Wyoming Cost Study Suggests $142 Million Increase

The Wyoming Legislature's Joint Education Committee and Select School Finance Committee initiated the mandated process of recalibrating its school funding formula several months ago, hiring Picus and Associates as consultants. The consultants have released their recommendations for recalibration and presented them to the committees in preparation for the beginning of the 2006 legislative session.

According to the study, the estimated total cost for Wyoming's recalibrated School Finance Block Grant Funding model is approximately $987 million, a 17% increase of $142 million over the current budget for education. If the recalibrated model recommendations are enacted into law, state funding would increase from $9,965 per pupil to $11,635 per pupil.

Educational “Basket”

The report is based on the cost of providing a basic educational “basket” to every Wyoming student. One element in the basket is a set of academic standards, which require that all students be taught:

Mathematics
Reading/English/language arts
Science
History/social studies
Fine/performing arts
Physical education
Health and safety
Humanities
Career/vocational education
Foreign cultures and languages
Applied technology
Government and civics, including state and federal constitutions

Recommendations to address the challenges of educating at-risk students include: full day kindergarten, class sizes of 16 in K-5 and 21 in 6-12, 1-to-1 tutoring, extended-day programs, and structured academics-focused summer school. Interestingly, the report does not address early education or pre-school, an intervention widely discussed among school funding issues.

School-based, Not District-based

One of the study's main innovations is shifting from a district-based to a school-based model. The report begins with a prototype elementary, middle, and high school, with enrollments of 288, 315, and 630 students respectively. Wyoming, however, has a large number of small schools, so the study develops strategies for elementary schools of 192, 96, and 49; middle schools of 210 and 105; and high schools of 315. Furthermore, the consultants developed models for schools with alternative grade structures, such as K-6 or 7-12 schools.

Personnel

Because the largest component of any school district budget is personnel costs, the report carefully examines average salaries for teachers, administrators, aides, and operational staff. The recalibrated model includes five additional days of professional development for teachers and raises the average salary from $40,915 (2004-2005) to $41,975. This raises Wyoming's national ranking in average teacher salaries from 38th to 32nd.

Each salary figure includes a benefit rate of 19.66%; an additional $7,235 was added to account for health care costs. If these recommendations are adopted, Wyoming will be ranked among the top ten states in per pupil spending on employee benefits.

Moving Forward

Both the Select School Finance Committee and the Joint Education Committee have reviewed the proposal, and a public hearing will be held on the recalibrated components on January 10, 2006. The Joint Committee will bring its cost-based draft legislation before the legislature on February 13. This study, produced by Picus and Associates, utilizes an “evidence-based approach” and is required under a Wyoming high court mandate, Campbell II, to recalibrate components of the funding system at least every five years.

Prepared by Katherine Lu, January 6, 2006