Wyoming educators, lawmakers remain at odds over school funding

Wyoming lawmakers are working on a fast timetable to implement sweeping, cost-saving changes to how school districts receive state money.

Critics, however, have argued the state shouldn’t be so hasty. The changes could potentially have long-lasting, negative impacts on young students, educators say.

The issue began several years ago. As revenues declined, the Wyoming Legislature recognized that, after years of reconstructing and expanding school buildings across the state, there was little money left to fund the continued, robust construction of new schools. It was around this time that the state, recognizing its limited choices, decided to work toward something new.

“We couldn’t afford to build all these new schools,” said Tom Walters, chairman of the Legislature’s Select Committee on School Facilities. “So we decided we wanted to move more toward asset preservation.”

Read more: https://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming-educators-lawmakers-remain-at-odds-over-school-funding/article_b20a5572-aabb-52e0-a1dd-72c6adfced17.html