Charter schools in Wyoming

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Education policy in the U.S.

Public education in the U.S.

School choice in the U.S.

Charter schools in the U.S.

Higher education in the U.S.

Glossary of education terms

Education statistics

Charter schools in Wyoming are public schools operated independently of public school systems, either by nonprofit or for-profit organizations. Although they are largely publicly funded, charter schools are exempt from many of the requirements imposed by state and local boards of education regarding hiring and curriculum. As public schools, charter schools cannot charge tuition or impose special entrance requirements; students are usually admitted through a lottery process if demand exceeds the number of spaces available in a school. Charter schools generally receive a percentage of the per-pupil funds from the state and local school districts for operational costs based on enrollment. In most states, charter schools do not receive funds for facilities or start-up costs; therefore, they must rely to some extent on private donations. The federal government also provides revenues through special grants. As of March 2017, 44 states and the District of Columbia had approved legislation authorizing the creation of public charter schools. Six states had not.

HIGHLIGHTS

According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a charter school advocacy group, there were an estimated four total charter schools in Wyoming in the 2015-2016 school year. These schools enrolled approximately 500 students.

Overall, charter school students accounted for 0.53 percent of total public school enrollment in Wyoming in 2015.

The Wyoming State Legislature approved the state's charter school law in 1995.

Background

History

The Wyoming State Legislature approved Wyoming's charter school law in 1995.

The concept of creating public charter schools as alternatives to traditional public schools was first brought to public attention in the late 1980s by a small group of policymakers and educators. The notion gained traction in the early 1990s, and in 1991 Minnesota became the first state to pass a charter school law.

The National Conference of State Legislatures defines charter schools as follows:

“	Charter schools are publicly funded, privately managed and semi-autonomous schools of choice. They do not charge tuition. They must hold to the same academic accountability measures as traditional schools. They receive public funding similarly to traditional schools. However, they have more freedom over their budgets, staffing, curricula and other operations. In exchange for this freedom, they must deliver academic results and there must be enough community demand for them to remain open.	”
—National Conference of State Legislatures

Across the nation, charter schools have grown in number since the passage of the first public charter school law. As of March 2017, 44 states plus the District of Columbia had enacted charter school laws, and in 2013 it was estimated that 4.6 percent of all public school students attended charter schools. Performance results of charter schools nationally have been mixed, with some performing demonstrably better and others closing because they could not meet required standards.

Wyoming adopted charter school legislation in 1995.

Participation

According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a charter school advocacy group, there were an estimated four total charter schools in Wyoming in the 2015-2016 school year. These schools enrolled approximately 500 students. Overall, charter school students accounted for 0.53 percent of total public school enrollment in Wyoming in 2015.

Charter schools, 2015-2016
State	Total number of charter schools	Estimated enrollment	Percentage of total public school enrollment
Wyoming	4	500	0.53%
Idaho	48	21,100	7.20%
Montana	0	0	0.00%
Utah	111	64,800	10.03%
United States total	6,824	2,930,600	5.85%
Note: The percentages in the column labeled "Percentage of total public school enrollment" were calculated by taking the estimated number of charter school students in a given state and dividing by the total estimated number of public school students in that state in 2015. Total public school enrollment estimates came from the National Center for Education Statistics. Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "A Closer Look at the Charter School Movement," February 3, 2016

Demographics

See also: Charter school demographics and Demographic information for all students in the United States

The table below presents information about the race/ethnicity of charter school students in Wyoming in the 2013-2014 school year, as reported by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. To facilitate comparison, the same figures are also provided for all public school students.

Enrollments by ethnicity, 2013-2014 (as percentages)
Data sample	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	Other
Charter schools in Wyoming	63.0%	7.0%	16.0%	4.0%	10.0%
Public schools in Wyoming	79.4%	1.2%	13.1%	0.9%	5.4%
Charter schools in the U.S.	34.9%	27.1%	30.0%	4.1%	3.8%
Public schools in the U.S.	50.3%	15.6%	24.8%	4.8%	4.4%
Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, "Table 203.70. Percentage distribution of enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools, by race/ethnicity and state or jurisdiction: Fall 2003 and fall 2013," accessed June 7, 2016 National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "The Health of the Charter Public School Movement: A State-by-State Analysis," March 2016

State law

Authorizers

Charter school authorizers are, according to the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA), the organizations "designated to approve, monitor, renew, and, if necessary, close charter schools." NASCA has identified six primary types of charter school authorizers:

1. Higher education institutions (HEI)
2. Independent charter boards (ICB)
3. Local education agencies (LEA)
4. Non-education government entities (NEG)
5. Not-for-profit organizations (NFP)
6. State education agencies

The table below lists charter school authorizers in Wyoming as of June 2016. Click [show] to expand the table's contents.

