School Districts Strangle School Choice

by Wyoming Liberty Staff

"This is the biggest anti school choice vote by a local school board in state history." Sandy Shanor, Chair of Laramie County School Board #1

In a historic 5-2 vote last week in Cheyenne, the state's largest school district passed a solidly anti school choice resolution for use by the Wyoming School Boards Association (WSBA). Laramie County School District #1(LCSD#1) is one of only two districts that currently operate a charter school within their district. The resolution, written by school board member Nate Breen with input from the WSBA, outlined a series of onerous and unnecessary requirements to be placed upon independent charter schools. Once again, Wyoming parents can point to a consistent pattern of anti school choice behavior by local school boards.

This resolution must serve as a red flag to Wyoming legislators.

Local school boards throughout the state continue to be plagued with a complete lack of understanding or support for school choice, despite Wyoming laws that allow school choice options such as public charter schools. This warning must not be ignored by legislators who have entrusted these school boards with the sole authority to authorize the opening of public charter schools. But why should these boards continue to have this sole authority when it is clear they are completely unreceptive to starting any charter schools?

They shouldn't. It is time for Wyoming legislators to rethink or rewrite the charter school laws to allow real choice for parents across the state.

Charter schools are meant to be different from regular public schools. They enjoy freedoms from regulatory requirements such as the ones Mr. Breen would like to put into place, which give them the opportunity to innovate and provide unique options for student education. Mr. Breen, who presented the anti school choice resolution to the board, either has a beef with the freedom and choice that charter schools bring to parents and students or he simply doesn't understand what charter school are all about. Either excuse does not bode well for parents and students in Laramie County. In particular at the meeting, Mr. Breen brought up and singled out for criticism the only charter school operating within LCSD #1 -Poder Academy Charter School.

Poder Academy is one of the highest performing schools in the district. Which leaves one scratching their head and wondering, why would a school board member want to harm a school that is performing so well?

Perhaps because they are fundamentally and ideologically opposed to school choice? Which points to a hostility to parental choice and the laws of the State of Wyoming.

Legislators need to understand something very simple; Mr. Breen's desire to wage war against this high performing charter school only punctuates why the ideology of those who want only government monopolies over education will always trump doing what is best for Wyoming's students and parents.

Laramie County Board Chair Sandy Shanor voted against the resolution, as did Vice Chair Lynn Storey-Huylar.

Shanor said, "The idea behind school choice and charter schools is to foster innovation in education practices. We need to have policies that support innovation and I think this resolution could actually be deleterious to innovation by being too restrictive on charter schools in an already restrictive policy environment. So I will be voting no."

Indeed Ms. Shanor is correct. Resolutions like this one will be detrimental to school choice and innovation throughout Wyoming. But this particular resolution could also serve a different purpose if legislators start paying attention. It could serve to highlight the clear problem the state continues to have with school boards serving as the sole charter school authorizer.

This anti school choice action by the largest school district in the state came on the heels of yet another action just two weeks ago by the second largest school district in the state.

Natrona County School Board did what local school boards in Wyoming seem to do best when they unanimously denied the application of a public charter school in their school district at the end of September.

Wyoming legislators need to take these actions by the two largest school districts in the state seriously if they mean to truly grow school choice throughout the state. There is no logical way to justify continuing to allow Wyoming school boards the sole statutory authority to authorize charter schools when all we see from them is open hostility towards school choice.

Policymakers in Cheyenne need to change the law and create an alternative charter school authorizer so Wyoming school boards no longer hold the monopoly over the creation of these unique, innovative and highly successful independent schools. Until that happens, other examples of highly successful schools like Poder Academy will be few, if any.

That might make Mr. Breen happy, but it isn't what's best for parents and students in Wyoming.