Governor wants review of 'what education means for Wyoming'

CHEYENNE - Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon wants education stakeholders to reevaluate what learning should look like across the state.

“As resources begin to decline, it is critical that we work together to create one cohesive system that is integrated, aligned and provides pathways and easy transitions from one level of education to the next,” Gordon told the appointed members of the State Board of Education on Friday morning.

Gordon said those conversations should start this year, which is when the state will recalibrate its K-12 funding model.

“I believe (recalibration) is an opportunity to take a step back and take a critical look back to see if we are preparing our children for the future,” Gordon said. “This is an opportunity for us to review what education means for Wyoming.”

Every five years, the state is required to reexamine how schools are funded in Wyoming through a process called recalibration. Right now, the majority of school funding comes from mineral taxes. But as the state struggles to cope with the industry’s downturn, the pressure is on to come up with other, more stable revenue streams during the upcoming recalibration cycle.

House Bill 40, which is awaiting a hearing in the Senate, would create a select committee of lawmakers to carry out recalibration work. The committee would then hire a team of consultants to perform an analysis. Once the analysis is complete, consultants present a report to the Legislature, which can then accept or pass on the recommendations. In 2017, the Legislature - which had launched an early recalibration process - rejected the consultants’ report.

This year, those consultants “need to go into these small communities and take a look at what it really costs to educate a child,” board member Kathryn Sessions urged the governor. Sessions said that didn’t happen during the last recalibration effort, but that it “has to happen” this time.

Recalibration discussions have also prompted calls from public officials, including State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow and Gordon, to use the mandated recalibration period to also examine the basket of goods, which is a grouping of nine content areas that must be available to students.

“What are the range of things that we need to make sure our kids are educated on,” Gordon said. “Skills acquisition is valuable, but we’re not building robots, we’re building citizens.”

The state hasn’t updated the basket of goods since 1997, before today’s high school seniors were born.

“The concept of reducing the basket is an interesting one,” said Walt Wilcox, posing one of two possible approaches to retooling the basket of goods. “So is adapting to what’s already in the basket.”

Wilcox served as chairman of the board until the close of Friday’s meeting, when his term expired and the board installed member Ryan Fuhrman as its new chairman.

“We do know that as we face the challenges within the basket, there always comes a fiscal commitment and adjustments that have to be made,” Wilcox said. “But I think the local districts are very aware of that.”

Fuhrman, who is an assistant principal at Sheridan Junior High School, asked the governor what role teachers should play in “guiding the state in terms of decisions it makes for its students.”

An important one, Gordon said.

“As teachers engage in this conversation, coming with suggestions about how to expand that opportunity, how to take advantage of that opportunity, and how to be able to assess what the education message is may be valuable.”

Gordon also stressed to the board the importance of being “nimble” in realizing that vision in a “rapidly changing” education environment.

To illustrate that point, he gave the example of integrating financial literacy components into the existing curriculum instead of confining that information to one course.

“The kids in those classes are already interested in business and want to be there,” Gordon said. “I’m interested in the kids who are interested in welding - career and technical education. Those are the kids who need to have some kind of financial education associated with the curriculum.”

Sue Belish, vice chair of the board, said that although the government isn’t known for being “very nimble,” because “we tend to put more in more rules and regulations’’ without removing any, she’s open to Gordon’s suggestion of streamlining the process and integrating concepts like financial literacy across the curriculum.

But before revamping the entire system, “we need to do an audit of what’s already happening,” Belish said. “I think there are good things out there; we just don’t always know about them.”