Wyoming Education Association sues state over education funding

WEA President Grady Hutcherson was joined by the association’s lawyer at a news conference in front of the state Capitol to assert that the state has violated the Wyoming Constitution, and the quality of education in the state has suffered for it. He said if the Legislature continues to withhold education funding, the learning environment will only continue to get worse.

He said students cannot wait, and they deserve better.

“Students are already being disadvantaged with increased class sizes,” Hutcherson said. “In some districts, we are seeing aging buildings and infrastructure. There’s also insufficient school security measures in our schools.”

He voiced his concern for the growing teacher shortage, and said districts are being robbed of the financial resources they need to hire and retain qualified professionals.

“Wyoming children and families are promised access to high quality and equitable education – in too many ways, that promise is going unfilled. Funding public education is not an option; it is a paramount duty of the Legislature,” said Hutcherson. “The Wyoming Education Association is committed to seeking justice for our students.”

Civil rights and employment lawyer Patrick Hacker will be one of the individuals representing the WEA. He was also the chief counsel for the WEA in the Wyoming Supreme Court "Campbell" cases, which defined what action the Legislature was supposed to take regarding education funding.

In the 71-page complaint, they lay out multiple ways they say the Wyoming Constitution is not being upheld.

Hacker pointed to the Declaration of Rights in the state Constitution, and the section containing the state’s protections for freedoms such as religion, speech and due process. The right to receive a proper education is listed even before the right to bear arms.

“I give that illustration so that you might understand the significance the founders put on education,” he said.

He said among other protections in the Constitution, there is an article that states the Legislature shall provide the necessary revenue for high-quality, proper education, and it has continued to be ignored by lawmakers.

State response

Gov. Mark Gordon’s spokesperson, Michael Pearlman, responded with a statement regarding the lawsuit Thursday evening, and said over the past few years, Wyoming has had to make record cuts to almost all services other than K-12 education. He said it is unfortunate that the lawsuit comes at this time, considering the work of the governor’s education initiative is in full swing.

The Reimagining and Innovating the Delivery of Education (RIDE) advisory group was launched in May of 2021 by Gordon to develop recommendations for elevating Wyoming’s K-12 education system. It has put effort into learning more about what the public expects for schools through surveys and listening sessions.

“It is his hope that this lawsuit will not distract from the important effort to determine exactly what the Wyoming people want their education system to deliver – a key element of school funding,” wrote Pearlman. “While the governor recognizes that a thorough examination of our K-12 funding system may be necessary, he would prefer to work on that outside of the courts.”

Nonetheless, he said Attorney General Bridget Hill will defend Wyoming’s interests in the courts.

Hacker will face the state’s defense, but presented many of the arguments he will make in the Wyoming Supreme Court to those at the press conference. He said he understands legislators are always reluctant to appropriate money, but education is different because it is a fundamental right.

“Lack of revenue is no excuse,” he reiterated from the court's opinion. “They also say that the public schools, elementary and secondary, must be funded ahead of all other interests not unconstitutional in nature. And the state cannot yield to those other things until they have fully and properly funded public education.”

One of the requirements is that the Legislature must evaluate what the specific components of education are, such as teachers, aides, principals and supplies. They must determine if there are any new additions necessary, and whether the amount of funding is equal to the actual cost that school districts are incurring. Hacker clarified it is not what lawmakers think it should cost, but the actual amount.

The other directive is that the Legislature must adjust the formula for inflation, also known as an external cost adjustment. Hacker said this has not been done consistently, and, in some cases, it has not been approved at all even in the wake of an 8.1% inflation rate going into the last legislative session.

He criticized the lack of salary increases in the finance model since it was created in the 2000s. The Cheyenne attorney said it has led to an inability to hire and retain quality employees, and often districts must hire anyone who applies. He said a school district’s faculty is 84% of the cost of running it, and this must be taken into account.

“The annual salary increase for teachers in Wyoming between 2010 and 2022, it was a grand total of $604 in 12 years,” he said.

Hacker said the Wyoming Legislature has failed to address education funding in many other ways, but there were lawmakers who fought on behalf of the Wyoming Education Association – just not enough. And he said, it is not because someone has failed to bring it to their attention.

“They don’t believe what the Supreme Court said, or they’ve chosen to disregard it,” he said. “Those are the only two options I know of.”

Lawmakers react

Legislators who spoke Thursday with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle agreed it was not the first time they heard calls for better education funding.