Charter school authorizers in Wyoming, June 2016
Authorizer	Authorizer type
Albany County School District #1	LEA
Fremont County School District 38	LEA
Source: National Association of Charter School Authorizers, "Wyoming Authorizers," accessed June 15, 2016

Enrollment regulations

Charter schools are subject to all of the same enrollment requirements as traditional Wyoming public schools. Charter schools are prohibited from discriminating in any way.

Funding

In Wyoming, charter schools receive a portion of their funding from the state.

The way charter schools are financed differs from state to state, and even between districts within states. In Wyoming, public schools receive funding from their school districts based on the number of attending students. Charter schools receive that same funding, minus any deductions. Charter schools also receive maintenance funding from the state. The law does not say who must be responsible for student transportation in charter schools, but it does require that the school somehow make arrangements to meet students' transportation needs.

Accountability

See also: Accountability measures for charter schools

Wyoming has not established any measurable standards to which charter schools must be held accountable. It also does not require that charters submit annual reports to the state. However, charters are required to submit to regular audits of their financial practices and any services provided by the school. Local education agencies are not required to register with the state in order to authorize school boards. Wyoming earned three out of a total of 12 points in "general accountability" according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

Charter school law rankings

In January 2016, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools released a report ranking all of the nation's charter school laws. Wyoming's law ranked 38 out of 43. The organization ranked each state's law by considering what it called "20 essential components of a strong charter school law." The table below compares Wyoming's score with that of neighboring states. To access the full report, including methodology, click here.

Charter school law rankings, January 2016
State	2016 ranking	2015 ranking	Ranking difference	2016 score	2015 score	Score difference
Wyoming	38	37	-1	87	87	0
Idaho	22	20	-2	141	141	0
Montana	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Utah	20	18	-2	145	145	0
Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "Measuring Up To The Model: A Ranking of State Charter School Laws," January 2016

Issues

Noteworthy events

Proponents of charter schools such as the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools argue that, due to their freedom from some state oversight and regulation, they can adopt more innovative educational approaches. This allows them to cater to their particular higher-risk school age populations, which are generally composed of more minority and poor students. In addition, advocates argue that charter schools empower parents and improve traditional public schools through competition.

Meanwhile, critics such as Diane Ravitch argue that charter schools have not been proven to produce significantly higher levels of academic achievement as promised. It is difficult to find data comparable to traditional public schools. Critics also contend that charter schools divert funds from traditional public schools, which continue to enroll significant majorities of public school students, thereby compounding problems at failing schools and generating unequal outcomes for students.

Funding inequity

In 2014, the University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform released a report identifying disparities between charter school funding and traditional public school funding. Examining 31 states, the researchers considered all sources of charter school funding, including public funds, grants, and philanthropic donations. Researchers found that charter schools received on average 28.4 percent less than traditional public schools. Tennessee's funding disparity was lowest at 0.1 percent, while Louisiana's was highest at 58.4 percent. Wyoming was not studied.

Charter school management organizations and other groups

See also: Charter school management organization

In the 2010-2011 school year, all three charter schools in Wyoming were freestanding.

Wyoming's sole charter advocacy organization, the Wyoming Association of Public Charter Schools, closed due to lack of funding.

Innovation

See also: Charter school innovation indicators and High-performing charter schools

Charter school proponents argue that charter schools have the freedom to adopt more innovative practices, which in turn lead to improved academic performance. To get a sense of the level of innovation occurring in charter schools, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools surveyed charter schools across the country on the various innovative education practices they employed. In Wyoming, an average of 28 percent of charter schools reported using innovative practices in the 2011-2012 school year. The table below displays the prevalence of a variety of innovative practices in Wyoming as a percentage of all charter schools in the state. The figures are compared with those in surrounding states.

Charter schools with innovative practices, in percents (2011-2012)
State	Extended day	Extended year	Year-round calendar	Independent study	School-to-work	Higher education courses	Average
Wyoming	33%	33%	0%	33%	33%	33%	28%
Idaho	44%	22%	6%	33%	22%	56%	31%
Montana	No charter school law
Utah	27%	19%	4%	27%	15%	31%	21%
Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "The Health of the Public Charter School Movement: A State-By-State Analysis," accessed October 3, 2014

Ballot measures and legislation

Ballot measures

See also: School choice on the ballot and List of Wyoming ballot measures

Ballotpedia has tracked no statewide ballot measures relating to school choice in Wyoming.

Legislation

The following is a list of recent charter school bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Wyoming state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.

Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Wyoming charter school. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Charter schools in Wyoming - Google News

See also

• Charter schools
• Charter school statistics for all 50 states
• School choice
• Public education in Wyoming
• School choice in Wyoming
• Wyoming Department of Education
• Charter school management organization

External links

• National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
• National Association of Charter School Authorizers