Wyoming Freedom Caucus floats bills that will harm, not help public schools

House Bill 199, “Wyoming Freedom Scholarship Act,” just does not make sense for our state. 

We must be vigilant of deep-pocketed out-of-state parties that want to destroy public education. They try to convince Wyoming’s citizens that universal vouchers are the future of education with misleading statements like, “The money should follow the child,” and “Public education will not be harmed by ESAs,” and “Universal vouchers increase academic achievement.”

We must seek the truth.

Research conducted by people without a vested interest in education savings accounts proves all of these narratives to be false. Sure, in the short term, benefits can be seen; however, the long-term costs devastate the states where ESAs take hold. 

Think and consider: What is the purpose of taxes? 

Tax money is used to help everyone by providing things like roads, schools, and health care. By paying taxes, we all help make our communities better and support important services. We hate to pay them, but taxes benefit all in our community. Using the logic of the proponents of HB 199, school funds provided by taxes should only go to the child. For a moment, let’s agree with that thinking. As taxpayers, we should only fund the governmental services we use. My taxes should not subsidize Shoshoni’s fire station. My taxes should not fund roads built in Star Valley. My taxes shouldn’t go toward child development centers, after all, I have a high schooler at home. The belief that my taxes should follow my child is selfish and short-sighted. The taxes benefit all of us, in one way or another.

Follow the money

Some of our state representatives have a vested interest in HB 199 passing because they sit on boards of charter schools in Wyoming. I’m curious why they didn’t recuse themselves or announce their conflict of interest.  

If 93% of Wyoming students attend public schools, why does the state Legislature want to use public funds for schooling only a fraction of Wyoming families use? 

The House Freedom Caucus wants us to believe vouchers will not take funding away from public schools, but they certainly avoid answering questions about this. Once we dissect many of the other bills introduced in the House and Senate, public education loses over half a billion dollars over the next three years although amendments could change that amount.

Ultimately, public education loses. No matter how we slice it, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus opened the legislative session with public schools in its crosshairs. You don’t believe me? Go read the legislation. 

One measure in the Senate, Senate Joint Resolution 6, “School Capital Construction-Constitutional Amendment,” puts school capital construction projects back on the communities that schools serve. The state will no longer be responsible for building schools. The reason the state is legally responsible for school capital construction is tax income for each public school district varies drastically. The state will return to the haves and have-nots, and our children lose. 

State legislators point to the state of Arizona as proof of the cost-effectiveness of universal vouchers and the reason to follow in their footsteps. But ballooning costs indicate otherwise. 

When we follow how universal ESAs came into play in Arizona, we can see the Wyoming Freedom Caucus following those steps exactly. The messaging. The propaganda. The incremental steps in legislation. How is this working out for Arizona? According to Arizona’s Joint Legislative Budget Committee, taxpayers will spend $33 million in fiscal year 2023, $65 million in FY24, and $125 million in FY25 from empowerment scholarships. With 77% of the 9,710 enrollees this school year coming from outside of the public system, the cost of these students will likely be around $52 million, close to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee estimate. A report released by the nonpartisan Grand Canyon Institute estimates “the projected net cost of Arizona’s universal ESA voucher program is equal to at least half of the state’s budget deficit this year — and about two-thirds of next year’s projected deficit.” Hard-working Wyoming citizens don’t want to throw their tax dollars at something that doesn’t work. 

This is about student achievement and failing public schools. 

Is it? According to Focus First on Children, data shows privatization schemes have failed at their ostensible goal of improving academic outcomes for students.

“Hailed as an engine of academic opportunity for disadvantaged students left behind in a broken public education system, school vouchers, and charter schools have instead provided ‘school choice’ for the rich and worsened educational conditions for middle and low-income students,” the bipartisan Focus First on Children found.

Additionally, numerous empirical research studies concluded, “the last decade of research on traditional vouchers strongly suggests they actually lower academic achievement.” Similarly, Stanford University research showed: “[T]here’s no evidence that voucher programs significantly increase test scores … At best, they have only a modest impact on high school graduation rates … and the risks they pose outweigh any advances.” 

Universal vouchers and privatized education do not improve academic performance. Why is the Freedom Caucus throwing money at ESAs when the research shows they don’t work? Meanwhile, our public school students and educators have proven time and again that Wyoming public schools are some of the best in the nation. Last year, our juniors’ ACT scores outpaced the other nine states that require ACT participation. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation’s report card, reveals our fourth and eighth graders are fourth in the nation, according to Ignite Wyoming. Our state leaders should be celebrating how great our kids do academically. Instead, they are perpetuating a false narrative that our schools are failing and trying to fix a system that works. 

I urge Wyoming citizens to do their own research. Look at the facts, the research and the condition of Arizona’s public schools after only two years of universal vouchers. Contact your senators now and ask them to vote down House Bill 199, Senate Joint Resolution 6, and legislation intended to cut funding to our outstanding public schools. We are quickly running out of time to stop this. However, with your involvement and voice, we can.