This article is about a bill going through the Montana State House of Representatives to create a new distance learning program that will offer students in every school district in the state access to regular and advanced classes. The classes will be taught by licensed teachers and will be available to kindergarten through 12th graders.
Opponents of the measure say that now is not the right time to implement major changes to the educational system due to the recession. Supporters argue that in a state as large and rural as Montana, offering quality distance education courses is a matter of equal opportunity to children throughout the state. The bill stil needs to pass through a budgetary committee and the State Senate.
Creating the new system would only cost $4.2 million dollars, $2.2 million of which are one-time start up costs. Despite the recession, that seems like a pretty small sum in comparison to the size of a state budget. Given the size of Montana and how rural much of the state is, think this bill would be a good investment for the state. The legislature could guarantee that all of it's children would have access to high-quality instruction, regardless of location or economic status. That could have a very democratizing effect on the state as a whole. If this bill passes, it will be interesting to see how program is managed and how user-friendly it is for the students and teachers using it.
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