Montana
Montana families deserve choice school options: opinion
Families across the country have long benefited from the ability to attend a public charter school if they determined that was the best option for their children. Montana parents, however, have been stymied until recently when lawmakers finally stepped up. The Montana Legislature in 2023 passed two charter options for public education – HB 562 and HB 549. HB 562, the Community Choice Schools Act, is one of the strongest charter school laws in the country.
Public charter schools, called “Choice Schools” under Montana’s unique framework, are tuition-free public schools that are publicly funded but independently run. Choice Schools are granted flexibility from traditional public school regulations to build a learning environment and curriculum that fits the needs of their students. Choice Schools are subject to a contract that includes ongoing general government supervision, performance monitoring, and oversight. If Choice Schools don’t perform, they will be closed.
As they have done in nearly every state that has voted to launch public charter schools, the education establishment has sued to prevent implementation of HB 562 and deny families this important option.
This is why our organizations joined together to file an amicus brief in the case of Felchle v. Montana, to defend Choice Schools as an option for Montana families.
It’s abundantly clear that Montana’s Community Choice Schools Act (CCSA) is constitutional, consistent with charter school programs in other states, and will enable quality public education options for students. This is why we’re asking the court to uphold the Community Choice Schools Act and preserve this opportunity for Montana communities to expand the local public education system with student-centered Choice Schools.
Our amicus brief emphasizes three key points:
Constitutionality: The CCSA properly acknowledges the requirement in the Montana Constitution for the Board of Public Education to exercise “general supervision” over Choice Schools.
Consistency: The CCSA’s framework is consistent with the understanding of constitutional requirements for state board supervision of charter schools in other states.
Quality: The data on similar schools in other states, including research from Stanford University, demonstrates that Choice Schools will provide equality of educational opportunity and offer a quality education to Montana students.
We conclude our legal brief by noting: “For over three decades, children across the country have attended public charter schools and became more successful students because of it. Charter schools have a clearly demonstrated positive effect on their students and the data continues to show a positive upward trend, even in states where the charter law contains broad exemptions from state laws and regulations. Based on this data, Montana’s Choice Schools will provide a quality education because they follow a model that has led to academic quality in other states.”
For example, neighboring Idaho has more than 70 charter schools and a new law was passed this year that makes them easier to operate. Discussing Idaho’s charter schools, Kimberly School District Superintendent Luke Schroeder recently said: “You have to look at education for your entire community, not just your district. It’s human nature to be competitive, but we’ve got to put our egos aside and see what’s best for kids … At the end of the day, we just can’t be territorial about education.”
We believe that equality of educational opportunity guaranteed to all students by Montana’s Constitution means an all of the above approach – traditional public schools, choice schools, private schools, micro-schools, homeschooling, and more. We’re hopeful that Montana judges will agree. Allowing families more education options shouldn’t be a controversial idea. Montanans have waited long enough.
The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at July 8, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from July 8 drawing
12-29-37-43-55, Powerball: 18, Power Play: 4
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from July 8 drawing
17-26-31-32-37, Star Ball: 01, ASB: 02
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from July 8 drawing
03-13-16-17, Bonus: 10
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from July 8 drawing
06-27-33-44-69, Powerball: 23
Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Montana Cash numbers from July 8 drawing
08-16-17-22-27
Check Montana Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from July 8 drawing
16-18-43-48-50, Bonus: 01
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.
HELENA, Mont — Gov. Greg Gianforte is backing a new effort to keep data centers from driving up Montanans’ power bills.
This week, Gianforte announced Montana is signing on to the Ratepayer Protection Pledge — an initiative endorsed by President Trump.
Several major technology companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and XAI first signed the pledge back in March.
The pledge comes as data center development continues to grow — raising questions about how much new energy will be needed and who will pay for it.
NBC Montana spoke with Julia Haggerty, professor of geography and department head of earth sciences at Montana State University, about whether Montana’s power grid is ready for that growth.
“Not without resolution of significant transmission bottlenecks and massive amounts of new generation. So, while our grid is adequately, relatively adequately equipped to serve the needs of our current load base, it’s definitely not equipped to accommodate the new demands without a lot of expansion,” she said.
According to the pledge, data center developers will pay for new power generation, and infrastructure needed to support their operations.
“It does align with ongoing regulatory efforts to ensure that the cost of new generation associated with data centers is borne by the developers of those data centers and not customers,” Haggerty said.
The governor’s office says Gianforte’s support of the pledge is designed to encourage responsible data center investments while protecting Montana ratepayers from long-term costs.
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