Maxford Nelsen, Freedom Foundation (Republished with permission) Original Date: November 21, 2024
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In May 2021, in response to a request for an opinion from Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen, Attorney General Austin Knudsen concluded that, “‘Critical Race Theory’ and ‘antiracism’ programming” often “discriminates on the basis of race, color, or national origin” in violation of both the U.S. and Montana constitutions and both federal and state civil rights law.
Amanda Curtis—president of the Montana Federation of Public Employees (MFPE), the labor union representing most public-school teachers and many other public employees in Montana—responded to the opinion by accusing Knudsen and Arntzen of “working together to politicize school curriculum.”
In reality, the opinion addressed a politicization of public education by liberal interests like MFPE that had begun long before 2021 and has continued apace since.
Just last month, the MFPE conducted its annual “Educator Conference” in Bozeman, a two-day hybrid virtual/in-person conference for public school teachers consisting of dozens of presentations and panel discussions. Attendance at conference programs earns educators professional development credits needed to maintain their state teaching certificates.
While some of the programming appeared uncontroversial and oriented towards increasing teachers’ practical knowledge and professional skills, a review of the conference agenda shows that many presentations were entirely and explicitly political in nature and/or shot through with progressive ideology.
As discussed in more detail below, at least seven presentations were specifically focused on electoral politics and lobbying, even including presentations by union-endorsed candidates for office. Other panels covered the whole gamut of woke issues du jour including, but not limited to: “historical activism,” countering purported “book banning,” “EcoSchools,” “equity training,” promoting “LGBTQ+ issues,” fighting “microaggression at the workplace,” “indigenous pedagogy,” and implementing “diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) trainings.”
Taxpayer-funded indoctrination
More disturbing than the content of the MFPE conference programming is the fact that Montana taxpayers had to foot the bill for educators to attend the union’s indoctrination. For decades, Montana law has required school districts to “close the schools… for the annual instructional and professional development meetings of teachers’ organizations.” Not only may teachers attend such meetings “without loss of salary,” but teachers who do not attend “may not be paid.”
A similar state law permits school districts to schedule up to three district-paid “pupil-instruction-related days” for “teacher activities devoted to improving the quality of instruction,” such as “attending state meetings of teacher organizations.”
Accordingly, many school districts shut down for the MFPE Educators Conference and expect or encourage their teachers to participate. For instance, the teachers union contract for Fairview School Districts Nos. 3 and 13 provides, “[s]chool will be dismissed for the annual M.F.P.E. Educators’ Conference. Twelve (12) Pupil-Instruction-Related (PIR) hours will be credited to those who attend the convention…”
In the West Yellowstone School District, the teachers union contract goes even further, providing three days’ leave “at full salary” to each teacher for activities like “attendance at educational conferences.” Teachers who use this time to attend the MFPE Educators Conference “will receive a $75/day stipend.”
MFPE is a private organization. If it wishes to host a woke conference for educators, it is free to do so. If public-school teachers wish to attend a teachers union conference and learn about how to become political activists, they have every right to do so on their own time. And if MFPE wants to host an apolitical conference with content that satisfies applicable state standards, then it’s appropriate for attending educators to receive professional development credits. But there is no justification for forcing taxpayers to pay for public-school teachers to attend political events hosted by progressive special interest groups.
As they prepare for the upcoming 2025 legislative session, Montana lawmakers should reevaluate whether it serves the public’s interest to give government unions a blank check to engage in union advocacy and administration at taxpayers’ expense.
The following is a summary of select sessions from the MFPE conference.
Political sessions
1. Session: “Candidate Forum”
MFPE description:
“Meet MFPE member-endorsed candidates for US Congress, Governor, Statewide office, and the MT Legislature. Ask them questions about their plans for our state and all things MFPE.”
While it is not clear which candidates attended the session, there’s a strong likelihood that those who did participate were all of the same political party. Of the nine candidates for federal or statewide office MFPE endorsed in the 2024 general election, all were Democrats or Democrat-affiliated. Of the 74 candidates for state legislature who received an MFPE endorsement, only 10 were Republicans.
And, as the Freedom Foundation has previously documented, MFPE tends to only endorse Republican candidates in safe districts who lack a credible Democrat opponent, while it pours its political spending into backing Democrats in competitive races.
The session was hosted by MFPE president Amanda Curtis, a former Democrat state representative and repeat congressional candidate.
2. Session: “Current Political Issues”
MFPE description:
“Come meet and discuss current issues germane to teachers. Local political candidates will be there to answer your questions and describe their ideas.”
Sounds about the same as the candidate forum, and probably was.
3. Session: “Amplify our Voices and Influence”
MFPE description:
“This will be a brief presentation by 3 educators who have transitioned to running for office at the local-school board, city council or other, state or federal level. The goal is to present decision-making processes, experience with running or in office and providing encouragement to others to run.”
The session was facilitated by Melody Cunningham, a Democrat just elected to the Montana House of Representatives. The three session panelists included Eric Matthews and Melissa Romano, both incumbent Democrat state representatives, as well as Colette Campbell, who ran unsuccessfully for state representative as a Democrat in 2020.
It’s unclear how a partisan presentation encouraging educators to run for elected office qualifies as professional development, but MFPE appeared to host essentially the same session twice, once on each day of the conference.
4. Session: “The Montana Legislature and 2024 Elections”
MFPE description:
“What happened in 2023? What can we expect in 2025? MFPE Lobby Team summarizes the last legislature and speculates on the next. The MFPE political team summarize the member-led endorsement process for local, state, and federal races.”
The session was facilitated by MFPE president Amanda Curtis.
5. Session: “Public School Strong Orientation”
MFPE description:
“#PublicSchoolStrong. Public funding for public education will be one of the top fights at the 2025 session of the MT Legislature. Participants will train to advocate for school funding in public settings and sign a pledge to support public schools.”
The session was also facilitated by MFPE president Amanda Curtis.
Woke sessions
6. Session: “Teaching about the Middle East”
MFPE description:
“Are you teaching about the Middle East, Islam, or Arab culture? Learn how from Montana’s only high school Arabic teacher! There are many fun ways to integrate Middle Eastern languages, cultures, and history into your class, no matter the subject.”
The presenter, Brendan Work, is an outspoken progressive and anti-Israel activist who:
Read the remainder from our ally HERE.
Director of Research and Government Affairs
As the Freedom Foundation’s Director of Research and Government Affairs, Maxford Nelsen leads the team working to advance the Freedom Foundation’s mission through strategic research, public policy advocacy, and labor relations. Max regularly testifies on labor issues before legislative bodies and his research has formed the basis of several briefs submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court. Max’s work has been published in local newspapers around the country and in national outlets like the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Hill, National Review, and the American Spectator. His work on labor policy issues has been featured in media outlets like the New York Times, Fox News, and PBS News Hour. He is a frequent guest on local radio stations like 770 KTTH and 570 KVI. From 2019-21, Max was a presidential appointee to the Federal Service Impasses Panel within the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which resolves contract negotiation disputes between federal agencies and labor unions. Prior to joining the Freedom Foundation in 2013, Max worked for WashingtonVotes.org and the Washington Policy Center and interned with the Heritage Foundation. Max holds a labor relations certificate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and graduated magna cum laude from Whitworth University with a bachelor’s degree in political science. A Washington native, he lives in Olympia with his wife and sons.
