There has been a lot of confusion, conflation, and outright lying about the work of the legislature’s School Finance Recalibration Committee over the last few weeks.
As the House Chairman of the committee, I want to set the record straight.
Left-wing activist groups and the press have joined forces to spread easily provable myths about our work to prioritize classroom funding.
MYTH: The Recalibration bill sets up “deep cuts” to education.
FACT: The Recalibration Committee’s work increases school funding– the only debate is by how much.
As written, the Recalibration bill increases education spending by over $50 million in the first year and $90 million beginning in 2027. Yet, if you read the mainstream media’s reporting across the state, you’ll see hysterical claims of “cuts to the bone” and “slashes” to our schools.
MYTH: The Recalibration Committee cut teacher salaries.
FACT: If passed by the full Legislature, the Recalibration bill bumps teacher pay to an average of $70,560 per year, constituting an average 11.3% increase.
The Legislature is legally required to recalibrate school funding every five years, but it hasn’t done so for fifteen years, thanks to liberal do-nothing leadership. Failure to recalibrate has caused teacher pay to fall below market conditions and the pay of surrounding states.
The Recalibration Committee has protected these teacher pay raises and classroom funding by making it a separate categorical grant – we’re stopping districts from using teacher pay for central administration and other expenses that they deem as higher priorities than teacher pay.
MYTH: The state’s budget will demolish education.
FACT: Targeted cuts to the state’s budget were made in areas other than K-12 education to ensure that the spending increases approved by the Recalibration Committee could be made responsibly.
The Joint Appropriations Committee budget limits runaway government growth by cutting waste while saving room to fund the necessary and constitutional functions of government, most principally, public education.
MYTH: Property Tax relief is hurting our schools by reducing school funding.
FACT: Any cuts to property taxes are made up by state funds. Absolutely NO funding was reduced to schools from the 25% Property Tax Relief passed in 2025.
The people of Wyoming deserve truth in reporting, especially on matters so integral to our lives.
For the first time in fifteen years, the conservative majority is actually governing, delivering real results.
I challenge the press to correct their inaccurate reporting and share the truth.
Scott Heiner represents House District #18 and is the Majority Floor Leader. Heiner lives in Green River.
