Melissa Romano

MELISSA ROMANO

CURRENT OCCUPATION: Public School Teacher CAMPAIGN WEBSITE: www.romanoformontana.com

Arrow-Circle-Right Briefly introduce yourself. Melissa Romano is a Montana public school teacher, 2018 Montana Teacher of the Year, nationally recognized educator, and mom of four. We need an experienced educator at the Office of Public Instruction who understands how their decisions impact our children in their classrooms. Melissa is running for Superintendent of Public Instruction to advocate for our public schools and ensure every child has access to a quality education.

Arrow-Circle-Right Workforce development is

a top priority for the business community. With learning happening both in and out of the classroom, how will you encourage and empower educators to develop

flexible learning environments? As a local control state, we are lucky that school districts already have so much flexibility in how they deliver services to our children. Montana standards allow for school districts to think outside the box and create partnerships with local businesses and learn according to each child’s own unique abilities. As State Superintendent, I will be open to suggestions and new ideas about how our districts can create flexible learning environments for our students across the state. Especially as we work to recover from coronavirus, flexibility will be imperative. We need to empower our educators to bring new ideas to the table, but we also need to make sure they have the resources and support they need from the State Superintendent to pursue those flexible environments safely.

Arrow-Circle-Right Do you prioritize career

readiness skills like leadership, work ethic, and communication? If so, how will you encourage schools to adopt “soft skills”

in their curricula? Absolutely. All students should have the resources they need to learn and be prepared to pursue a fulfilling post-high school path. Schools can encourage students to adopt “soft skills” like communication, leadership and work ethic through social and emotional learning (SEL). These skills enhance students’ capacity to integrate attitudes, mindsets, and behaviors to navigate daily tasks and challenges, from problem solving to creating healthy relationships with others. The State Superintendent has the ability to bring SEL recommendations to the Board of Public Education and should do everything they can to help our schools prepare our students for any career they choose to pursue after high school.

Arrow-Circle-Right There are many influencers

in education, including school administrators, teacher unions, local school boards, and businesses. How will you balance the interests of these stakeholders while maintaining a productive education system in Montana?

As Superintendent I will work collaboratively with any and all persons and groups dedicated to Montana’s public schools. I will exclude no one from the conversation and do my best to defend and promote students, school employees, local school boards, and businesses that help support public education. I will follow the Montana constitution that clearly states our children have the right to access a quality public education, a board of public education to generally supervise that system, and local boards of trustees to supervise and control the schools in their districts. stop