
Wyoming Legislators Rethink School Vouchers
The idea of a school voucher program for Wyoming is being discussed again in the 2025 legislative session.
You can read House Bill 199, “Wyoming Freedom Scholarship Act” at this link.
A new program was created in 2024 giving income-qualified families up to $6,000 in state funds to offset private school fees, pre-K tuition, or homeschool education costs.
But that bill did not go for enough for school choice advocates.
The choice advocates wanted to extend the program to kids regardless of income.
But Gov. Mark Gordon line-item vetoed the idea giving instead 150% of the federal poverty level — $48,800 for a family of four.
This new bill will bring a savings account program into a universal school voucher program.
This would give $7,000 per family in the 2025-26 school year. More will be given later.
There were constitutional concerns in the drafting of this bill.
The Wyoming Constitution prohibits the state from giving money to individuals. But what if that money were given to a private school or for home school supplies?
Well - The Wyoming Constitution also prohibits public funds to be used for private or parochial schools.
Those are problems for this bill.
The bill's sponsors are looking at various pathways to allow this bill to go through without a veto from the Governor or court challenges.
Perhaps a change to the Wyoming Constitution would be needed to allow it.
There are few in the Wyoming legislative body that oppose the idea of school vouchers. But prior rules on school funding are currently getting in the way.
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