The Wyoming Legislature has a mandate to review and update the state’s school funding model every five years, yet lawmakers have repeatedly failed to adequately fund Wyoming’s public schools.
The court ordered “recalibration” process is meant to ensure Wyoming schools receive the resources they need to provide quality education, which is guaranteed by the state constitution. Time and time again lawmakers have ignored the process or have even used it to continue to cut education funding.
In the past, the recalibration process typically passed by with little public notice. But thanks to Better Wyoming volunteers who stand up and take action, that’s no longer the case. Volunteers are stepping up to change that.
Over a course of three recalibration committee meetings, parents, educators, students and community members have shown up in force to testify about what their schools need. In the latest committee meeting public education advocates and parents asked that lawmakers adequately fund school counselors and shared with them importance of mental health in public education. They talked about the importance of public school librarians in giving students the resources that they need to succeed.
Better Wyoming volunteers have also written nearly a dozen op-eds and letters to the editor in newspapers across the state. Bringing awareness to this wonky school funding process while also calling on lawmakers to fulfill their obligation to fully fund Wyoming’s schools (check out the list of op-eds below)
These efforts are already paying off. Members of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus entered this year’s recalibration cycle pushing for deeper cuts to K–12 funding. But public advocacy has stopped those plans. In response to this in their latest committee meeting, lawmakers recently agreed to increase the average teacher salary in the funding model to $70,000, a significant improvement over current levels which left teachers some of the lowest paid in the country
Even with this progress there is still a lot of work to do. And the fight isn’t over.
Essential positions like school counselors, resource officers, and mental health professionals continue to be underfunded. Without proper investment in these supports, Wyoming’s schools risk falling short of providing the thorough education which the state constitution requires.
Learn more about the latest recalibration meeting from Wyoming Public Media and Wyofile.
Or read some op-eds from Better Wyoming volunteers below.
- Don't compromise when it comes to kids - Jenny Soresnson
- Lawmakers Failing Public Schools - Jai-Ayla Sutherland
- Mental Health Is Education: Wyoming Shouldn't Cut What Keeps Students Learning - Alex Petrino
- Lawmakers must fund our public schools - Lisa Jaimeson
- Advocating for fully funding public education - Rachel Plocek
- Regarding public school recalibration - Pamela Galbreath
- Wyoming’s teachers are great, but they’re not mental health professionals - Carla Gregorio