School funding method mulled

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
The future of education funding in Wyoming has changed and morphed several times over the past year. The most recent bill up for consideration, House Bill 173, substitute number one, proposes a 0.65% cut, down from the 10% originally proposed by Gov. Mark Gordon. 
While this bill would affect K-12 education for 777 students in Weston County School District No. 1, Superintendent Brad LaCroix said that the $120,000 cut would have a “substantially lower” impact than the cuts originally proposed. 
Despite the revised funding cut (from 10% to less than 1%), LaCroix said, the school district’s concern with HB 173 as proposed is its use of categorical funding over a block funding model. 
According to Rep. Chip Neiman, R-Sundance, categorical funding  would earmark a certain dollar amount for a certain category in the general fund, whether it is for administration, teachers or maintenance. He said that the state’s school districts now receive a block of funding that they are allowed to use where needed. 
“Categorizing the money doesn’t allow for moving the funds. Money has to be kept in a certain area,” Neiman explained. “You can’t cross that money over, and that is where the heartburn starts. It takes away local control.” 
Neiman said that he is usually the first person to argue for local control but that he struggles with the block funding for school districts because funding is being used to pay for things the Legislature did not intend the money to be spent on. 
Specifically, Neiman said, salaries for superintendents in Wyoming are, on average, 23% more than the funding model provides for. This money is, in turn, taken from other departments to pay for the salary amount that exceeds the funding model limit. 
“That is where you get into the problem. My heartburn is over the administration when we are under funding teachers. That is the problem I have. … You have got to keep the money in the classroom. Teachers need to be taken good care of, and my fear is, what I am seeing, is that they are the first ones who are threatened to lose their jobs. … They are the first person to get laid off with block funding.”
In his opinion, this is a sad circumstance. He stressed what he sees as the need for the Legislature to do a better job of protecting teachers in Wyoming while not limiting local control over education. 
Rep. Hans Hunt, R-Newcastle, echoed Neiman, stating that he fully supports the local control provided through block funding, although education cannot continue to be funded at the level reached in recent years. Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Lingle, added that K-12 funding has been facing deficits for years. 
“Clearly, we are facing decisions that affect every person in Wyoming this legislative session. One only needs to look at the reductions in the general fund budget of $446 million to see we are facing unprecedented times,” Steinmetz said. “The one thing most legislators can agree upon with regard to K-12 funding is that the model is broken. This year presents an opportunity to fix that problem. The question is, will the Legislature seize the opportunity or deny reality and kick the can down the road? We all have the opportunity to be part of the solution and chart a sustainable course in K-12 funding for the future.”