A supplementary budget proposal approved by Governor Mead allots around $15 million in funding increases for public school districts statewide.
While not yet approved by the state legislature, the proposal is being pushed strongly by Mead and contains budget recommendations from various state departments.
“We have more than adequate resources to fund government operations; invest in infrastructure and excellence at the University of Wyoming and community colleges; and provide additional resources to local government,” Mead said in a news release published last week.
Mead’s proposal comes less than a year after stating his intention to utilize money accrued in various state savings funds during his 2014 State of the State speech.
“Here is my view. If Wyoming was a stock to be sold on the market, I cannot think of a better investment. I am placing my faith in Wyoming, its businesses, its natural resources and most of all, its people. My budget provides the opportunity to invest, to bank on Wyoming.” Mead said during his February address.
Mead specifically listed increased funding for educator salaries and public education technology as priorities in his initial budget proposal. The current budget supplement will now utilize money accrued in state savings funds throughout preceding years.
Mead’s decision to reassess how to utilize the money in the state’s “rainy day fund” comes after months of criticism from some lawmakers in the state legislature.
Representative Mary Throne (D-Cheyenne) is one spending proponent. Throne has said repeatedly that the government’s decision to continue saving such large amounts of money is not justifiable and a lack of investment now will not persuade outside businesses to come to the state.
While the governor’s proposal is seen as a step in the right direction by many, Madison Marquer, a UW education student, said other obstacles will face Wyoming’s schools which this money may not be able to address.
“I think it’s great that this money is coming in from the state level,” Marquer said, “But as of now the standards and curriculums that we have at the public school level really are not that great.”
Marquer did note that this money will help to make Wyoming a very competitive place insofar as the job market for educators goes.
“Wyoming is a growing state that pays its teachers pretty well in comparison to other states,” Marquer said. “Even right now you’ll have 100 to 200 applicants for a single position in Natrona County, so this money will help make the state even more competitive in attracting really talented people and providing us with better technologies and resources, but bad curriculums will still hold us back.”
Earlier this year a bill introduced by Representative Matt Teeters (R-Lingle) and passed into law by Governor Mead effectively ended both the Wyoming Board of Education and the Wyoming Department of Education’s efforts to implement the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) as part of the state’s official curriculum.
Mead said that, among other concerns, the NGSS could threaten the state’s economic stability due to the standards’ emphasis on sustainability and the consequences of human impacts on the Earth.
Alternative science standards are still in the process of being implemented.
“When you don’t have clear and effective curriculums to act as your guidelines, as a teacher, it’s much harder to submit budget requests and know what you’ll need to spend money on,” said Marquer. “This influx of new money will be much less effective without the logistical infrastructure of good curriculums in place.”
