The Wyoming Education Association doesn’t want families getting those dollars. In a lawsuit filed in June, the union argued that because the state constitution requires the Legislature to maintain a “complete and uniform” public school system, lawmakers cannot fund “private education that is not uniform.” A state judge granted an injunction on the ESA program last month.
Wyoming’s Attorney General and parents are appealing at the state Supreme Court, and the law is in their favor. Wyoming’s constitution also directs the Legislature to “suitably encourage means and agencies calculated to advance the sciences and liberal arts.” The ESA program is a way of doing so. It’s not creating a new system of schools.
It also isn’t killing the existing school system. The $30 million ESA program has its own general-fund appropriation, which doesn’t divert dollars directly from public schools—whose per-pupil funding approaches $20,000. District funding is tied to enrollment, so public schools could lose money if students leave, but that’s happening even without the scholarships.