Media Release

January 8, 2008

WEA Reaction to Supreme Court Decision

Cheyenne-The school funding equity lawsuit has resulted in huge increases in funding for Wyoming schools, both for operations and capital construction. “Our schools are better and our students are the true winners,” said Kathryn Valido, President of the Wyoming Education Association (WEA). The Wyoming Supreme Court announced their decision today regarding what final steps need to be taken to meet the constitutional mandate to provide a high quality education to all Wyoming students.

            “This is a Washakie moment,” commented Pat Hacker, WEA’s lead attorney who has argued this case for the past 14 years. As in the original school funding lawsuit that involved Washakie County School District #1 back in the early 80s, the Supreme Court has now put their trust in the Legislature and is encouraging them “to do what needs to be done in order to finish the job,” said Hacker.

            Valido added that as a result of this litigation, Wyoming students and schools will reap the benefits for decades. Some of the other benefits from the lawsuit according to Valido include:

“We have increased educational opportunity for students in districts of all kinds and sizes, we’ve increased the pool of high quality teachers, and we look forward to quality schools being built to meet the needs of our changing education environment.”

            Valido added that the WEA is confident that the Legislature will continue to adequately fund Wyoming education. “We have the mechanism in place which includes adjusting for inflation and regular review of the funding model. Our challenge is to not allow this to deteriorate as it did after the Washakie decision,” she said.

            School capital construction is a large component of the decision. “We appreciate the Court stressing the importance of the School Facilities Commission allowing individual school districts flexibility to meet their specific needs when building schools.”

            Valido also expressed appreciation to the Court and the Legislature.  “We appreciate the hard work and commitment to important constitutional principles by the Court.  We also very much appreciate the hard work and progress that has occurred through legislative action.  The legislature has made a major investment in education which has been very good for Wyoming children. We have come a long way, and now is the time to finish the task right, so that we have a permanent system that will stay current and provide a quality education for all students.”

            The school funding formula has been before the courts in various forms for the past 14 years.  “The end is in sight. It is time to move beyond litigation and work together to immediately address the remaining issues,” added Valido

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Communication Director Ron Sniffin, rsniffin@nea.org; 307.214.3389