Source: The Atlantic
For the first time in 4 decades, the number of voters who voted for an increase in taxes to support higher education in Montana, actually grew.
Though the measure is only voted on every decade, and has passed every single time since 1948, this is the first time that there has been significant growth in support for the tax, with at least 62 percent of Montana voters in favor of the tax.
The measure for funding provides more than $20 million for public higher education institutions in the state, which is a significant boost for an education system that is poorly funded, and below the per-capita national average, as reported by The Atlantic.
Leaders in education began to worry that the measure would not pass as the state is “deeply Republican,” and according to a study from earlier this year, a large percentage of those who identified as Republican were not in support or “distrusting” of higher education. Leaders began to think that this distrust would translate into a cut in funding for higher education, but the opposite was true.
Researchers suggest that this outcome in support of higher education comes from local voters seeing the good that their local higher education institutions are doing and wanting to support the continuation of local schools. The Atlantic reports that this could be meaningful for other higher education institutions who are impacting their own communities and finding support and meaning through them.
Read Full Story: The Atlantic