Judge finds Wyoming unconstitutionally underfunded public schools, orders remedy

The much-anticipated ruling in a lawsuit initiated by the Wyoming Education Association is likely to land like a bombshell in the statehouse where lawmakers are currently pursuing further cuts.

A Laramie County District Court judge on Wednesday ruled that the Wyoming Legislature has been unconstitutionally underfunding the state’s public schools, and ordered the state to remodel its spending on education.

Across six different areas, Judge Peter Froelicher found that the state has failed to meet its constitutional requirements, which the Wyoming Judiciary laid out in a series of court cases through the 1980s and 1990s.

Froelicher found that the Legislature failed to properly fund the costs of the “basket of quality educational goods and services,” that the Wyoming Supreme Court in 1995 ordered lawmakers to set, update and fund every two years. The judge also found the state failed to properly adjust funding for inflation; failed to provide funding for adequate salaries for teachers and staff; and failed to provide sufficient funding for mental health counselors, school safety resource officers, nutritional programs and computers for students. Lawmakers have failed as well to properly assess school buildings for “educational suitability,” and have allowed inadequate facilities to exist for too long without repair or replacement, he ruled.

Froelicher ordered the state to “modify the funding model and the school facilities financing system” in accordance with his ruling, which numbers 186 pages. Lawmakers are already set to do their regular review and adjustment of school funding in 2025. The process, known as recalibration, will begin sometime after legislators adjourn the current session in Cheyenne.

That makes for “an excellent window of opportunity to address these issues,” Froelicher wrote.

As to whether the state might appeal Froelicher’s ruling, Gov. Mark Gordon’s office wrote to WyoFile, “We are still reviewing the ruling from the court on this matter to consider our issues on appeal.”

Gordon has shown ongoing support for an external cost adjustment to increase teacher and school staff salaries, but “the current Legislature did not agree with the Governor’s recommendation,” his office said in a statement.

“The Governor looks forward to working with the Legislature in the coming months to ensure that the state is meeting its Constitutional obligation to fund Wyoming education,” the statement concluded.

Froelicher’s strongly worded ruling, which followed a six-week trial conducted over the summer, will hit the Wyoming State House like a bombshell. It comes with a little over a week left in the Legislature’s 2025 session, where education funding has been repeatedly cited as a concern amid attempts to redirect state funds to private, religious and homeschools, and cut both state spending and the property taxes that fund local government.

Froelicher’s ruling could indicate that the state must pump significantly more money into public education at a time when lawmakers have been more interested in cutting spending and promoting private alternatives.

The Wyoming Education Association, an educator advocacy group, sued the state in August 2022. High school districts joined the lawsuit as intervenors.

Article 7 of the Wyoming Constitution states that the Legislature “shall provide for the establishment and maintenance of a complete and uniform system of public instruction.” Landmark court cases further delineated the state’s obligations in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

The more recent of those, the Campbell cases, set the stage for Wyoming’s current school funding obligations. Those cases culminated in 1995 when the Wyoming Supreme Court ordered the state to determine the cost of a high-quality education, fund public schools, adjust funding at least every two years for inflation and review the components of the school funding model every five years to ensure resources are keeping pace with needs and costs.

The court required the Legislature “to consider education as a paramount priority over all other considerations.” Its determination gave rise to a funding framework defined by two key ideas: the “basket of goods” — the skills and subjects students are required to learn, as well as “recalibration” — the process by which the Legislature regularly reviews and adjusts its funding model.

“We probably could not be happier with the ruling,” WEA president Kim Amen told WyoFile. “It’s a huge win for the students of Wyoming, our families and our communities.”

While the education group felt confident it would prevail in the case, Amen said “the breadth of the ruling was amazing.”

The state has the right to appeal, but Amen said the strength of Froelicher’s ruling, and the Wyoming Supreme Court’s history with previous cases suggested the state would have a tough time getting Wednesday’s decision overturned.

Lawmakers, she said, should “be mindful of some of the bills that they’re considering that could take money from public schools,” including major property tax cuts under deliberation.

WyoFile staff writer Katie Klingsporn contributed to this story.

WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.