The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

Three people are running for House District 27. Two are Republicans and one is a Democrat. Only one person will come out of the Montana June 7 primary on the Republican ticket to face the Democrat in the fall. Republicans running are James O'Hara and Darrold Hutchinson. The Democrat running is Ryan Rominger.

"The Mountaineer sent all three candidates a set of seven questions to answer about their views on various subjects.

1. You will be voting on many education bills. What is the state of education in Montana at this time? Is funding adequate or where would you suggest getting more funding?

O'Hara: Education in Montana currently has too much control coming from the Federal level. It seems the Federal Government wants to control everything from the classroom to the school lunch program. Our schools need to be managed at the local level by our local school boards. I believe present school funding is adequate, if our schools are managed locally.

Hutchinson: Overall we have a quality educational system in Montana. Our children are educated and then sought after by out of state industries. Generally I think that school funding is adequate.

Rominger: Primary and secondary education continues to grow stronger in the State of Montana, thanks to efforts such as Graduation Matters Montana. Graduation has steadily increased since 2009, with 2015's graduate rate reaching 86%. However, most schools receiving Graduation Matters Montana funding are not within District 27, and thus my goal would be to help bring these successful programs into the area. Currently 72% of elementary and high school students in Montana are held within 26% of the schools, meaning these larger schools often receive more focus. It will be important to advocate for rural and small town schools. This is particularly important for our small town schools where populations have decreased, with less students attending. To keep schools competitive, it is critical to maintain school funding to retain and hire teachers, keep pace with educational technologies, and connect students with the tools they need to remain competitive and successful in today's job market. Funding may come from multiple sources, including petitioning programs such as Graduation Matters, supporting small town business development to expand local tax base, and insure that large corporate businesses continue to pay their fair share so that the current tax base doesn't disappear leaving schools at risk.

2. Do you support Common Core?

O'Hara: I am opposed to Common Core.

Hutchinson: It appears that "Common Core" generally is a new name for what we have been dong in education in Montana. Two and Two is still four but three and one is also four.

Rominger: I support educational standards. Standards, in general, provide a structure and expectations for schools, making sure students are prepared at each level to proceed to the next level of education, be it moving from middle school to high school, high school to college, or high school into the job market. 2016 brought changes to the educational arena as a bi-partisan bill was passed at the Federal level reducing Federal government control and transitioning responsibility back to the State level. This means the Montana legislature will need to critically assess, in upcoming sessions, how to continue to develop, strengthen, and put into practice Montana's educational goals and standards. The question remains how to maintain accountability while promoting common-sense procedures (including both teaching and testing) to meet those standards.

Regarding Common Core in particular, I suggest that those interested in learning more about the Common Core standards visit http://www.corestandards.org. One important clarification which must occur in the conversation on Common Core is that there is a difference between the standards themselves and the corporate publishers who, when Common Core standards were created, pushed the creation and sales of textbooks to schools, promising that the texts met the CC standards. Just as in business, not all corporate publishers are equal, and not all textbooks are equal. In some cases, the curriculum became muddled and problematic. However, I believe this was due to poor publisher interpretations and poor execution of the standards, and not due to the standards themselves. The CC standards are, at their core, simply a set of reasonable expectations of what children should be able to do at a given level of education.

3. Why are you running for House District 27?

O'Hara: I believe I can do some good in the Helena Legislature. I have been in politics for some time, 12 years as Chouteau County Commissioner, Governor Candidate in 2012. My years in politics have been a learning experience. I have met and worked with many talented public servants. I believe that experience will help me serving the people of North Central Montana.

Hutchinson: The operation of government and the spending of tax dollars has always been of interest to me. We need to be careful where we are spending tax payer dollars.

Rominger: I am a husband, father of 2, 5th generation farmer in Floweree, and have been a college teacher for over a decade. After receiving my college education and holding my first profession out of state, I returned with my family to Montana because of Montana values, wishing to raise our children here in Montana. I'm running because I wish to give back to the community in which I live, bringing my diverse experiences in teaching, education, and farming. My goals are to support public education and educational initiatives, farming and small business development, continued support of mental health for at-risk populations such as returning veterans with PTSD, development of even cleaner methods of using coal and natural gas as well as expanding renewable energy, supporting infrastructure initiatives (such as Senate Bill 416 which would have provided local governments with needed resources, but which failed to pass the House in 2015). I also hope to support outdoor recreation and preservation of public lands for public use including hunting, efforts to strengthen equal rights for all, and support for women's health and equal pay for women. Through supporting these efforts, I believe I can help District 27, and Montana, continue to be an outstanding place to live, work, and raise children.

4. What is your stand on public vs. private education?

O'Hara: Public and private education both have good points. I believe a student can get a good education in either private or public schools.

