Would Education Choice Work in Wyoming?

by Jessica Leach

When education choice is mentioned in Wyoming, the reply often is, "school choice won't work in Wyoming", or "Wyoming doesn't have enough students to support different choices". Children living in Wyoming's most remote localities, however, would simply disagree.

Grace Anderson, a graduating senior from Crook County, boasts an impressive resume including experience as the National President for Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) and National Honors Society (NHS) Secretary, Vice President, and President. Grace takes a variety of Advanced Placement (AP) classes as well.

FCCLA, NHS, and AP classes share one major commonality: none of the three are offered by the traditional brick-and-mortar public schools in Grace's rural county. Using the one alternative educational choice offered to students like her, Grace was able to experience national leadership, academic rigor, and networking opportunities that most would never consider to be available to students in rural communities.

Grace is a virtual student and, while traditional public schools in her county are ideal for many students, they weren't the fit for her ambitions. "School choice enables me to partner with great organizations and be a part of something that's bigger than myself. I've logged nearly 500 hours of community service hours over the last four years. There's no way I could have accomplished that if I was in a traditional school."

Had no other options been available to Grace, her aspirations and unique learning needs would have been ignored, devalued, and left uncultivated. For too many students in Wyoming, this is the reality. A student who yearns to work with his hands is kicked out of his 7^th grade English class for being off-task, resulting in his educational desires being devalued by the system; a wheelchair-bound student has to leave every class five minutes early every day in order to navigate the hallway, missing at least thirty minutes of instruction each week. Students are being asked to fit the needs of the school, and as Grace notes, it should be the opposite:

"Education should be molded to fit the needs of the student, not the other way around."

Choice allows Grace to experience a fulfilling K-12 education. If education choice were embraced by the Wyoming Legislature, all Wyoming students could experience an improved education. Education Savings Account Legislation, proposed during Wyoming's 63^rd Legislative Session, would have provided Wyoming families funds with which to finance supplemental online education, tutoring services, special needs education, or private school tuition. The funds would be provided by generous donors from inside the state of Wyoming.

The need for choice exists. The money is there. The only thing missing is the will to act for Wyoming's children.