Governor Mark Gordon’s K-12 Education advisory group, the Reimagining and Innovating the Delivery of Education (RIDE) Advisory Group announced a series of community listening sessions to take input from parents and stakeholders on the state’s educational system.

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The group, announced in May 2021, has the goal of developing recommendations for improving education in Wyoming and is made up of nine volunteers: State Representative Evan Simpson, State Senator R.J. Kost, John Masters, Craig Dougherty, David Northrup, Jill Bramlet, Fred von Ahrens, Brian Worthen, Nicole Novotny, and Thea True Wells.

According to a press release by Gordon in January, an online public survey conducted this year had over 7,000 responses and will release the results sometime in May, with the upcoming listening sessions giving people another chance to offer input.

Since being announced, it doesn't appear that the RIDE group has done anything other than the survey.

According to a report by WalletHub, Wyoming ranks 27th overall, and 22nd when it comes to educational attainment, which is based on factors like how many people over 25 have at least a high school diploma or a graduate or professional degree.

In the same report, Wyoming ranks 37th when it comes to the quality of education, which is based on things like the gender gap in educational attainment, the presence of free community college, and NAEP math and reading test scores.

Colorado meanwhile ranks fourth overall, second for educational attainment, and 32nd for the quality of education, Utah ranks 11th overall, 11th for educational attainment, and 15th for the quality of education, while Idaho ranks 36th overall, 32nd for educational attainment, and 44th for the quality of education.

Gordon said:

"My advisory group looks forward to hearing firsthand from parents and community members, and getting their thoughts about how we can better prepare our students to be competitive in a changing world."

The events, including their dates and locations, are:

  • June 14-15 in Afton at the Lincoln County School District Administration Building
  • June 15-16 in Rock Springs at Holiday Inn
  • June 21-22 in Powell at Northwest Community College
  • June 22-23 in Riverton at a yet to be decided location
  • July 19-20 in Gillette at Gillette College+
  • July 20-21 in Casper at a yet to be decided location
  • July 26-27 in Cheyenne at the Wyoming Capitol
  • July 27 virtual

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