(Billings, MT) State Rep. Holly Raser of Missoula, teacher and Democrat in the Montana House of Representatives, officially launched her candidacy for Superintendent of Public Instruction today at 10:00 a.m. in Peaks to Plains Park at MSU-Billings. She has been endorsed by educators and legislators from across the state.
Raser has taught at Target Range School in Missoula for 26 years. She has been a classroom teacher in grades K-5 and worked in both the Gifted and Talented and Title 1 programs. A respected reading teacher, she served as a Reading Fellow, mentoring schools as part of the Office of Public Instruction’s Reading Excellence grant. She has been a frequent presenter at teacher conferences including MEA-MFT, Five Valleys Reading Conference, and Newspapers in Education. She also worked as a consultant for Northwest Evaluation Association, creators of the Achievement Level Tests used by many Montana school districts.
As a four-term state representative, Raser has sponsored several school funding bills for the Office of Public Instruction and served on legislative committees dealing with school funding and policy. She was the House Democrat representative on the School Renewal Commission in 2003, a member of the Quality Schools Interim Committee during the 2005 regular and special sessions, and served as the legislative representative on the state’s Special Education Advisory Panel from 2002-2006. She is currently Vice-Chairman of the House Education committee.
“I’m excited to take this next step in my service to Montana’s kids and our schools. It’s been a privilege to work with educators and community members from across the state,” Raser said. “I look forward to continuing to work with these leaders as we strive to provide the very best public schools for our kids.”
Raser’s website also launched today at www.hollyraser.org. Raser’s campaign treasurer is Senator Kim Gillan of Billings.