I am Holly Raser, and I am running for Superintendent of Public Instruction.
I’ve spent my life in public education, and I know that strong schools translate into strong communities and a strong economy for our state.
I’ve been a teacher at Target Range Elementary School in Missoula for 26 years.
For the last eight years I have also proudly served my constituents and all our citizens in the Montana House of Representatives.
I will bring practical, strong, effective leadership to the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
As a teacher and a legislator, I’ve learned a great deal about education from the ground up. I’m excited to take this next step in my public service, and I’d like to thank my family, friends, and colleagues in the legislature and in the world of education who have encouraged me to do so.
Our public schools are all about kids. Public schools are about teaching all our children to read and write and count and reason and live productive lives wherever they may go for the rest of their lives.
This is our mission as a state. This is the mission of our local school districts. This will be my mission as Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Today I’d like to share with you my plans for K-12 education in Montana.
In order to teach our children as best we can, we face many challenges: community poverty and its disastrous effects on student academic achievement, truancy, and dropouts; recruitment and retention of quality instructors, specialists, and administrators, especially in the rural reaches of our state; equity and adequacy of school funding, school accreditation, teacher licensure standards, local control and school governance, the changing nature of our society and the needs of our children. The list goes on.
As Superintendent of Public Instruction, I will work to strengthen school-community relationships, especially in our economically impoverished American Indian communities. We need to take immediate, meaningful steps to close the achievement gap of American Indian students.
As Superintendent, I will work to make sure that our full-day kindergarten program is second to none. We know from research and the experience of other states that early intervention can make a huge difference in educational outcomes for our students.
I will advance the recommendations of the School Renewal Commission by working to provide a regional network of services like distance learning, teacher mentoring and training, and other shared services for all our schools, but especially our more rural schools.
I will continue the work of Superintendent McCulloch by promoting changes in No Child Left Behind laws that make sense for Montana and other rural states whose needs are vastly different from those of Maryland or New Jersey.
As a member of the State Land Board, I will make responsible decisions on public access and the best use of our state lands.
Finally and most importantly, I will provide leadership to bring diverse folks to the table - legislators, educators, and business and community leaders from across the state - to find a way to fund our schools in a manner that is adequate, equitable, and sustainable in the future.
As a teacher, I’ve dedicated my life to the challenge of enhancing the lives of the children in my care.
As a legislator, I’ve dedicated my career to the challenge of adequately providing for our public schools.
And as Superintendent of Public Instruction, I will provide the leadership necessary to positively address all the challenges before us for the future of our young people and the future of our state.