chaney
Statewide campaigns always cost more than one expects. For Sam Kitzenberg, the biggest bill grows out of his gas tank.
With a home base of Glasgow on Montana's Hi-Line, just getting to many of the state's poulation centers is an all-day affair. Kitzenberg is running for state superintendent of public instruction. He hopes to turn that isolation into an advantage.
"I grew up in Scobey, and I'm still a small-town boy," Kitzenberg said on a stop in Missoula last week. "I think that gives me some compassion for smaller rural schools."
Kitzenberg played a pivotal role in the 2007 Legislature by switching from the Republican to the Democratic party and breaking a 25-25 tie in the Senate. In his campaign literature, Kitzenberg said he wanted to help push Gov. Brian Schweitzer's efforts to fund all-day kindergarten, increase university funding and support the Children's Health Insurance Program.
Before that, he served three terms in the House and two terms in the Senate. He was a member of each body's education committee.
"I feel like I still have some talents that could be useful," Kitzenberg said. "I have three very worthy opponents, but I think I have the most political experience. And it's a very political job."
The superintendent of schools race is all Democrats at the moment, with no Republicans filing yet. Kitzenberg faces Holly Raser, a Missoula teacher and state lawmaker; Claudette Morton, a former teacher and college professor who worked in Glasgow and Dillon; and Denise Juneau, a former high school teacher from Browning and currently the head of the Office of Indian Education for All in the Office of Public Instruction.
Kitzenberg also spent 17 years as an English teacher. One of his top concerns is finding a way to help schools with shrinking enrollment maintain stable funding.
"About 60 percent of our districts face declining enrollment, and that's heading us for financial trouble in 2009," he said. "Our formula works great when you're declining. Kids in those districts aren't getting all the financial opportunities they're entitled to."
Creating a statewide health insurance plan for teachers and school staff is another priority.
"I think I'm the most independent in the field," Kitzenberg said. "And I've got the heart of a teacher. You need a combination of those things."