A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.

28 December 2016

Mary Moe will take hiatus from legislating, but not from writing

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State Sen. Mary Moe (D-Great Falls) this week announced she will resign from the legislature in late January. Her daughter needs help in caring for triplets born prematurely.

But she will, she promised in a comment on Facebook, keep publishing essays on current events. That’s good news. Moe writes with unusual grace and clarity. Her essays, many published at Montana Cowgirl and Intelligent Discontent, improve our understanding of issues and politics.

Her most recent post, What Children Are These, describes the predicament of homeless children, some literally sleeping under bridges, and how they are being helped. It’s an essay both heartwarming and heartbreaking. I’m glad she isn’t laying down her pen.

But I’m worried that her departure from the State Senate will allow important bills to wither on the table, not moving because their primary advocate is no longer in the legislature. In particular, I’m concerned that no one will pick up the banner for LC0162, An Act Revising the Conditions for Compulsory School Enrollment and Attendance; Increasing the Age for Required Enrollment and Attendance to Age 18 or Completion of Requirements for High School Graduation or Equivalency of Completion of Secondary Education with Exceptions;…

Current Montana law (MCA Section 20-5-103) sets the high school dropout age at:

(a) the child’s 16th birthday; or
(b) the date of completion of the work of the 8th grade.

That’s a holdover from the agrarian past, when many thought an eighth grade education was more than enough schooling to work on a farm. Today, however, an eighth grade education and nothing more is a sure ticket to life long poverty, and perhaps a stint or two in the slammer. Moe’s proposed reform is long overdue.

In an ideal world, LC0162 would pass without a dissenting vote. In the legislature, however, it may meet with reflexive opposition from some conservatives, especially those who view education beyond reading, writing, and simple arithmetic, as indoctrination in secular humanism, communistic economics, and impudent disrespect for tradition and authority. And it may encounter impassioned opposition from home schoolers and some religious and ethnic communities.

LC0162 will not pass itself. I hope Moe succeeds in passing its custody and advocacy to another legislator who will work like the devil to make it become law.

As for Moe, I suspect — and hope — she’ll return to the legislature in the not too distant future. Montana needs more politicians like her.