Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Susie Hedalen announced Monday a new legislative effort aimed at ending the practice of Montana teachers receiving educational credit for attending conferences that they say promote “extreme leftist ideology” and “classroom indoctrination.”
The announcement follows reports about the Montana Federation of Public Employees’ (MFPE) 2025 Educator Conference, held October 16–17 at Big Sky High School in Missoula, which featured presentations on gender identity, diversity and inclusion (DEI), and controversial art and literature.
“I want to thank President Regier for his leadership in introducing the bill to end state-mandated PIR days for union meetings,” Hedalen said in a statement. “Montana parents have made it clear they want classrooms that teach, not indoctrinate. Our schools exist to educate children, not to serve as platforms for political activism or social experimentation.”
Hedalen said her office is investigating MFPE and other professional development providers to ensure they comply with state and federal law. “When taxpayer dollars fund ‘professional development’ that celebrates sexually explicit books, defends nude images of minors as ‘art,’ and promotes gender ideology to young children, something has gone deeply wrong,” she said.
Regier formally filed the first bill title for the 2027 legislative session late last week, reserving legislation to “revise education laws related to teacher training and education and meetings of teacher organizations.” Under Montana law, “holdover” senators who will continue serving into the next session can pre-file bill requests.
The new proposal will be modeled after House Bill 557 from the 2025 session, sponsored by Rep. Jodee Etchart, R-Billings, which narrowly failed. That bill sought to restrict professional development credits and taxpayer funding for conferences promoting political or ideological content.
“Montana has been closing schools and paying teachers for two days every year to attend this conference in order to develop professionally and better serve their students,” Regier said. “But instead of learning how to instruct students on core skills and prepare them for life, these conferences have been indoctrinating teachers with leftist political extremism.”
Regier said his bill would ensure that public funds and educational credits go only toward professional development focused on classroom instruction and core curriculum, not political or social advocacy.
Audio recordings and accounts from this year’s MFPE conference described presentations including:
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An NEA staffer discussing “gender unicorn” training modules for teachers of young children;
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A DEI art panel that criticized the removal of a nude child photography exhibit as “censorship”;
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A librarian recounting efforts to restore a sexually explicit book to a middle school library.
House Speaker Brandon Ler, R-Savage, and Rep. Etchart voiced support for the measure. “Courses that teach our teachers must further our public education system’s obligation to provide students with a quality education and prepare the next generation for the workforce and real life,” they said in a joint statement. “House Republicans are eager to work with the Senate and Superintendent Hedalen to get this across the finish line next session.”
By Montana Newsroom Staff
