Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/575770
Back To School 2015 | WEAnews 16 Action Recalibration Meetings Directly Effect Our Students It's been a busy summer for WEA staff attending multiple interim legislative meetings, with the Select Committee on School Finance Recalibration being a top priority for education in Wyoming due to its direct effects on our students. Background: The Wyoming Legislature is mandated by law to recalibrate school funding every five years. The Select Committee on School Finance Recalibration works on recalibration of the existing school funding model and determines how Wyoming schools will be funded for the next 5 years. The Wyoming Legislature hired consultants, Doctors Picus and Odden, to review the "model" of how Wyoming funds education. These consultants derive a desk audit, which gives the Select Committee on School Finance Recalibration a starting point to review different funding structures within the Wyoming education system. So far, four meetings have been held, with two more scheduled. During these meetings, which usually occur over a two-day period, consultants give presentations of their recommended model, and stakeholders then give public testimony regarding consultant presentations. Some concerns regarding the consultants' 2015 desk audit that have been brought up over the summer are as follows: •CLASS SIZE MODELS. The current structure could change under the updated desk audit. Currently, statute requires K-3 class sizes to be 16:1; grades 4-12 are funded at 21:1. Urge your local legislators to keep these current ratios. •FULLY FUNDING INSTRUCTIONAL FACILITATORS (IFs). Currently the Wyoming Legislature funds IFs at only 60%, which forces districts to take money from elsewhere to completely fund this at 100%. •HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS AND INCENTIVES. Districts prefer not being forced to join the state insurance plan unless they so choose, and instead want to be allowed to determine their own incentives to hire educators. •SUBSIDIZING FOOD SERVICES. Many districts, along with the Wyoming Department of Education, testified regarding the necessity to subsidize food services in almost every district across the state. Nationally, only about 18% of food service programs break even - there are only two in Wyoming (Park #1 and Sweetwater #1) who do. •EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. The value of offering pre-K in Wyoming was presented by the consultants, supported by considerable research. The Joint Education Committee will be reviewing a report in a meeting later this year and will then present that to the Select Committee on School Finance Recalibration. •CONSOLIDATION. This was briefly mentioned during the meeting, and small districts testified regarding their lack of support for that measure. What happened the Summer of 2015? How Does the Recalibration Process Work in Wyoming?