Study Finds Wyoming Focused Funding Increase on Teacher Pay

In an ambitious study that seeks to examine state education spending down to the school level, a new analysis of K-12 expenses in Wyoming shows that while per-pupil spending has swelled to one of the highest rates in the country, schools devoted a significant portion of their money to raising teacher salaries rather than hiring more educators.

Spurred by state supreme court decisions dating back to 1980 declaring the state’s school finance system unconstitutional, Wyoming legislators have nearly doubled the amount of aid for education in recent years, from $576 million in 1999 to more than $1 billion now, said Sen. Hank Coe, a Republican and the chairman of his chamber’s education committee.

In an attempt to figure out how school districts were using their money, legislators asked national consultants on school finance to examine each school during the 2006-07 academic year and to look at class sizes, staffing levels, and spending on items such as administration, transportation, and food service. The state educates about...