Wyoming Senate passes cuts to public education funding

Wyoming school districts would see a 5 percent reduction in their state block grants by the end of the decade under a bill that has passed the Senate.

Senate File 165 now goes to the state House for debate.

The Casper Star-Tribune reports that block grant funding given to districts would be cut by 5 percent over the next two school years, beginning in 2018.

Those percentage reductions would only kick in if legislation hadn’t been enacted to either recalibrate or change the funding model for K-12 education.

It also would freeze transportation and special education spending.

The bill represents one of the most wide-ranging attempts in the Legislature to address the state’s education funding crisis.

It’s not immediately clear how much money the bill would save.

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Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com