Legislature Wants New Approach to Wyoming School Funding

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — An interim legislative committee has decided to take a new approach to address Wyoming's looming public education deficit.

The Joint Education Interim Committee on Monday decided to drop three proposed bills that would have cut tens of million in education funding.

State budget analysts have said that Wyoming will have an education funding deficit of $1.8 billion by 2022 mainly because of a steep decline in coal revenues that the state has heavily relied on to finance its public education system.

Two of the bills would have increased class sizes in schools and the third would have changed how the state funded its education system.

Instead, the committee is looking at a more comprehensive and locally driven approach. It voted to create a subcommittee to begin working on a proposal.