Court rules against state in school funding lawsuit

RIVERTON — In an 186-page ruling filed Wednesday, the state of Wyoming lost on every question in a lawsuit filed by the Wyoming Education Association over school funding.

"The funding model is unconstitutional," wrote Laramie County District Court Judge Peter H. Froelicher in his opinion. "The funding model is no longer cost-based. [It] does not properly account for inflation and does not accurately estimate the cost of personnel needed to deliver ‘the basket of goods,’ [IE: quality education].”

"It's a great day for Wyoming students and families," said WEA President Kim Amen in an interview.

There are two processes available to the state legislature to fund both day-to-day public school operations and their facilities. But according to Amen, legislators “haven't kept up with either one of them.”

Every five years, the legislature is supposed to recalibrate the state’s school funding model to keep up with inflation, changes in educational practices, and other economic practicalities. It has largely declined to pass the recommended adjustments that have come out of this recalibration process every time it’s occurred since 2010, Amen noted, meaning that Wyoming schools are mostly still funded by a model that’s based on 15-year-old price tags.

The lawsuit, which was filed in August 2022 by the WEA and a handful of Wyoming school districts joining as intervening plaintiffs, argues that the state has violated the Wyoming Constitution by failing to adequately fund public education.

Froelicher agreed, ruling the state has violated the Constitution in several ways: General funding doesn’t reflect the true cost of education; the model doesn’t properly measure inflation; and school construction and maintenance needs have been neglected for years by millions-dollar-margins.

It’s not the first time the state of Wyoming has violated its own constitution when it comes to school finances.

Several other court cases dating back to the mid 1970s ultimately led to courts compelling the state to change the way funds are calculated and disbursed to meet the requirements of Wyoming’s most hallowed document.

What does the Wyoming Constitution say about educating children?

“The legislature shall provide for the establishment of and maintenance of a complete and uniform system of public instruction, embracing free elementary schools of every needed kind and grade, a university with such technical and professional departments as the public good may require and the means of the state allow, and such other institutions as may be necessary,” it reads.

Since the state’s founding document was penned, court cases have shaped those expectations.

Amen summarized what “complete and uniform” means on a practical level for Wyoming’s various school districts: "We still have to provide an education, whether there's 10 students in a town or 3,000” – and each of those Wyoming students is, individually, equally guaranteed the right to the same basic quality of education.

On that Constitutional question, Froelicher was direct. Wyoming’s flawed funding formula has continually resulted in underfunded schools, neglected buildings, and a system that amounts to haves and have-nots for students, he ruled.

“The court has not reached its conclusions lightly and has carefully tried to apply the holdings and standards set by the Wyoming Supreme Court in its previous school finance decisions,” wrote Froelicher.

An empty-pocket argument from the state, he summarized of another court ruling, “is not an acceptable reason to fail to provide the best quality educational system.”

On every question, Froelicher agreed with the WEA suit: Wyoming’s funding formula failed students. He found the WEA and other district plaintiffs “proved the existence of disparities arising from the funding model and the state’s facilities system.”

The Wyoming State Legislature has yet to finalize the supplementary budget, Amen pointed out, and since 1980 has been directed by the courts repeatedly to provide more funding for schools.

In her opinion, one way state politicians could take a step in the right direction would be to sign off on the external cost adjustment Gov. Mark Gordon has already recommended.

It’s a far cry from a full fix, she clarified, but it would be a start toward demonstrating the legislature’s willingness to comply with the court’s ruling.

This story was published on February 27, 2025.