This article was originally published in WyoFile.
A six-week trial over Wyoming’s school funding formula is underway in a Cheyenne courtroom.
The heart of the matter – whether the state is meeting its constitutional obligation to fund education – is dense and complicated. A parade of witnesses are expected to testify on topics ranging from major maintenance projects to school lunches, campus security and staffing.
The outcome could affect the mechanisms through which Wyoming funds everything from teacher salaries to deferred maintenance in its 48 school districts. Now that almost two years have passed since the lawsuit was filed, WyoFile offers this refresher on Wyoming’s school funding model and what’s in the current lawsuit.
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How we got here
The Wyoming Education Association, an educator advocacy group with 6,000 members, filed the 71-page lawsuit in August 2022. Eight school districts joined the lawsuit as intervenors to challenge the state.
The lawsuit alleges that the state of Wyoming violated its Constitution by failing to adequately fund public schools and withholding appropriate funding at the expense of educational quality, safety and security. That has prompted districts to fend for themselves and divert funds from other critical education activities, causing further systemic erosion, the lawsuit alleges.
Article 7 of the Wyoming Constitution states that the Legislature “shall provide for the establishment and maintenance of a complete and uniform system of public education.” Landmark court cases further outlined the state’s obligations in the 1980s and 1990s.
The more recent of these, the Campbell cases, set the stage for Wyoming’s current school funding obligations. These cases culminated in 1995 when the Wyoming Supreme Court ordered the state to determine the cost of high-quality education, fund public schools, adjust funding for inflation at least every two years, and update the components of the school financing model every five years. reviewed to ensure that resources keep pace with needs and costs.
The court required the legislature “to consider education as a priority above all other considerations.” His determination led to a funding framework defined by two key ideas: the “basket of goods” – the skills and topics students must learn, and “recalibration” – the process by which the Legislature revises and adjusts its funding model. .
The Wyoming Education Association was an intervener in this lawsuit.
What’s in the current pack
The 2022 complaint essentially alleges that the state has failed to meet its school funding obligations in the years since the Campbell cases. This was done by not allowing periodic external cost adjustments and allocating insufficient resources to meet necessary funding levels, the lawsuit alleges.
That includes the salaries of teachers, administrators and support staff.
“In 2010, teacher pay benefits were approximately 25% above the average for surrounding states, and Wyoming districts competed well for the best teachers,” the complaint reads. “The failure to keep the model inflation-adjusted has eliminated that advantage, and not only are Wyoming districts unable to compete for high-quality teachers, but in some cases, Wyoming districts are also unable to compete for someone for certain positions to assume.”
Wyoming districts have also failed “to provide necessary support services to students; have postponed the purchase of new textbooks, equipment, technology and other essential items; have cut back on activities and opportunities for students; and in some cases even eliminated programs,” the complaint reads.
The underfunding has not only affected the state’s teacher stable, but has also led to deteriorating safety and security levels and the continued use of inadequate facilities with unmet maintenance needs, the lawsuit said.
Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges, the inability to fund schools is not based on inability – “rather, it is a result of the lack of political will to follow the clear constitutional mandate.”
The lawsuit also alleged that Wyoming retained several consultants to conduct its “recalibration” studies, but “discontinued using each of them in turn when the consultants’ recommendations included an increase in funding.”
“The funding level for the model currently being offered is in fact well below the funding level recommendations of the Legislature’s own advisors when the model was studied as part of ‘recalibration,’” the lawsuit reads. “In reality, these investigations are even serious modest the true cost of education.”
Intermediate school districts in the current case include Albany County School District No. 1; Campbell County School District No. 1; Carbon County School District No. 1; Laramie County School District No. 1; Lincoln County School District No. 1; Sweetwater County School District No. 1; Sweetwater County School District No. 2; and Uinta County School District No. 1.
Current expenses
State spending on education increased from $443 million, or $4,372 per student, in 1985, to $1.5 billion, or $16,751 per student, in 2022, according to the Legislative Service Office.
Increases can be related to many factors, including growing numbers of students needing special education services, increasing technology needs and rising inflation.
Wyoming’s low population density and rural nature also contribute to it having some of the highest per-pupil spending in the country.
Legal action
In December 2022, the Laramie County District Court denied the state’s request to dismiss the lawsuit.
Then, in 2023, Wyoming asked the Wyoming Supreme Court to intervene in the case regarding the level of investigation that was appropriate to determine the outcome. The Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s decision that “strict scrutiny” will be applied, and rejected the state’s request for a lower standard.
On May 1, Laramie County District Court Judge Peter Froelicher denied the state’s request for partial summary judgment, sending the case to trial.
Six weeks
The trial began Monday in Laramie County District Court with opening arguments and testimony from the plaintiff. During the first two days, the plaintiffs’ witnesses provided testimony about unfilled district positions, salary adjustments, how schools qualify for major construction projects and curricula. Witnesses included WEA President Grady Hutcherson, who taught in a classroom for 24 years, as well as district employees such as superintendents and human resources managers.
One of the outcomes the plaintiffs are seeking is for the court to “retroactively” award districts “a reasonable amount of the funding that should have been provided to them to date.”
The court broadcasts the trial live, watch the stream here.
The story was originally published on WyoFile.
