HELENA — Two education bills proposed by two Republican senators drew distinctly different reactions from education lobbyists during their hearing Tuesday before the House Select Education Committee.

House Bill 314, sponsored by Rep. Ed Butcher of Winifred, was derided by education lobbyists as an "oversimplification" of the state's obligation to public education, and was ridiculed for only including reading, writing and arithmetic in the definition of a "basic" education.

But House Bill 311, sponsored by Rep. Bill Glaser of Huntley, was seized as a workable solution to the state's school-funding problem.

The Montana Supreme Court in November found the state's system of public education unconstitutional and inadequate, and told the Legislature to come up with a fix by Oct. 1. Essentially, the Legislature must define what kind of "quality" education students are entitled to, develop a system to deliver it and then fund it.

While the Senate has already passed SB152, by Sen. Don Ryan, D-Great Falls, that defines what a "quality" education is, some say the House should amend Glaser's bill into the definition.

"In the end, the Senate and the House have to blend their efforts together," said Lance Melton, executive director of the Montana School Boards Association. "This can't be about the Senate versus the House."

While the Senate bill lists the very items that make up a quality education, such as books and good teachers, Glaser's bill identifies the goals that education should aspire to.

Joy in learning, personal development, effective communication skills and creativity, among other qualities, are listed as the definition of quality education in Glaser's bill. He based the list of outcomes on a 1975 study of the Montana public education system.

An amendment to the bill also requires the state Board of Public Education to have direct control over, and require schools to meet, existing school accreditation standards. Rod Svee, superintendent of the Billings Public Schools, suggested that the committee amend the state accreditation standards into the bill.

Many educational groups opposed the bill simply because it doesn't list the items that make up a quality education, like the Senate bill does. But they said they would think more favorably of the bill if it included the state accreditation standards.

"What this bill needs is more measurable performance standards," said Madalyn Quinlan, chief of staff at the Office of Public Instruction.

The education lobbyists were less inclined to work with Butcher's bill. In fact, they urged the committee to dump HB314 altogether.

Butcher's bill strips the state Board of Public Education of its constitutional authority and hands it over to local school boards, and among many other provisions, exempts schools from providing special education classes if they don't have more than 25 students in every grade.

The bill ultimately places the responsibility of public education in the hands of parents, and links teacher job performance to student test performance. And Butcher's definition of "basic" education requires schools to teach only reading, writing and arithmetic, and leaves other courses such as science to the discretion of the local school board.

While numerous opponents said the bill violates the recent Montana Supreme Court order, Butcher said the Legislature isn't bound by the order given the separation of powers.

"They can't tell us anything," Butcher said. "They don't have any authority over us period."

Butcher's bill drew a single supporter Tuesday. Elaine Sollie Herman of the Montana Eagle Forum, a conservative lobbying group, said Butcher's bill achieves their goal of local control of schools.

"It is the old-fashioned idea of giving parents control over their children's education," Herman said.

The committee took no action on the bill Tuesday. It is expected to hear more education bills later this week, as the topic tops the 2005 legislative agenda.

"Whatever we do has got to be a living system a system that changes as our needs change," Glaser said.