Tagged: Hedonic

The Wyoming Senate has revived a school finance measure with onesignificant change:The bill removes the controversial regional cost adjustment known as the hedonic model that caused the measure to fail in the house.

That provision would remove funding from communities with amenities and could have cost Teton County four million dollars. 

Senator Hank Coe of Cody says that the bill is needed as part of the states requirement to set up a new funding model every five years.  He says it also allows for pay raises, known as external cost adjustments, if the state gets to the point where they can be afforded.

A new Wyoming School Finance bill has been approved by the Legislature's Joint Education Committee, but it has its critics. 

The biggest concern is over a portion of the bill that is called the regional cost adjustment, which applies to salaries districts get and takes into consideration where a district is located. 

The committee has decided to shift to a new funding mechanism called the hedonic wage index, that will reduce what the state pays for salaries by about seven million dollars. 

Teton County Schools Superintendent Pam Shay notes that it removes a number of cost of living factors that make Jackson an expensive place to liveandsays the new formula will devastate her district.