Honest math

Wyoming has spent years talking about the need to improve education, raise teacher pay and keep local schools strong.

But recent decisions in Cheyenne are now forcing school districts to confront a difficult question: What happens when the state tells districts to do more for classrooms while giving them less flexibility to run everything else that makes a school work?

That question is no longer theoretical.

The Wyoming High School Activities Association Board reviewed the effect of the Legislature’s school finance recalibration bill on student activities and athletics. Under the new approach, money for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities drops from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, a reduction of about 8.4% statewide. In Johnson County schools the cuts will be steeper because we spend significantly more on sports and activities than the present state funding model suggests.

Among the options discussed were eliminating regional tournaments, cutting consolation games, reducing the number of teams that qualify for state events, limiting regular-season contests, reducing speech and debate events, centralizing All-State Music, eliminating national travel and possibly cutting or scaling back sports such as soccer, indoor track, skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and spring tennis.

Schools may also be forced to consider reducing or eliminating freshman, sophomore, junior varsity or C teams, limiting roster sizes, increasing gate admission and adding or raising student participation fees.

That is not a small adjustment. That is a fundamental change in what school looks like for many Wyoming students.

The classroom matters. Teacher pay matters. No serious person should argue otherwise.

But a school is more than a classroom. It is the activity that keeps a student engaged when math alone does not.

Gov. Mark Gordon saw the danger when he allowed the school funding bill to become law without his signature. He warned that the bill could hurt smaller districts, limit local authority and force schools into an impossible choice: run operations at a deficit or cut deeply into the work that supports education.

Johnson County should pay close attention.We are one of those smaller school districts. We have fewer ways to absorb cuts.

Now voters are being asked to consider a property tax ballot initiative that would exempt 50% of the assessed value of a qualifying homeowner’s primary residence.

Property tax relief sounds easy. Many homeowners are frustrated, and for good reason. But voters need to understand what property taxes pay for. They fund local government: cities, counties, schools and special districts, including senior centers, fire departments, ambulance services, hospitals and conservation districts.

Lowering property taxes will not cut state spending in Cheyenne. It will cut local services.That matters.

There may be a case for property tax reform. But honest reform requires honest math. If we are to reform property tax it will need to be replaced by a more fair tax like an income tax.

Before Wyoming cuts local revenue again, voters should ask a basic question: What will disappear, and who will be asked to make up the difference?

For Johnson County, this is not abstract. We will feel the pain. Right here at home.