CHEYENNE — Eight Wyoming school districts have filed a 103-page brief with the Wyoming Supreme Court, defending a February district court decision declaring the state’s public education funding model unconstitutional.
This comes as the state appeals the lower court’s decision, claiming that the current system systematically harms students by failing to provide a comprehensive, uniform, and quality education as required by the Wyoming constitution.
The Wyoming Education Association filed the lawsuit in August 2022, and it was later joined by school districts in Albany, Campbell, Carbon, Laramie, Lincoln, Sweetwater, and Uinta counties.
Educators describe the underfunding as consistent and in violation of decades of Supreme Court precedents. Laramie County District Court Judge Peter Froelicher ruled in February in favor of the educators, concluding that the Legislature had failed in six critical areas.
“Our goal is that the Wyoming Supreme Court will solidify the judge’s decision that the Wyoming Legislature needs to fund education appropriately,” Lincoln County School District 1 Superintendent Teresa Chaulk said when asked why the brief was submitted earlier this week.
“So we have adequate facilities for all of our students, so that we have mental health services for all of our students, we have nutrition for all of our students, and we have the best staff in front of our students.”
How are ECAs handled?
The districts’ central argument is that the state has failed to adjust the education funding model for inflation, particularly by not applying External Cost Adjustments (ECAs) cumulatively since 2010.
This has had a direct impact on educators’ and staff salaries, which are now deemed insufficient to recruit and retain qualified personnel, district officials argue. The base “model salary” for a certified teacher was around $37,540 at the time of the trial, and the model has remained unchanged since 2005, with the exception of ECAs.
Superintendents from the intervening districts testified about the severe challenges in attracting and retaining teachers and staff, which resulted in unfilled positions, the hiring of less qualified educators, and an increased reliance on alternative certifications.
This is Chaulk’s top concern in Lincoln County School District 1.
“The External Cost Adjustment that we pay not only teachers, but classified staff, paraprofessionals, custodians, maintenance, and administration, is 75% of comparable wages. “That is inappropriate,” she said.
Christiana Stoddard, who was hired by the state in 2010 to assist with recalibration, reported that Wyoming’s teacher salaries are now 3% lower than the regional average, and the state’s competitive advantage has been reduced by half since 2018. This decline means that students are not always taught by highly qualified teachers, which has a direct impact on educational quality.
The districts also argue that the state’s funding model excludes critical components required for a modern, high-quality education. These unfunded needs include elementary mental health counselors, school resource officers (SROs), nutrition services, and one-on-one student technology.
