Cheyenne, Wyo. – Legislation
aimed at addressing Wyoming’s significant education funding shortfall while
safeguarding quality in the classroom was passed by the Wyoming Senate
Education Committee today.
“The hard truth is, our education
funding shortfall is too big to tackle with a single solution,” said Senate
Education Committee Chair Hank Coe. “Taxes won’t do it. Cuts won’t do it. We
need an approach that stops the bleeding today while giving us the opportunity
to work collaboratively on a long-term solution that still protects and
nurtures our most important natural resource here in Wyoming – our kids.”
Senate File 165, School Finance-Education Funding, sponsored by Senators Bill
Landen, Bruce Burns, Hank Coe, Dan Dockstader, Ogden Driskill, Stephan Pappas
and Drew Perkins, makes temporary reductions to education funding and establishes
a select committee on school finance recalibration. The bill is the result of
collaborative efforts between Senate leadership, Education Committee Members, Appropriations
Committee Members and key education stakeholders.
“Wyoming has students, teachers,
schools and administrators of which we can all be proud,” said Senator Landen.
“The legislature has worked hard over the years to support our education system
– investing over $22.3 billion, opening dozens of new schools and renovating even
more. That commitment remains as strong as ever as we navigate this funding
shortfall. Our goal with Senate File 165 is to identify potential funding
reductions that ensure this legacy, this commitment continues.”
Wyoming currently faces a $1.8 billion
education funding shortfall over the next five years. The state’s education
system is more dependent on mineral development than any other segment of
government, with 65% of the funding for the daily operations of Wyoming schools
coming from the taxes paid by mineral producers. A decline in fossil fuel
prices coupled with heavy-handed energy regulations from the federal government
have resulted in a severe drop in state revenues. As a result, Wyoming is
facing the largest education funding deficit in Wyoming’s history – between
$360 and $400 million per year. This does not include major maintenance and
capital construction, 100 percent of which are funded by minerals and coal
lease bonuses.
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