By Carrie Haderlie
Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Legislature’s K-12 public school funding recalibration bill is headed to the governor.

On Thursday, the Senate voted 31-0 to unanimously concur with the House’s position on Senate File 81, “K-12 public school finance-2.” The bill sets forth a new funding model necessary to provide money for the state’s 48 school districts, a constitutionally mandated process the Legislature is required to undertake every five years.

However, this is the first time since 2010 that the Legislature has agreed on a recalibration bill, even though efforts to re-evaluate the model have taken place during that time. Together, the House and Senate considered 30 amendments to the bill this session.

“There were 18 proposed amendments down in the House. A lot of different things could have changed, but at the end of the day, not a lot really did change,” Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, who sat on the Select Committee on School Finance Recalibration, told his colleagues Thursday as he urged them to vote for concurrence on the bill.

“It’s actually in very good shape,” Rothfuss said, explaining that the House made technical corrections to the bill, as well as removed a 233% cap on superintendents’ salaries.

One amendment, he said, took out a regional cost adjustment calculation for Teton County teacher salaries, “but that was put back in in the next amendment … so those two canceled each other,” Rothfuss said.

Rothfuss said he had expected to go to a joint conference committee with the House over the bill, but there was no reason to, as it returned to the Senate much like it left. Sen. Tim Salazar, R-Riverton, said the bill represents a bipartisan effort to fully fund Wyoming schools for the first time in 15 years.

“I compliment not only the Senate, but also those folks on the other end of the building for their efforts,” Salazar said. “This concurrence is not by accident. Your recalibration committee worked hard. I also want to thank staff for their efforts.”

Vocal opponents said early in the 68th Wyoming Legislature’s budget session that the bill would have reduced teacher numbers while increasing class sizes as it came out of the Select Committee on School Finance Recalibration. As it heads to Gov. Mark Gordon’s desk, the bill includes an additional $250 million beyond where it started this session, and class-size numbers that are closer to existing levels.

Without the recalibration bill, current law would have generated $1.7 billion in educational spending for the biennium. If signed into law, SF 81 includes an estimated $1.9 billion in funding.