Senate File 104

Outgoing State Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill says she "regrets not focusing more on the legislature" during her term in office.

The Joint Interim Education Committee met in Cheyenne Friday to take testimony on potential changes to the structure of the Wyoming Department of Education and the role of the elected Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Hill said her first job now is to try and figure out what has taken place at the department since she has been gone.

The state now admits Hill has the right to lead the department, but is contesting five other points in the legislation.

Mead notes Hill rejected an offer to return while the courts decide on five issues the state is still contesting in regard to management of the department.

Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill rejected the State's offer in a court case that has to be resolved before she can return to the Wyoming Department of Education.

She also says the governor is using the attorney general's office to ask for more hearings when the high court ruling should have settled the issue.

Nash also says Hill regularly filled vacancies in the education department with her favorite employees, regardless of whether they met the criteria for the job

She says that while proponents of the legislation say they are concerned about education, they are really motivated strictly by politics.

Laramie County District Judge Thomas Campbell decided Tuesday not to issue an immediate order to reinstate Hill's former duties.