Many have been seeking solutions, including in the Joint Revenue Committee. Stakeholders have been asked to bring forth their recommendations for education revenue models before the next meeting on Sept. 14-15 in Casper.

Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, sits on the committee, and said it has been a frustrating experience fighting to properly fund education in the state. He said there isn’t a lack of understanding regarding their constitutional duty, but rather a desire to skirt it. He said lawmakers should make it a point of pride instead of viewing it as an obligation.

He hopes the lawsuit will showcase they haven’t been meeting the needs of Wyoming students, and change the minds of legislators, or there will be consequences.

“People will continue to leave our state, and I think it will have a harmful effect on our economy, and the ability for people to run small businesses and hire the best employees,” he said. “There are a whole bunch of downstream effects for having a sustainable state when you lack a strong education system.”

Sen. Stephan Pappas, R-Cheyenne, a longtime member of the Joint Education Committee, and chairman of the Select Committee on School Facilities, said he has seen what the Legislature has been trying to do to correct the structural deficit. He said while the state can always reduce spending as revenue declines, he believes cuts to education are too deep.

“The only way to come up with new revenue to offset our loss of the money coming in from the extractive industries is to grow our population in the state. More taxpayers, more tax, without having to raise tax levels,” he said. “In order to do that, people won’t come to our state unless we have livable communities, great health care and great schools. That’s what they look for.”

Pappas said he expects the lawsuit will have to address the source of revenue, because he said education has been proven as one of the top priorities among lawmakers for years. He pointed to the portion of the budget that goes toward education, and said it’s huge.

Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, is a member of both the education and school facilities committees. He said he was disappointed it had come to a lawsuit. However, he believes the Legislature is out of constitutional compliance, and it is appropriate for the education association and school districts to step up to file lawsuits.

“The Legislature fully understands what is necessary to comply with the Campbell decisions and our constitutional obligations to fully fund the K-12 education system in Wyoming,” he said. “We had been flirting with unconstitutionality over the past several years, and I think this past legislative session, we finally made it abundantly clear that we were no longer going to provide adequate (external cost adjustments), cost-of-living adjustments, in compliance with the decisions.”

He said during the first half of his tenure in the Legislature, there used to be a focus on compliance. He said the nature of the discussion has changed, and it is now about how legislators can provide the cheapest education.

Rothfuss further stated that there is an easy answer to the issue, but it is politically impossible to achieve at this point. He said the state has the lowest taxation in the country, and studies have proven that if the revenue structure were adjusted, it would satisfy the needs of the government.

“It's a lack of political will, and a fear by many legislators of doing the right thing, because they know they won’t get to come back to the Legislature if they vote to raise taxes,” he said. “And we saw in the election a couple of days ago that they’re probably not wrong.”

He said it places the state in a conundrum when the constituents elect more extremist, anti-tax, anti-education legislators, and they send them to Cheyenne to somehow try to comply with constitutional obligations for a high-quality education.

Local needs

Politicians in the Capitol aren’t the only ones recognizing the impacts.

LCSD1 trustees passed a resolution at their most recent board meeting stating the board, by a majority, agreed to consider authorizing legal action against the state.

“The Legislature has failed to adequately address historic inflation rates, and has further reduced education funding to a level below that, which is contrary to which consultants have determined is necessary to fund a proper education,” LCSD1 Trustee Rich Wiederspahn read from the resolution.

Following the WEA announcement, LCSD1 Superintendent Margaret Crespo said she wouldn’t confirm if the district would be joining as a plaintiff, but said officials have continued to see the negative effects of a funding deficit.

Prices for supplies, equipment and technology continue to rise, and the funding model doesn’t provide money directly for the security measures many stakeholders are asking for. She said they also aren’t able to provide a wage competitive with other schools in the region, and are below market value.

“You don’t want people leaving that have been with us, but we can’t keep up,” she said.

Marguerite Herman, an LCSD1 trustee and candidate for House District 11, told the WTE she hopes to be a voice for educators, and it is imperative that action is taken – although she is unsure if districts are prepared for costly litigation.

She said she can’t speak for other trustees as to the decision they will make, but she believes the Wyoming Legislature has fallen short of its responsibility to ensure a uniform education statewide.

“I see LCSD1 struggling to hire and retain staff, to meet the rising cost of everything, and provide an education in facilities that are safe and suitable,” she said. “I see districts around the state explain their predicament to lawmakers and provide the evidence to make their case. It will require rearranging revenue streams to keep the School Foundation Program in good fiscal shape.”