New Report Shows Montana’s Biggest Early Education Challenge Isn’t Teachers

Montana's Early Education Ranking Isn't Telling The Whole Story

A newly released report paints a pretty rough picture of early education in Montana.

But once you dig into the numbers, it becomes clear that our teachers aren't really the problem.

Child Care Access And Funding Are Montana's Biggest Challenges

According to WalletHub, Montana ranks No. 45 overall for early education with a total score of 37.65. At first glance, that doesn't look great, but the story is a lot more complicated than the overall ranking suggests.

The state's biggest challenges are access and economic support.

Access has been one of Montana's biggest challenges for years. Around 60% of the counties under the Big Sky are considered "child care deserts," meaning there aren't enough licensed child care spots to meet even one-third of the estimated demand.

Then there's the issue of resources and funding. Between ongoing concerns with the state's Best Beginnings payment system and delayed reimbursements to child care providers, it's easy to see why the economic support category dragged Montana's score down.

One thing this report doesn't say is that Montana has bad educators.

The Real Challenge Facing Early Education In Montana

In fact, the state ranked No. 28 for education quality, putting us much closer to the middle of the pack than the bottom.

That's an important distinction.

This ranking has a lot less to do with the people teaching our kids and a lot more to do with the challenges of providing child care and early education across a state that's as large, rural, and spread out as Montana.

The biggest hurdles don't necessarily exist inside the classroom. They're making sure families can actually access those classrooms in the first place.

Source: WalletHub