Merle J. Farrier

1. I graduated from Charlo High School in 1965 and have lived in the Hot Springs area since 1969. I began teaching in Hot Springs in 1969 and have enjoyed living here ever since.

2. Education

3. As noted, I graduated from Charlo High School, The University of Montana (1969) and later added a Master’s Degree and Doctorate Degree in Educational Leadership from The University of Montana.

4. Perhaps the greatest improvement to public education in my lifetime has been the development and provision of education specifically intended to serve students having unique learning abilities and/or cultural differences. That is, public education has expanded to provide a free and appropriate education to all students, to all Montana youth who enroll in public schools.

However, perhaps the greatest challenge facing public education is to provide a free and appropriate education to all students. Virtually all educators are dedicated to providing a quality education to all students; however, a lack of resources necessary to provide such education to all students still persists to the degree school districts and educational cooperatives struggle to find quality special education teachers, knowledgeable educators able to differentiate culturally to address among other things, the so called “achievement gap,” and essential quality specialists such as speech/language pathologists and school psychologists.

The solution to this issue is not simple; requiring involvement at every level of state government as well as support from parents and community. However, the school board level is the ideal place to bring together the needs of all students, the concerns of their parents, and the frustrations of teachers and administrators alike and convincingly communicate those needs and their solutions to the next levels such as the board of regents and the legislature.