Amendment B opponents cite impact of boom, possible loss of millions from education system
JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune capital bureau | Posted: Sunday, October 29, 2006 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - Two years ago, Wyoming voters narrowly rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have taken a total of $23 million from three wealthy school districts.
A nearly identical measure is on the general election ballot this year, but the stakes are higher this time: If Amendment B passes Nov. 7, six school districts will lose a total of $73.7 million.
The difference is a result of Wyoming's booming energy economy, which has significantly boosted property tax revenue especially in natural gas-producing counties.
But the debate over the amendment is largely the same as two years ago. Both sides of the issue believe it's a matter of fairness, of equity - though their definitions of equity differ.
Opponents say the six districts need the extra money - or at least part of it - to meet the demands of the energy boom, including higher staff and teacher salaries and higher student enrollments. They also say there is no guarantee the $73.7 million will be distributed to all 48 school districts in the state if the amendment is adopted. They say the Legislature may spend it on projects other than for K-12 public education.
Supporters, including Sen. Hank Coe, R-Cody, chairman of the Legislature's Joint Interim Education Committee, say the amendment corrects a serious inequity in the state's financing scheme for public schools.
The amendment in 2004 failed by 838 votes, getting support from 49.7 percent of voters. To be approved, a constitutional amendment needs a majority of the votes of all people voting in an election, not just on the amendment itself. No vote counts as a "no" vote.
This year the amendment is drawing more attention, with candidates weighing in on the issue.
But no political action committee has been organized in favor of or opposed to Amendment B or the other two constitutional amendments on the ballot, said Peggy Nighswonger, head of the elections division in the secretary of state's office.
Coe, meanwhile, agrees there is no guarantee the excess money the state gets if Amendment B passes will be spent on the state's public school system.
The state is paying for the Hathaway scholarship and higher education endowments now from excess federal royalties in the School Foundation Fund, Coe said.
"The thing most bothersome to me is we have a Wyoming Supreme Court decision out there that says we have to adequately fund K-12 education, and we're going to do that," Coe said.
"To me it's a fairness issue. The people in Lusk are entitled to the same opportunity and the same funding parameters as the people in Pinedale," Coe said.
'Impact' money
Superintendents in the affected school districts say that equity or fairness is also in play when a district impacted by growth and a substantially higher cost of living than other districts has enough money to recruit and retain staff and teachers.
Sublette County School District 1 in Pinedale, which is near Wyoming's busiest natural gas fields, stands to lose $36.7 million if Amendment B is approved.
Although the Pinedale district is building a $17 million swimming pool and bought new laptops for students, it also approved $1 million of its extra money this year as grants for other school districts. Last year the district gave out $300,000 to $400,000 to school boards and other organizations and put $250,000 in the risk retention fund to beef it up, said school district business manager Vern McAdams.
During the last two legislative sessions, McAdams said, committees failed to even hear the proposals of the "recapture" school districts to distribute the extra money to other school districts.
"We're saying they have no intention of distributing it to all the school districts," McAdams said of the Legislature.
McAdams and officials of the other districts that would lose money point out that the state funding formula does not quickly respond to economic changes in the school districts, including the growth in school population and the cost of living.
"We're talking about doing more sharing if the amendment doesn't pass," McAdams said. "We realize that we have got a lot of money."
Campbell County School District 1 looks at the Amendment B dollars as the district's only source of "impact" money, said business manager Don Dihle.
The millions of dollars allocated by the Legislature this year for impact aid went to local governments, not school districts.
Meanwhile, he said, his district had an increase of 300 students this year, a 4 percent hike, and recently began full-day kindergarten.
"We are running out of room," Dihle said. "We think we use the money wisely. We need that money for impact."
The district must pay staff members and teachers additional compensation because of high housing costs, he said.
Supporters, foes
Republican gubernatorial candidate Ray Hunkins and Democratic state superintendent of public instruction candidate Michelle Hoffman are "no" votes.
Hoffman said she is opposed because there is no guarantee the money will be distributed to school districts.
Hunkins said the state has plenty of money to pay for its school system and now ranks either first or second nationally in student spending.
"So if you don't need the money and you're going to take it away, that's punitive. I don't think envy and avarice is a good reason to take it away, because these folks do have real problems, and if they end up with too much, you know that's life," Hunkins said.
Democratic Gov. Dave Freudenthal said he has no position on the amendment.
Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Jim McBride said that as head of the Department of Education, he cannot take a position on the amendment.
"I do believe that the people ought to decide the question, because if we the people don't, the courts will," McBride said.
He predicted that someone someday will say students in Sublette County shouldn't have 10 times as much money behind them as other districts.
The Wyoming Education Association and the Equality State Policy Center favor the amendment.
The ranks of the opposition include some school superintendents from non-recapture school districts.
Laramie County School District 1 Superintendent Dan Stephan said because there is no guarantee the money would be redistributed to all districts, he personally would rather the excess money stay in the school system.
Capital bureau reporter Joan Barron can be reached at (307) 632-1244 or at joan.barron@casperstartribune.net.