A bill that would remove several million dollars from the education funding model was approved on second reading despite some amendments. The bill was changed to reduce cuts that most school districts would face to roughly three percent.
Bill sponsor Ray Peterson says previously, smaller districts were facing an eight percent cut. The Senate did reject an attempt to raise teacher salaries in the face of larger classroom sizes. Peterson worries that vote could come back to haunt the Senate if school districts sue.
“I told the other senators that we just went into some shaky ground here and we maybe crossed a line here…I hope not.”
Peterson says his bill removes about 40 million dollars from the school funding model. It will be debated for a final time on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Senate gave final approval to a proposed constitutional amendment that would make it clear that lawmakers are in charge of school funding and not the courts. That now moves to the Wyoming House of Representatives for further consideration.