Wyoming

This state puts parents last, not first, giving them little real power.

The state permits parents some choices among traditional public schools (often called open enrollment or public school choice), which permits students to attend any public school in the state, but to move from one district to another requires the districts to agree to such transfers.

SOURCE: The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice

Full power to approve charter school applications lies with school boards, which is why to date there are only four charters in the state. Until there are multiple authorizers, or at least an appeals process, expect charter growth to be slow going.

SOURCE: The Essential Guide to Charter School Law 2013 National Ranking and Scorecard

While the state provides full-time online options, restrictions on enrollment eligibility and and barriers to access quality digital content providers, earn Wyoming a low score on Digital Learning Now’s report card.

SOURCE: Digital Learning Now!

Wyoming’s teacher evaluations require student performance and growth to be used, but the law does not define its percentage of the evaluation. Neither tenure decisions nor licensure advancement and renewal are based on teacher effectiveness. There is no assurance that tenured teachers who receive poor evaluations will be placed on improvement plans or that they will eventually be eligible for dismissal. However, ineffective classroom performance is grounds for dismissal in Wyoming.

Wyoming teachers may receive compensation for working in high-need schools.

SOURCE: National Council on Teacher Quality

Finding school report cards is fairly easy, but they are difficult to understand. It is even more cumbersome to find specific information or simply to learn how a school measures up in Wyoming. There are 48 local school boards and elections typically are held during the general election in November.