Wyoming

State overview

Wyoming is home to approximately 92,000 K-12 public school students spread across 48 school districts. Wyoming has led the nation with respect to fairness in public school funding.¹ The state spends about 2.4 billion per year on K-12 public education. Wyoming is unique in that there is a large sum of money (about 31% of the total fund) from Federal Mineral Royalties used to fund the schools. Federal Mineral Royalties are a result of mining activity in Wyoming.²

Funding priorities for wyoming public schools

An examination of bills before the Wyoming legislature gives an indication of the current funding priorities for K-12 education. For example, currently there is a bill to develop a task force to more closely examine quality components of K-12 distance education. School safety also appears to be an issue garnering attention at the state level. There also a bill which proposes to require all districts to develop a comprehensive plan to address school safety. As part of the proposal, a school safety and security unit would be created within the Department of Criminal Investigation.³

Overview of wyoming’s school funding mechanism

Wyoming uses an evidence-based model to estimate the spending level in each district in order to ensure equal opportunity for all students. The state provides a guarantee of a certain level of funding to each district through a block grant. The level of funding provided to each district is determined by several variables in the formula. Arguably the most important factor in the formula is the number of students enrolled in the school district during the prior school year. Other factors include percentage of special education students, percentage of low income students, etc.

Once the guarantee is established, the funding level is compared to local revenue sources. If local revenues are less than the guarantee the state makes up the difference. If a district has local revenues that exceed their guarantee the district is subject to recapture by the state. The recaptured funds are redistributed to districts whose local revenue is less than the guarantee. ⁴

The current block grant funding model used by Wyoming was implemented in 1997. Every five years the state recalibrates the funding model. The most recent calibration was implemented in public schools during the 2011–2012 school year and is referred to as Model Version 2a.⁵

Changes to wyoming’s funding formula

There have not been major changes to the funding formula since 1997. The changes which occurred in 1997 were a result of decisions from the Wyoming Supreme Court in Campbell v. State. In the Campbell decision, the Wyoming Supreme Court declared the funding system unconstitutional based upon both adequacy and equity.

Pressing state issues affecting k-12 education in w yoming

Currently, Wyoming is examining performance evaluations for administrators and teachers. The cycle of statewide student assessments is part of this discussion.⁶ The state is also rolling out an anti-bullying initiative with competitive grants to reduce bullying and increase positive school climate.

Forces diverting funds from traditional public school districts

Charter schools. Bill before the Wyoming house to eliminate school district oversight of charter schools and transfer that oversight to local community colleges.

P-12 per pupil expenditure

For the 2013 school year, Wyoming’s per pupil expenditure was $15,700⁷. It appears Wyoming will increase the per pupil expenditures for the 2015–2016 school year to $15,877.