Wyoming Gov. Urges Higher Taxes To Help Keep Schools Afloat

By Adrienne D. Coles

Faced with a budget deficit that is clouding the future of Wyoming schools, Gov. Jim Geringer used his State of the State Address last week to call for imposing one new tax, raising another, and extending the life of a third.

Yet despite the state's serious fiscal problems, the second-term Republican urged legislators to avoid dwelling solely on the mounting costs of education in the state. Instead, he said, they should "focus on what the costs should yield, and then focus on accountability for the dollars spent."

"Education at all levels is my number-one priority," Mr. Geringer said in his Feb. 14 speech. "It is the key to Wyoming's mastery of the social, personal, and economic goals...