Though the three Republican candidates for Wyoming’s education chief were mostly aligned during a Thursday forum, differences emerged in philosophies, experience and plans for helming the Department of Education.
Longtime state lawmaker and Casper coach Steve Harshman stressed his extensive track record and knowledge of education policy complexity. Chad Auer, a former education department administrator who worked as Gov. Mark Gordon’s senior policy advisor, emphasized his willingness to embrace change while also preserving the parts of Wyoming public education that work. Freshman legislator and former teacher Tom Kelly, who has described himself as a “free-market, libertarian-leaning Republican,” said he would honor local control by minimizing state interference.
Democrats Ana Cordova and Sergio Maldonado were unable to attend the superintendent of public instruction candidate forum in Laramie presented by WyoFile, Wyoming Public Media and the League of Women Voters. Organizers did not include unopposed Libertarian candidate Ryan Shollenberger in the primary election forum.
The crowded candidate field illustrates keen interest in public education at a time when funding decisions, technological innovation and legal battles are reshaping Wyoming’s educational landscape. The Legislature passed a recalibration bill in March that represents a new funding model for school districts; Wyoming’s universal school choice program is being challenged in court and the state just overhauled literacy standards and instruction.
The superintendent is one of five statewide elected officials in Wyoming; the role entails helming the Wyoming Department of Education and comes with seats on state land and investment boards. Superintendent Megan Degenfelder, who was elected in 2022, is running for governor.
The candidates who prevail in their respective parties on Aug. 18 will face off along with Shollenberger in the November general election.
Agreement
The tone of Thursday’s forum was harmonious, with candidates often openly agreeing with one another.
All said Wyoming’s statewide standards and assessments — which critics say put undue emphasis on standardized testing — need to be pruned back.
“The burden of our current standard system is squishing out creativity and problem solving … an assessment system should help education, it shouldn’t interrupt it,” Auer said. “Our assessment system is super expensive, it’s time-consuming and it is overly burdensome.”
Harshman noted that his wife, a first-grade teacher, had to teach a staggering 41 English language arts standards. Onerous loads, excessive consultants and inconsistent methods for measuring success have resulted in a mess, Harshman said. “It’s just gone out of control, and so we can fix it.”
Another point of agreement was the importance of equipping Wyoming’s 48 school districts with the autonomy to tailor education to local needs.
“One elected official and a team of bureaucrats in Cheyenne cannot meet our kids where we need to in the different communities,” Kelly said. “So what I’d really like to do is move the state back into a support role.”
“Local control is fundamental to the way we do things in Wyoming in the West, and I think that local control in education policy is critical,” Auer said. “Our Legislature in this past session kind of forgot about that.”
He was referring to Wyoming’s new school recalibration funding bill. The bill sets a funding model for the state that relies on what is called “silo” funding, which is much more prescriptive than the previous block-grant model.
“That recalibration bill, on one hand, gave teachers a much-deserved boost in compensation, but it came at the expense of local control,” Auer said. “In my view, as your state superintendent, that’s unacceptable.”
As Harshman toured school districts this spring and summer, he said, he heard many complaints about the siloing. “The local people, they’re upset about it, and rightfully so … I think it will be in the courts again because it just simply took away local control.”
Differences
The Legislature this spring passed a law establishing new guidelines for literacy instruction based on “the science of reading.”
Though he supports strong literacy instruction, Kelly said, he believes the law — which Harshman voted for — “went the wrong direction” because it saddles districts with one-size-fits-all requirements.
“So the thing to do is … back off from the top-down approach to make the rules as effective and as flexible as possible,” Kelly said, “but not give [educators] a new maze of regulations to have to traverse.”
Auer is in favor of adopting evidence-based literacy instruction, he said, though he would be deliberate with implementation and professional development.
Wyoming’s 2025 Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act created a universal school voucher program that gives up to $7,000 per child to reimburse private school tuition, charter school tuition or homeschooling. Though its constitutionality is being challenged in court, the state was given the green light to begin disbursing funds.
During legislative debate, Harshman emerged as a vocal opponent of the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship program, which he said clearly violates constitutional language that prohibits the state from giving funds to residents “except for the necessary use of the poor.” On Thursday, he noted that the department of education lists 445 approved providers — including many out-of-state entities — an alarming number of entities approved for Wyoming public funds.
“There’s better ways to do this, and I think to focus on folks who really need it — that’s [why] we gotta go back and start over on this,” he said.
Kelly voted for the bill. He said Thursday that while he and Harshman were not on the same page during the Legislature’s discussion, “we do agree currently” with concerns about the long list of providers and who exactly they are.
“I think that if we’re going to be having state dollars going out to private providers to provide education for our kids, then the state has a much more active hand in determining these are valid and accountable educational providers,” Kelly said.
“My reading of the constitution says that our current Steamboat Scholarship program has a constitutional problem,” Auer said, adding that he would respect the court opinion regardless of the outcome.
Final pitches
Kelly noted that it’s kind of unfortunate the superintendent is an elected partisan position, because he wouldn’t come to the role intending to push a partisan stance.
“If you decide to choose me for the superintendent of public education, I’ll be a level-headed, practical man on the [state land board], at the head of the department of education, who is not pushing a political agda but looking to use my principles and my experience to do what’s best for our students.”
Harshman reiterated his love for his home state and the years he has spent balancing budgets and crafting education law.
“I have spent a quarter of a century on education policy,” he said. “Nobody has that experience that I have.”
With issues like charter schools, school choice and funding, “this is probably the most important job up for election this whole election cycle,” Harshman said. “I’m public school Steve, and I’m going to work for you.”
Auer differentiated himself by stressing he is the only candidate who has worked in the education department: He was chief of staff under former Superintendent Brian Schroeder.
Wyoming has a lot to celebrate, he said. “But leadership requires more than preserving the past.
“If you’re hiring me … you’re hiring me because I want to lead this state forward. I want to be a collaborative, thoughtful partner with you as we show America how to do public education.”
WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
