Seven districts in Wyoming have agreed to a possible lawsuit against the state over school funding.
Lawmakers in the 2017 Legislative session, which wrapped up in early March, cut
$34.5 million in state school funding.At this time, it is unknown when the suit will be
filed.

Generally,
districts disagree with cuts to school funding made by
the lawmakers and how those cuts will be implemented. Currently, a Select
Committee on School Finance is holding hearings on school finance
recalibration. That committee is scheduled to hold seven two-day hearings
around the state leading to the filing of a recalibration bill set for January
2018, just before the legislative Budget Session. Wyoming lawmakers
are preparing to replace the current state funding model which is currently
facing a $400 million annual shortfall in the next few
years.

One portion of the
funding model being re-evaluated is the 16:1 student-to-teacher ratio for grades
K-3 approved in 2011. The NCTE guideline, Why Class Size Matters Today, (2014) notes
that “research on early
elementary school students, small classes usually mean fewer than 20 students,
while for high school students the definition of ‘small’ classes is
usually somewhat larger.” At this point, many of the districts have avoided teacher
layoffs and have kept reductions away from classrooms, choosing instead
not
to fill one-year
only positions, recently vacated positions, and cutting some high school sports
programs.

Natrona County
School District #1 – the largest remaining school districtthat has not
approved a resolution to possibly sue the state – is looking at eliminating 110
positions over the next three years. School leaders believe they can achieve
those reductions through attrition, reassignment, and not rehiring vacant
positions. This is a common stance among larger districts at this
time.

Four of the
state’s five largest school districts – Laramie County School District #1,
Sweetwater School District #1, Albany School District #1, and
Campbell County
School District #1 – are part of the coalition looking to sue
the state. Sheridan Country School District #1, Sublette County School
District #1, and Lincoln County School #1 have also approved
resolutions authorizing possible legal action. The district’s
resolutions don’t mean they will sue, it simply means they have been authorized
by their school boards to file individually or as a group. Teton County
School District #1 is monitoring the process closely.

The NCTE guideline, Why Class Size Matters Today, (2014), notes that
“[o]ne of the most common arguments against smaller class sizes is
financial.” The guideline lists the following reasons to remain
mindful of reduced class size: