State Sen. Elsie Arntzen, R-Billings, made a stop in Kalispell last week to “knock on school doors” to promote her bid for state superintendent of Public Instruction and gather information on local issues.

Current state Superintendent Denise Juneau, capped by term limits, is campaigning for Montana’s only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

From the classroom to the Capitol, Arntzen, 59, said she is “uniquely qualified” to lead the Office of Public Instruction.

The Billings native is a retired grade-school teacher with 23 years of experience, holds a degree in economics and education, is a mother of two and grandmother of four grandchildren.

In the Legislature, Arntzen has experience serving on the Education and Cultural Resources; Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs; Highways and Transportation and Ethics committees.

“I understand what students face after graduation,” Arntzen said.

Her current message in running for state superintendent: “I can do better. We as a state can do better.”

Arntzen was excited at the prospect of being involved in how Montana implements the Every Student Succeeds Act, which is widely considered to have a more flexible approach compared to No Child Left Behind — which it replaces — in reducing the federal government’s authority in state and local education policy-making.

“What a great opportunity for someone who understands government and local control,” Arntzen said, relating back to her experience in the state Senate and House. “I want to promote flexibility and enhance unique opportunities for kids.”

When asked her thoughts on Juneau’s Graduation Matters initiative to increase the graduation rate while decreasing the number of dropouts, Arntzen said, “It was a beginning, but a diploma must have value. They need to know what they can be, what they can do when they get a diploma.”

This value, Arntzen said, needs to be instilled starting at the middle school level taking into consideration that ninth grade is a prime time when students start to drop out of school.

“Middle school is the perfect bridge between basic skills learned in elementary to deeper, higher learning in high school,” Arntzen said noting that middle schoolers should have more access to career and technical education.

Arntzen describes herself as fiscally conservative and takes an approach of targeting and improving weaknesses in the current education system rather than adding new programs.

“Let’s strengthen what we have now rather than add and over-stress the system,” Arntzen said.

Candidates seeking the state superintendent position have until March 14 to file with the Montana Secretary of State.

Reporter Hilary Matheson can be reached at 758-4431 or [email protected].