Hutchinson: If you want your children to have a private education go for it. The private sector needs to be accountable to a minimum state standard.

Rominger: I suspect this is really a question about public support for private schools operated by various religious denominations in Montana. There were a lot of smart people who put together, voted on, and passed our state constitution in 1972. The question before the legislature next session will be should public money be used to support private "religion" schools. Article II Section 5 of the Montana constitution says the state shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion. Article VIII, Section 5 says taxes can only be used for the public good. Now a district judge has said a deduction allowed by the legislature applies to parents of private school students while the state department of revenue says it does not. Both quote the state constitution. We'll see how it all plays out in the courts.

I do support public education and public tax money going toward public education. I believe this is particularly important for our rural and small town areas. If public monies were diverted away from existing public schools, the current public schools, which already have low enrollment, could be put at risk. Staff and teachers would be reduced, access to classes and extra-curricular cut, and schools would fall behind with regard to ever-changing technology. By keeping public taxes in public schools, we instead support staff and teachers, maintain access to courses and extra-curricular activities, and keep pace with evolving technologies.

5. Should Montana buy access to public lands?

O'Hara: Access to public lands in very important for sporting and recreational. However, I am not in favor of Montana buying access at this time.

Hutchinson: Montana land is public land???

Rominger: I support Montanan's access to public lands for hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation. I support maintaining these public lands for public use. I also recognize that in some areas there has been conflict between individuals wanting to access public lands which are land locked, and the rights of private land owners. I support a careful approach, weighing the rights of both sides, and legislation which honors both the right to access and the rights of land owners. I do not support the effort of out-of-state corporations to purchase public lands for private use, thus cutting off these lands to outdoor recreation from our Montanan's who I believe have a right to use the public lands as well.

6. With the lack of oil and gas royalty money hurting Montana's funds, what ideas do you have for replacing those funds?

O'Hara: Oil and gas funds are cyclic and I am confident prices will rebound. I have always been pro business and will work to lure business to North Central Montana in the hope of creating jobs and increase our tax base.

Hutchinson: It is a cycle like the wheat market. It is like asking me how to fix the wheat market going from ten dollars per bushel to four dollars per bushel. Your quotation makes it sound like we are somehow entitled to this oil and gas royalty when it goes away.

Rominger: Oil and gas exploration is a very cyclical business. It goes up and down. It's down now, but it will come back up.

To answer your question: I believe there are several approaches. First, Montana could encourage development of new and innovative technologies to help coal and natural gas burn even more cleanly. Montana coal burns relatively cleanly so there is still a demand for our coal. New technology developed by MSU in Bozeman and all of our other colleges and universities would help stabilize coal and natural gas companies in the region. The experiment stations help our farmers and ranchers. I would be surprised if our colleges and universities weren't already working on this problem to help our coal and oil and gas industries. Second, by increasing the number of local businesses additional tax monies would be brought into the region. We need to add value to what we already produce here. This generates jobs and taxes. Third, supporting Northwestern Energy, MDU, and our Cooperatives expansion of clean energy (solar and wind farms) and expansion of clean energy company's ability to access energy company infrastructure would allow those companies to prosper, again supplementing the lost royalty money from the hurting oil and gas industry.

7. What could Montana do to get more money for primary roads in this part of Montana instead of so much transportation money going to other parts of the state?

O'Hara: The work of politics is give and take. Networking is crucial to getting funding. Having known and worked with so many legislators gives me an advantage in securing funding for our area.

Hutchinson: Primary roads, meaning State Highways as I understand, are funded by State and Federal fuel taxes and are extensively evaluated by the Montana Department of Transportation for needs and updates and repairs and are scheduled out in advance by years. I don't see any way that the Montana Department of Transportation or the Montana Legislature is going to prioritize North Central Montana highways.

Jim O'Hara

Rominger: First, it is important to support infrastructure bills such as Senate bill 416 which would have facilitated funding of, among other things, roads all across Montana. Unfortunately, partisan politics led to a failure of this bill in the House this past year. I would work with any other members of the legislature to support efforts such as SB 416. Second, it is important to maintain a positive relationship with federal agencies which also provide funding for highways. Finally, it is critical for a legislator from this district to clearly articulate the advantages to all of Montana, of how critical improvement to our primary roads, upon which much of Montana businesses, including farmers, rely. By clearly articulating the benefits of road improvement (increased productivity, maintaining business shipping routs, appealing to potential new businesses looking for a home), and articulating the dire consequences should roads continue to decline (decreased productivity, re-routing of business shipping, potential loss of new businesses coming into the area), we could work together to pass legislation which would help our district and all of Montana. We also need to support our railroads which take huge loads off our highways, and make them last longer.