Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/733506
BACK TO SCHOOL | WEAnews 16 Action WEA Legislative Update WEA Works With External Cost Adjustment Coaliton To Help Keep Education Funding Stable The Joint Education Committee met September 19th and 20th in Casper. On the agenda was "Mechanisms to Generate Cost Savings" for K-12 funding. The Wyoming Education Association worked with our partners in the External Cost Adjustment (ECA) Coalition to provide information to the Joint Education Committee and to urge them to keep education funding stable. WEA Government Relations Director Ken Decaria joined with Campbell County Superintendent Boyd Brown, Johnson County School District #1 Superintendent Gerry Chase, Teton County School Board Trustee Janine Bay-Teske, and Sweetwater School District #2 Superintendent Donna Little-Kaumo to provide information to the committee. Testimony to the committee included information about the negative effects to students and schools that would occur if further fiscal cuts were made. Testimony was effective in getting the committee to recommend reducing cuts to educational funding during the second year of the biennium. The recommendation to reduce the second year cut by $6.4 million will go to the Joint Appropriations Committee (JAC). Representative Albert Sommers made the motion to remove the additional cuts because of the enrollment declines starting out the 2016-2017 school year. WEA will stay active in following the issues that affect our members. We will continue to attend meetings of the Select Committee on Statewide Education Accountability, Joint Education Committee, Joint Appropriations Committee, and others. We will continue to work with members of the Education Coalition and the ECA Coalition to monitor these issues, as well as to provide input to policymakers. The chairmen of the JAC have requested WEA's Ken Decaria and the ECA Coalition to testify during the committee's meeting on October 24th.