MEA-MFT members elected chair and vice chair of Montana Board of Public Education

Congratulations to MEA-MFT member Patty Myers, Great Falls, who has become the first teacher in Montana history to chair the Montana board of public education.

And congratulations to MEA-MFT member Angela McLean, Anaconda, who has become the new vice chair of the Montana board of public education.

Patty and Angela will expertly serve Montana, our public schools, the children we teach, and the teaching profession.

Award-winning Lewis and Clark Elementary teacher elected chairwoman of state Board of Public Education

By ERIN MADISON
Tribune Staff Writer - January 29, 2007

When Patty Myers uses her vote on the Montana Board of Public Education to make a policy change, she sees, first-hand, the effect that has on her classroom.

Now, the local teacher will have a little more power to effect change in classrooms across the state. She was elected Jan. 18 to be chairwoman of the Board of Public Education.

Myers is a second-grade teacher at Lewis and Clark Elementary School. She has taught for 37 years, all in Great Falls.

Her list of awards seems never-ending, including a trip to Washington, D.C., in 1998 to shake hands with then-President Clinton after she was chosen as the Montana teacher of the year; a $25,000 award from the state superintendent the same year; and a trip to NASA's International Space Camp.

Myers has served on the board for seven years.

She calls the Board of Public Education "the best-kept secret in town."

Few people realize that its seven members set the guidelines for class size, accreditation standards, distance learning, dual enrollment, and everything down to the busing.

"We have direct supervision over 145,000 students and what happens with them," Myers said. "There's not much that happens in the classroom that isn't affected by the Board of Public Education."

Myers is the first practicing teacher to hold her position, something she's very proud of.

"It really is a pretty big deal in education land that a teacher is the chair of the board," she said.

Myers brings a great amount of experience to the board, said former board chairman and Havre schools Superintendent Kirk Miller.

"Her classroom teaching is renowned," he said.

It's valuable to have practicing educators on the board, Miller said.

"They see the implementation end."

And that shows in the votes Myers casts, Miller said. Every decision she makes is solidly student-centered.

Last year, the Board of Public Education voted to reduce the class size of some kindergarten, first- and second-grade classes.

For Myers, it meant going from a class of 23 students to about 18.

"It makes all the difference in the world, and I really see that," she said.

The position of chairperson is elected annually by the board.

Some upcoming challenges Myers expects the board to face are distance learning, dual enrollment and full-time kindergarten.

The board also needs to deal with the problem of recruiting and retaining educators.

"That's a big concern of ours," she said.

The board is working with the University of Montana to start a speech-pathology program because of a major shortage of speech pathologists in the state, she said.

Myers grew up in Conrad and went to the University of Montana. Her daughter is the head of the English department at Great Falls High School, and Myers has two grandchildren.