Last week, after hearing from its Administrator Dixie Stark and several other members of the public, the Ravalli County Commissioners agreed to place a 1.5 mill levy on the November ballot to fund the Literacy Bitterroot program.
Literacy Bitterroot has been around for decades. It started as a special program of the Bitterroot Public Library in 1987 and became a stand-alone non-profit organization in 1992. It provides adult basic education to people ranging in age from 16 to 70 who never finished high school or need help in brushing up on their education as they work toward career development or have to adapt to changing job requirements.
Stark told the commissioners that Literacy Bitterroot’s program was “broader in scope than most literacy programs.” It teaches students on an individualized basis.
“We don’t spend time teaching everything to everybody,” said Stark. “We teach what the individuals need to know.” That may mean more than simply learning to read and write. It may be learning some math or simple money management. It may mean learning to speak English.
Stark said that over the last several years Literacy Bitterroot has produced more high school graduates annually than the high schools in Victor and Darby combined.
Terry Ryan, a longtime supporter of the Literacy Bitterroot program, said that half of Literacy Bitterroot’s students go on to college or for further training and become taxpayers.
“Obtaining a high school degree almost doubles your income for life,” said Ryan. “One more year of education or training after that adds another 40%.” Ryan said the math tells the story. She said it costs Literacy Bitterroot about $1,000 per student to produce a high school graduate. The program, she said, is producing about 50 graduate degrees annually. If 25 of those students go on to college then you have each of them paying an average of about $2,000 per year in taxes.
“That’s a 100% return on our community’s investment every year,” said Ryan. She said you can add to that the savings on welfare, law enforcement and prisons and other costs that are being mitigated.
“Our county becomes a darker place if we allow [these people] to fail,” she said.
Jim Morton of the Human Resource Council said that people need to recognize that the program is not just for “drop-outs and screw ups.” He said technology was making sweeping changes in the workplace and requiring many to get continuing education to adapt to the new workplace environment.
Ron Stoker, Darby resident and former legislator who helped establish the Mental Health Crisis Center in Ravalli County, said through eight years of service in the Montana legislature he learned that there are times when you need to expand government and this is one them.
Regina Plettenberg, County Superintendent of Schools, said that Literacy Bitterroot provides more than education in literacy. It provides math education and training in other skills as well as college preparation and fills an all-around need in the community.
Stark gave the Commissioners an account of the program’s funding needs and history of the funding. She said the annual budget over the last several years has run from $120,000 to $145,000. She said about $60,000 of that annual funding came from the state.
Now that has run out. In March of last year, she said, they were informed that the state was looking for a request for funding but applicants were being required to make a proposal covering all of Ravalli, Missoula and Mineral Counties. She said, as a result Missoula got the funding. But, according to Stark, they are not providing the services to Ravalli County that were promised.
According to Stark, the current program supports one full-time employee and eight to ten part-time employees, but the total of all the part-time employees does not equal even one full-time position.
A 1.5 mill levy would raise $120,000 annually. This would allow the program to concentrate on fulfilling its educational mission rather than spending an inordinate amount of time on fundraising efforts, although she said those efforts would still be made for grants to enhance the basic program. If passed by the voters, the levy would raise the taxes on a home valued at $100,000 by $2.03. It would raise taxes on a $200,000 home by $4.06.
Commission chair Jeff Burrows said that it was going to take some work to convince the community to increase their taxes.
“I’m willing to work hard and I know this is a long shot,” said Stark, “but I’m willing to work on this campaign.”
Commissioner Chris Hoffman said, “What we do in our community is take care of our own,” and he moved to place the mill levy on the ballot. The motion was approved unanimously.