New Wyoming Education Bill Divides Throughout the State
By Aiden Power
House Bill HB0199, also known as the Freedom Scholarship Act, was introduced to the Wyoming Senate in Cheyenne on January 30, 2025, after passing the House of Representatives. Sponsored by Representative Ocean Andrew(R-Laramie), the Act would shift $200 million from public school funds to provide $7,000 per student choosing to attend private or home schools.
Andrew has been an advocate for reducing school spending, helping pass Wyoming's first Education Savings Account (ESA) law in 2024. The current law allows low-income, nonpublic school-attending students directly up to $6,000 yearly for educational expenses. However, he has said he doesn’t like how restrictive and small-scale it is. The 2025 Freedom Scholarship Act would expand on last year's law, cutting down on many restrictions such as cutting out the income requirement and increasing the yearly funding amount.
Rep. Ocean Andrew, R-Laramie at 2025 legislative session courtesy of Mike Vanata/WyoFile.
The main proponents of this bill are the Freedom Caucus, which consists of Republican Members of the House, and is generally considered to be the most conservative group within the Chamber.
In 2023, Wyoming spent a little more than $16,000 was spent per student. This ranks us in the top 20% of states based on this figure and the spending leader of the Rocky Mountain Region. However, not all of this money goes directly to students. A lot of the money is spent on the building and maintenance of schools, extracurricular activities, and teachers, administration, staff, and teacher salaries.
Supporters of HB0199 argue Wyoming spends too much money on education and doesn’t believe tax dollars are being put to good use. They believe spending $7,000 on each student directly instead of $16,000 is a better investment. A common mindset used is wanting the money to follow the student, not the school.
Supporters also want to put more power into parents’ hands when it comes to education. Former lawmaker Tyler Lindholm said in support of the Bill, “We recognize the most important thing when it comes to a child’s education, and that’s parent involvement and parents ultimately making the choice that best suits their child’s needs
The Bill will allow parents to be more involved in what their students are exposed to on a day-to-day basis, opening up more choices on what parents think is best for their students. Some parents think private or homeschool curricula shouldn't be regulated.
However, the proposal has been among the most contentious in recent memory. Educators have been vocally against it due to its potential impact on public schools, including lack of accountability, removal of funds from public schools, and potential unconstitutionality. These concerns have led to a large amount of backlash.
Within the Act, there is no requirement for proof of a curriculum being used or standardized testing to show adequate progress. Those opposed to HB0199 have pointed out it would be easy to take advantage of this system. With no accountability or guardrails, it would be impossible to make sure the money was being spent appropriately. Representative Steve Harshman, a Republican from Casper and former teacher voices his concerns by saying,” It’s gonna be the Wild Wild West of waste, fraud, and abuse.” Opponents of the Bill say it is too lenient with taxpayer money.
As the Bill stands, 200 million would be siphoned from the School Foundation Account, an account used to fund public education. This money originates from federal mineral royalties that are returned to the state from mined minerals. Senator Jared Olsen has questioned whether this is constitutional, asking if other funding sources would stand up to scrutiny better.
Not only have opponents questioned the funding source, but have called major areas of the bill unconstitutional. Article 3, Sec. 36 of the Wyoming constitution states, Prohibited appropriations. No appropriation shall be made for charitable, industrial, educational or benevolent purposes to any person, corporation or community not under the absolute control of the state, nor to any denominational or sectarian institution or association.¨ In regards to absolute control, some kind of accountability would be needed for the Bill to be constitutional and calls into question whether the state can legally fund any private education regardless of the source. This has been a major source of contention in the bill. If the Bill goes into effect without amendments, it could be liable for lawsuits; which could cost taxpayers money to fight it.
On the morning of Wednesday, February 12, the Senate Education Committee cast a close vote of 3-2. The Freedom Scholarship Act has been renamed to the Steamboat Legacy Act and re-referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee for further deliberation.
Works Cited
Andrew, Ocean. “HB0128.” State of Wyoming Legislature, 2025, https://www.wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2024/HB0128. Accessed 8 February 2025.
DeSilver, Drew, et al. “House Freedom Caucus: What is it, and who's in it?” Pew Research Center, 20 October 2015, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/10/20/house-freedom-caucus-what-is-it-and-whos-in-it/. Accessed 13 February 2025.
“Education Savings Accounts - Wyoming Department Of Education.” Wyoming Department Of Education, https://edu.wyoming.gov/parents/education-savings-accounts/. Accessed 13 February 2025.
Klingsporn, Katie. “Universal school voucher bill advances amid questions of accountability, constitutionality.” WyoFile, 2025, https://wyofile.com/universal-school-voucher-bill-advances-amid-questions-of-accountability-constitutionality/. Accessed 8 Febuary 2025.
Langston, William. “Wyoming bill would let parents use public funds for private schooling.” Your Wyoming Link, 2025, https://www.yourwyominglink.com/news/local/wyoming-bill-would-let-parents-use-public-funds-for-private-schooling/article_a477f310-df50-11ef-9df3-bba5d02b1824.html. Accessed 8 February 2025.
“School Choice Bill Giving $7000 Per Child Passes Wyoming House.” Cowboy State Daily, 30 January 2025, https://cowboystatedaily.com/2025/01/29/school-choice-bill-giving-7-000-per-child-passes-wyoming-house/. Accessed 13 February 2025.