Last week’s Question of the Week asked whether the Montana School Boards Association’s comment that the state should increase its funding of public schools in Montana by $260 million a year was reasonable. A majority thought it was.

Among 1,157 votes in this unscientific poll, 635 thought it was a reasonable request, while 522 did not.

Despite that outcome, the only written responses we received disagreed:

n Having worked in state government for many years, I can tell you that no amount of money will totally satisfy the education crowd. There is a solution, however. Simply allow parents to apply for a sum certain of state aid to be spent at the institution of their choice. Let the schools compete for the students and the funding. The most successful government program ever accomplished used this theme. It was called the G.I. Bill.

n Are they crazy? As a strong supporter of education, it was good to hear that the funding has increased by approximately 26 percent in recent years, but asking the Legislature and thus Montana taxpayers for an addition $260 million a year is unconscionable!

n No! The state is in the midst of a period when the cost of everything is going up and we are probably entering a recession. The last Legislature increased funding for schools a lot. Let’s develop natural resources, coal and oil, on state school trust lands and use these moneys to help the schools instead of putting the burden on the stat’s already financially strapped citizens.

n Well, thanks to the IR, I finally found out the definition of quality education. As I always suspected, more money for teachers, not much for schools. I emphatically do not support the additional funding request.