Wyoming Supreme Court delivers victory for school choice
by Corey DeAngelis · The Washington TimesOPINION:
The Wyoming Supreme Court just handed families a decisive victory in the fight for school choice.
In a unanimous opinion issued Thursday, the justices lifted the preliminary injunction blocking the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act. This ruling clears the way for the state to implement its universal education savings account program without delay.
The decision marks the latest defeat for the teachers unions in their relentless campaign against parental rights.
The Wyoming Education Association and a handful of activists sued to stop the program before it could even launch. Their goal was simple: to protect the government-run school monopoly that has failed too many children for too long.
Before the district court halted everything, thousands of Wyoming families had already applied for the scholarships. These parents saw the scholarships as their chance to escape a failing system. The injunction left them in limbo, waiting as the legal battle dragged on.
Now, the state Supreme Court has ended that wait. Families can finally breathe easier knowing the funds they need will start flowing.
Although the Wyoming Supreme Court did not issue a final ruling on the program’s constitutionality, the justices sent a clear signal to the district court. The opinion dismantles the flawed arguments that led to the injunction in the first place.
The teachers union claimed the program violates the Wyoming Constitution because the state must provide for the establishment and maintenance of a complete and uniform system of public instruction. This argument collapses under basic logic. Requiring the state to provide a system of public schools does not prevent lawmakers from also offering education savings accounts.
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The Idaho Supreme Court unanimously ruled against the teachers unions earlier this year in a 5-0 decision. The Idaho Constitution has nearly identical “uniform” language in its education clause. That did not stop the court from upholding school choice.
In fact, every state has an education clause in its constitution. None of those clauses has proved to be an insurmountable barrier in the roughly 30 states that operate private school-choice programs.
The union also relied on Article 16, Section 6, of the Wyoming Constitution, which limits state aid to the “necessary support of the poor.” They should apply that same standard to the public school system they defend so fiercely.
Public schools do not restrict enrollment to low-income families alone. Billionaires can send their children to public schools and have taxpayers foot the bill without the teachers unions batting an eye. The double standard exposes the real motivation. The unions oppose choice because it threatens their control, not because it violates some narrow constitutional provision.
Another union argument targeted the prohibition on giving state money to “sectarian or religious societies or institutions.” This claim ignores how the program actually works. The money goes directly to families, not to any school or institution. Parents decide where to spend the funds, whether at a religious school or a nonreligious one.
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The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a mortal blow to Blaine Amendments, such as the one in Wyoming in Espinoza v. Montana (2020). The court reaffirmed that ruling in Carson v. Makin (2022). Discrimination against religious options no longer passes constitutional muster.
The union also invoked the Campbell decision, arguing that children need equal opportunity for a proper education. School choice advances exactly that goal.
During oral arguments, Wyoming Supreme Court Chief Justice Lynne Boomgaarden grilled the Wyoming Education Association attorney on the discrimination claim. The union insisted that the school choice program must be open and accessible to all without any discrimination. Chief Justice Boomgaarden responded, “Seems like the logic is falling apart when you’re willing to go so deeply.”
She pointed out that by that standard, any aspect of the existing public school program must be available to everyone. Yet public schools do not offer every service to every student. Tutoring and special education services provide clear examples. The Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act is universal. All families are eligible.
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The teachers unions always file suit against school choice as “a last resort,” as the Florida Education Association president acknowledged at a press conference this month. They lose in the legislature, the political process and the courts. The Wyoming Education Association must be a glutton for punishment because each defeat only highlights how out of touch its monopoly defense has become.
This unanimous ruling from the Wyoming Supreme Court reaffirms that parents, not unions or bureaucrats, should control education funding. The Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act empowers families with up to $7,000 per student for tuition, tutoring, curriculum and other qualified expenses. It rewards the innovation that competition brings and holds education providers accountable to the parents who choose them.
The district court must now reconsider its earlier decision in light of the Supreme Court guidance. Parents across the state have waited long enough.
• Corey DeAngelis is a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a senior fellow at Americans for Fair Treatment.
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