Lame Deer School Superintendent Bill Parker has the right idea.

When talking about construction problems at a partially finished school building, he told Gazette reporter Rob Rogers, “Our kids should have the same educational opportunities — facilities-wise — as any other kids in the country.”

We agree.

For reasons that would take far longer to explain than the space here allows, Lame Deer and other reservation school districts have not had the same educational facilities as their counterparts in the rest of the state. Regardless, the educational opportunities for students in Montana should be equal — period.

It’s easy to see some of the problems with the school in Lame Deer, but harder to find the answers.

The district saw the $5.6 million project stop short: Part of the building sits as a half-finished shell that couldn’t be completed because funding ran short. And the parts that were completed appear to be of questionable quality.

Things aren’t right, but finding blame is tricky.