"Make Our Future Bright" – Missoula’s Business and Community Leaders Organize to Pass K-12 Levies and Support the Future of Public Education

Yard signs and door hangers are beginning to dot Missoula neighborhoods with a simple message, "Make Our Future Bright." http://www.makeourfuturebright.org

The message comes from a new group of local business and community leaders who have banded together to form Friends of Public Education (FOPE), an organization whose first project is to help Missoula County Public Schools (MCPS) pass current K¬-12 levies as well as support future education initiatives.

"Levies in the last few years have become harder and harder to pass," said Brent Campbell, CEO of WGM Group and co-founder of FOPE. "We wanted to create a private sector organization that can deploy an organized approach to educate the public about the importance of passing levies that will fund vital education programs, teacher salaries and building maintenance."

Alongside Campbell, local business and community leaders from a wide range of industries have joined FOPE in support of the proposed levies. They want to make sure that school districts get the funding necessary for young people to learn the skills and knowledge they need to be successful as well as produce an educated workforce for the community.

"During the economic downturn of the last few years, we know many businesses and households have learned to do without," said Sheila Callahan, owner of Mountain Broadcasting and co-chair of FOPE. "But the fact is that we cannot afford to let our schools do without. Educators are producing our future leaders and workers; the destiny of our economy and democracy depends on them."

MCPS will ask voters to pass two Building Reserve and two General Fund levies on the May 3 school elections mail ballot. The two Building Reserve levies, one for elementary schools and another for high schools, renew the existing levies that expire July 1, 2011, and do not increase taxes for property owners from 2010. They pay for scheduled and emergency maintenance and repairs essential for keeping school facilities safe.

"People often vote ‘no’ on levies because they think their property taxes will go way up," said Brad Coldberg, vice president at First Interstate Bank and FOPE treasurer and fundraising chair. "But in the case of the Building Reserve levies, there will be no increase in taxes, and the General Fund levies will cost property owners less than two car washes a year for every $100,000 of property value they own."

The two General Fund levies, impacting only the 2011¬-2012 academic year, directly fund MCPS certified and classified staff as well as curricula and programs. Passing both the elementary and high school proposed General Fund levies will allow MCPS to avoid significant drops in staffing and programs. The tax impact for every $100,000 of assessed home/property value is $6.74 per year for the Elementary General Fund levy and $6.35 per year for the High School General Fund levy.

FOPE’s mission goes beyond supporting current MCPS levies. The organization also plans to work to build continued innovation in local and, long term, state public schools as part of the 21st Century Initiative. The nationwide movement is seeking to develop students’ "21st Century skills," referring to a set of cognitive, technical and communicative skills it is believed all young people need to possess to be successful in the ever-changing marketplace.

FOPE is asking businesses, organizations and individuals to support its efforts for the upcoming MCPS levies as well as its continued initiatives by contributing $50-$500 to the "Make Our Future Bright" campaign. More information on the organization and current school levies can be found at http://www.makeourfuturebright.org or on the organization’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/friendsofpubliceducation.