The penultimate week of the 2025 General Legislative Session has been filled with significant events for public education.
Let’s start with the big news of the week: the Wyoming Education Association won all components of its school finance litigation against the state! This is a huge win for Wyoming’s students, educators, and our public education system. Among other findings, the district court judge ruled that the state failed to provide adequate funding for a cost-based model of public education; failed to adequately provide for school facilities; and failed to provide for necessary components of a modern public education including providing for elementary school counselors, school resources officers, 1:1 student technology, and school nutrition.
The timing of the decision comes as the state moves forward with a recalibration effort leading into next year’s session. The ruling will have significant implications for that work during the interim. The state still could appeal the decision to the Wyoming State Supreme Court; however, the district court judge noted that until that happens, the ruling stands and he will oversee its implementation.
On the same day that the ruling came down, the Senate made a decision to not pass a supplemental budget – a first in the history of the Wyoming State Legislature. Not surprisingly, this decision has implications for education. Without passing a supplemental budget, the fate of the external cost adjustment (ECA) is uncertain. As of this writing, HB316 is up for third reading with an amendment that brings the ECA to $52.3 million If the bill passes third reading in the Senate it will then go to the House for a concurrence vote.
On Thursday morning, the Joint Conference Committee passed HB199 (the voucher bill) with only one small change made to the version that came out of the Senate. The Senate wanted universal Pre-K, and the House wanted to eliminate it. The compromise is that Pre-K would remain, but it would only be available to those families whose income is at or below 250% of the federal poverty limit, which is roughly $34k for a single individual or $57k for a family of three. (The K-12 portion of the voucher bill is universal with no income limit.) The bill must receive a concurrence vote from the body and approval from the governor, which it likely will receive.
As stated throughout this session, HB199 is blatantly unconstitutional, violating numerous long-standing provisions within our state constitution. That said, barring any veto efforts, the voucher program goes into effect immediately.
Finally, WEA testified to address HB200, the amendments made to parental rights. The bill included language that attempted to address pronouns, reporting, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) as instruction, and language regarding gender identity. WEA testified that there is unfortunate and inaccurate national rhetoric, as well as a broad and gross misunderstanding of what DEI actually is. DEI is an organizational framework and not a lesson plan; it is not in a district curriculum and is absolutely nowhere in our state standards. Our public education teachers do not give instruction in DEI. Additionally, language within the Wyoming and the U.S. constitutions already prohibits discrimination.
The language and definitions provided this legislative session regarding DEI are problematic, don’t address actual problems in public schools, and are largely unnecessary. Now the good news: HB200 was defeated by a vote of two in favor and three against, with Senators Schuler, Landen, and Jones casting the votes that killed the problematic bill.
The legislative session is scheduled to end next week, and we anticipate a flurry of activity in the final days – not to mention the impact the court ruling is already having on discussions at the Capitol. We will continue to keep you apprised of news and decisions that impact our state’s students, education professionals, and public education.
In solidarity!
