Mediocre ACT scores from Wyoming's kids again

The state's young people continue to languish in education mediocrity. Yet the problem is not the high levels of funding; those are needed. Rather, it's the fault of legislators for not enforcing rigorous reforms on the school system.

By D. Reed Eckhardt

Given the recently released results of Wyoming students on the ACT test, it is little wonder that lawmakers have been looking at cuts in education spending.

This state's young people continue to languish on this test, which is one of the few nationally normed challenges they face each year. Yet Wyoming continues to be

This chart is from the Wyoming Dept. of Education.

one of the top-spending states on education in the nation. Thus, lawmakers' logic is that since high spending is not working, then certainly the schools can do with less. Of course, that is just silly, especially given that the Legislature's unwillingness to enforce high standards on school districts is the real source of the problem. (More on that in a moment.)

Consider this: Not only are ACT scores not rising in Wyoming; they are falling. The statewide composite for 2016 was 20.0, which is 1 percent below 2015's score of 20.2. The score for 2014 was 20.1. So statistically speaking, scores have remained flat over the past three years.

One of the excuses Wyoming officials always give for these mediocre scores when compared to elsewhere is that all Cowboy State juniors take the test, not just the college-bound. But that actually is a good thing because it shows how this state's students are doing compared to national standards. The results are not pretty (see chart above). Every parent and taxpayer should be shocked, for example, to see that just 34.3 percent of this state's high school juniors are proficient or better in reading and just 37.0 percent are proficient or above in math. That means nearly two-thirds of Wyoming students are graduating without the math and reading skills needed to succeed in modern society.

Another way of looking at it is: Are Wyoming schools preparing their kids for college? Again, the ACT's answers are ugly. Just 33 percent of this state's graduates are college-ready in math and 38 percent in reading. It's a little better -- but nothing to brag about -- in English (58 percent) and worse in science (31 percent). And only one in five students (20 percent) is ready in all four subjects.

These numbers are sickening. Wyoming has been enforcing state standards at least since the turn of the 21st century, and its students continue to languish in mediocrity. Thus, it's no wonder that tax-averse legislators are throwing their hands up in frustration -- or at least pretending to do so as they look for ways to cut into a looming $400 million annual funding deficit for education.

But there is no way the Legislature can cut its way to success in the schools; that is counter-intuitive. Slashing teachers and support staff, increasing class sizes, delaying school buildings or holding off on the purchases of new books and other materials are recipes for further declines in scores and for making the state even less competitive in the new economy.

The problem with Wyoming's schools is not that they are over-funded. Rather, it is that lawmakers have refused to attach strings to the funding. Rather than setting high state standards for success, and enforcing those standards on districts, school and teachers, legislators have fled from the idea of education reform, abdicating the responsibility of quality results to the localities. And since there has been no one to demand excellence with the money, little of that has been produced.

Similarly, the state Department of Education has chosen to sit on the sidelines, adopting the role of happy cheerleader rather than demanding coach. Did agency officials decry the poor performance on the ACT? Nope. Did they put forth programs to raise the bar for the local schools? Nope. They blithely accepted the results, reported them and went on their way. Their lack of concern should trouble every taxpayer as well as every business in Wyoming that has to deal with the less-than-adequate raw material that the school system produces.

If lawmakers are serious about getting more for their education bucks rather than just dodging tax hikes, it is the time to demand success and enforce real reforms on the system. Yes, Wyoming's children are more than worth the money that this state spends on them, including new taxes. But unless rigorous change is imposed on the system, that money will go to waste. It's true that the Legislature can't cut its way to education success. However, until it finds the gumption to demand greater returns -- including jettisoning the concept of "local control" -- it can't spend its way to excellent results either.

D. Reed Eckhardt is the former executive editor of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. He has been writing about education issues in the state for almost two decades.