2 companies vie for chance to help guide Missoula schools into future

The hard sell came with some of the soft language of education.

"Community dialogue," "global thinking," "facilitator," "focus group," "consensus," "empower" and even "synergy."

For years, these have been the words of change not just in education, but in corporate America.

And all day Friday, corporate America and education met eye-to-eye at the Missoula County Public Schools http://www.mcps.k12.mt.us/portal/default.aspx business headquarters on South Avenue West, as two consulting companies vied for a contract http://www.mcps.k12.mt.us/portal/Departments/BusinessServices/RFPEducationalConsultant/tabid/2870/Default.aspx to help implement a whole new educational philosophy in Missoula.

MCPS, with superintendent Alex Apostle and his administration leading the way, is sold on the concept of "21st century education," which officials say will revolutionize teaching and learning for decades to come, realigning class schedules, classroom structure and much of the way in which teachers interact with students, and students interact with each other.

Friday was a big start.

By JAMIE KELLY of the Missoulian

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_ec296ad2-5fc6-11df-8345-001cc4c002e0.html