Behind the Scenes Politics Being Played to Stop Wyoming Parents

For Wyoming parents wondering what really happens behind the scenes to push the direction of statewide education policy, they need look no further. A stunning video released this past week by the parent-led group, Wyoming Citizens Opposing Common Core, revealed minutes from an October meeting convened by an education bureaucracy-led group called the ECA (External Cost Adjustment) Coalition.

The Coalition, which was apparently formed to ensure an increase in education funding through the use of an ECA, veered away from such school finance issues and stated in their minutes, among other things, that parents are not education experts and that they have "hijacked" education in Wyoming. The Coalition hinted at back door deals being made to ensure the continuation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

Most troubling of all the statements, however, and the focus of this blog, is the seemingly unethical relationships being forged during the October meeting. These minutes uncover back door politics.

The video and subsequent written minutes unveil startling relationships and strategies soon to be deployed by the Coalition, a group comprised of administrators from various Wyoming school districts who were involved in the original ECA group, representatives from the Wyoming Education Association and other education interest groups from around the state, and as well Paige Fenton Hughes, the taxpayer salaried Coordinator for the State Board of Education (SBE).

What formal role Ms. Hughes has in this coalition was unclear from the minutes, but what was abundantly obvious was her guiding hand in the direction and use of these education administrators to further an education policy agenda supported by Ms. Hughes.

For instance, the coalition's minutes revealed Ms. Hughes' desire to work with them – purportedly on behalf of the SBE - to keep the CCSS in place in Wyoming and to ensure a footnote placed on the 2014 Budget bill prohibiting the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards be removed and the standards adopted.

The coalition noted in their minutes: "Paige Fenton Hughes is hoping that the associations will partner with the SBE to lobby on this issue & on the footnote on the science standards. Ken D. (Ken Decaria, Government Relations Director for the Wyoming Education Association) says that Rep. Patton has already drafted a bill to repeal the NGSS footnote."

We must ask what formal role the SBE has with this coalition? Does Ms. Hughes have the authority to make an alliance with this coalition when their clearly stated goal is to lobby the legislature on an issue that will ultimately be in the hands of the SBE? Has the SBE authorized Ms. Hughes to coordinate a lobbying effort to accomplish the continuation of Common Core State Standards and acceptance of NGSS?

Does Ms. Hughes truly speak for all 12 members of the SBE? Is it ethical for her to be pushing for the continuation of the CCSS when she is being paid to serve the SBE, the only body that has the statutory authority to adopt or repeal standards -- the one body that should maintain impartiality in the arena of standards adoption to ensure the parents of Wyoming that this process is not already fixed to engineer a predetermined outcome?

Sadly, that is exactly what many parents are wondering after watching the video and reading the minutes. Has the process already been predetermined? Is this how education policy is developed in Wyoming -- behind closed doors with a few key people who pull all the strings? Is the SBE merely a puppet of these folks?

Wyoming families deserve clarification from the SBE on their involvement, through their paid coordinator Ms. Hughes, with the ECA Coalition. They deserve a process that is not predetermined behind closed doors by the very person paid by the SBE to work for them. Ms. Hughes' relationship with this coalition crosses an ethical line and puts the entire future process of standards adoption in jeopardy. The SBE should not allow this relationship to stand.

*Since the publication of this post, the Wyoming Legislature passed an ECA increase for school districts. The Legislature also removed the footnote regarding the Next Generation Science Standards. Currently the State Board of Education is pushing forward with full adoption of those standards. Paige Fenton Hughes continues to serve as Coordinator for the Wyoming State Board of Education.