Wyoming’s Education Bombshell – It’s been 13 years since four large Wyoming school districts sued Wyoming, claiming its education funding system was flawed.

An entire class of students has entered kindergarten and graduated from high school in the 13 years since four large Wyoming school districts sued the state, claiming its education funding system was flawed.

Cara Bandalos, a freshman at Black Hills State College in South Dakota, feels she was shortchanged by the funding formula while attending Guernsey-Sunrise High School.

"If they had more money or more people there, they definitely could have done something more," she said. "Different languages would have been cool, because all we had was Spanish. … It would have been fun to take French or German."

A member of the speech team, Bandalos remembers missing out on many debate tournaments. "They said we couldn’t go because they couldn’t pay the fees to get in or couldn’t provide a bus, so you could say we got scrimped," she said.

But former Guernsey classmate Vanessa Ibarra views her school years differently.

"I never really saw any problems," said Ibarra, a Casper College freshman. "We always had books. We had new volleyball stuff, new basketball stuff. We got new choir robes my freshman year."

The fact that two graduates of the same class of the same school would view their educational experiences differently underscores the difficulty of assessing changes to Wyoming’s public school system during 13 years of litigation and reform.

By ROBERT W. BLACK
Star-Tribune capital bureau

Full Story: http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/10/23/news/wyoming/0a2fd261cbbc6a66872570a30070889f.txt

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Wyoming’s bombshell

By JOAN BARRON
Star-Tribune capital bureau

Lawsuits over school finance schemes have been big news for the past 30 years, with challenges filed in all but five of the 50 states.

The Wyoming Supreme Court landmark opinion issued in late November 1995, striking down as unconstitutional the state’s entire school system, is the most far-reaching of any court ruling, officials here say.

Other challengers attacked various components of their states’ K-12 school systems. In Wyoming, the Supreme Court threw out all parts of the system — financing, programs and building construction.

These systems were financed largely by local property tax revenue that varied widely among the counties, depending upon whether they were home to a coal mine or an oil and gas field.

Molly Hunter of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity in New York said the Wyoming ruling was "a big event when it happened and was a comprehensive and leading case."

Full Story: http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/10/23/news/wyoming/c115c8f93adea558872570a200741ab2.txt

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Where have all the dollars gone?

By JOAN BARRON
Star-Tribune capital bureau Sunday, October 23, 2005

CHEYENNE — Where have all the school dollars gone — all 330 million of them?

That sum is the amount of additional money the state has funneled into the 48 school districts since 1997-98, when it took over full financial support for the K-12 public school system.

The jump from $518 million to an estimated $848 million this year represents an increase of about 64 percent.

It’s hard to say with any specificity how the money was spent, because the districts receive the state dollars in a block grant and are free to spent it on salaries or computers or new textbooks.

Marguerite Herman of Cheyenne, representative of the League of Women Voters and mother of two East High School students and a third who recently graduated from there, said she believes most districts spent the additional money to keep up with pay increases, health insurance costs and possibly vocational education programs.

She said she believes school officials for the most part spent the money wisely.

"The school districts are not a bunch of wastrels," she said. "As a parent, I will tell you good teachers are worth every penny."

Full Story: http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/10/23/news/wyoming/c9a643a4837ff416872570a2007252af.txt

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School litigation costs millions

By JOAN BARRON
Star-Tribune capital bureau Monday, October 24, 2005

CHEYENNE — In the decade since the Wyoming Supreme Court struck down the state’s entire school system as unconstitutional, seismic changes have rocked the K-12 public school system.

During that 10-year period, thousands of students have been plugging their way through the grades. And although it may be debated whether those students are getting a better education than those who were schooled under the old system, it is doubtful that a graduate today will ever accrue as much money as the millions of dollars spent on the lawsuit that is propelling the changes.

Critics, including many legislators, say those millions could have been better spent in the classroom than in the courts.

They complain that the challenging school districts and their attorneys have no incentive or interest in settling the case, since the state is paying for both sides.

Full Story: http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/10/24/news/0ffaf06fdd099c89872570a30020fa9b.txt

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School finance trial kicks off

By JOAN BARRON
Star-Tribune capital bureau Tuesday, October 25, 2005

CHEYENNE — The trial in the challenge of the state’s school finance model kicked off Monday in a case characterized as one that will dictate the quality of K-12 education for years to come.

During the first day’s testimony, the state acknowledged the Legislature failed to conduct studies to support cost of living increases for teachers and other school personnel.

But a former legislative analyst, Mary Byrnes, appointed to the Wyoming Public Service Commission, testified that changes made to the school finance model after the Legislature adjourned reflected the lawmakers’ actions and intent while they were in session.

A majority of the state’s 48 school districts, the Wyoming Education Association and the Wyoming School Boards’ Association, want Laramie County District Court Judge Nicholas Kalokathis to declare the school finance model unconstitutional because it does not reflect actual costs to the school districts and is full of flaws.

The case is of critical importance given the impact a decision will have on the types and quality of education public school students receive.

Full Story: http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/10/25/news/wyoming/5ef021105a285520872570a50004ca47.txt