With one swoop of the pen, Wyoming will offer public money for private education to all grade levels while expanding its voucher program for pre-K students.
Gov. Mark Gordon announced Tuesday that he’ll sign House Enrolled Act 52 into law, a bill that creates universal school vouchers for the K-12 level, and income-based pre-K educational saving accounts (ESAs) for children 4 years and older in Wyoming.
Gordon said he believes providing support at the start of a student’s education will lead to higher-performing students down the road and eventually a better workforce, as well as help working families.
“We know that early education builds a very strong foundation,” Gordon said. “It’s important that when kids get to kindergarten, they have the grounding that’s necessary to be able to move forward, thrive and really do well.”
Pre-K school vouchers are already offered in Wyoming for parents who make 150% or less of the federal poverty line. HEA 52 bumps that threshold up to 250% or lower of the federal poverty line while giving $7,000 per child to access preschool education. Under that guideline, a family of four that has a total household income of up to $80,375 could participate in the program.
The bill is tailored toward helping parents access private and homeschool education for their children in Wyoming. Tyler Lindholm, Wyoming state director for Libertarian group Americans For Prosperity, said the pre-K portion could open up many opportunities for K-12 private schools to also leverage pre-K opportunities.
“This could be a real boon to these different little private schools,” Lindholm said.
Making The Sausage
The pre-K portion of HEA 52, also known as the “Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act,” was one of the most controversial aspects of the bill and a piece that members of the House fought to keep out of the bill and remove from the books.
The major argument against it was that pre-K and K-12 are different animals, creating the pre-K ESAs sets up state involvement in children’s education for more years, and there’s already a federal program that serves the same purpose.
Lindholm clarified that Americans For Prosperity had no position on the pre-K portion but are very excited that the bill itself passed. The K-12 portion of the bill will give parents $7,000 per child to pursue private schooling, no matter the parent’s income level.
“Parents in the state of Wyoming will finally be able to use their taxpayer dollars for the education of their choice, and that’s the biggest part,” Lindholm said. “We’re just excited that education is a priority, not only for the Legislature, but also for the governor.”
Conservative group American Action Fund came out hard against the pre-K portion and mandatory assessment tests, but HB 199’s sponsor Rep. Ocean Andrew, R-Laramie, relented on these aspects when the bill reached a Joint Conference Committee.
Gordon didn’t mention Andrew once during the press conference but did give multiple shout outs to Senate President Bo Biteman, who supported the pre-K aspect and assessment tests passing out of his chamber.
“It was a heavy lift by a lot of people, Biteman told Cowboy State Daily. “I am thrilled that our state has done what needs to be done to empower parents and give the children of Wyoming every option to succeed and thrive.”
Last year, Gordon vetoed portions of a similar ESA bill that established Wyoming’s current school choice program that started in January. He credited this year’s version as being much more Wyoming-centric, however out-of-state groups still played a role in crafting the legislation, multiple sources told Cowboy State Daily.
Dicey Ground
Gordon signing HEA 52 into law comes at an interesting time when considering a Wyoming Supreme Court decision made last week that the Legislature is not adequately funding public education in Wyoming. For the next five months of 2025, the program is expected to cost $11 million. In 2026, the program would expand to $44.5 million.
The Wyoming Education Association, the winning party in the Supreme Court lawsuit, consistently opposed HEA 52 at all stages, and in a Monday Facebook post described it as a “harmful attack on public education.”
The organization did not immediately respond to Cowboy State Daily’s request for comment on the bill’s passage.
Gordon acknowledged the awkward dynamic of the court ruling and HEA 52 passing into law during Tuesday’s press conference and said any questions of constitutionality could be addressed with a lawsuit. He hopes the Legislature takes a “measured approach” to the issue.
“Before we start throwing things in the air, let’s take a measured approach,” he said. “Look at what’s most valuable … what’s important to the kids, what’s important to the families, how do we make sure it works for the industries that are involved, how do we make sure it’s fiscally responsible, and how do we provide a great number of choices for people in Wyoming?”
He said preserving the strength of Wyoming public schools is still a top priority for him and mentioned his Reimagining and Innovating the Delivery of Education (RIDE) education initiative, which encourages innovation and the development of new teaching approaches in rural school districts.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
