© 2024 Wyoming Public Media
800-729-5897 | 307-766-4240
Wyoming Public Media is a service of the University of Wyoming
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Transmission & Streaming Disruptions

Senate debates school accountability

Max Klingensmith
/
Creative Commons

The Wyoming Senate has given initial approval to a bill that would rate schools on student performance. 

The school accountability measure was amended by the Senate to say all schools that do not exceed pre-determined academic targets would have to develop improvement plans. 

The House version of the bill said meeting targets was sufficient.  

Senator Chris Rothfuss of Laramie says the Senate is shooting for a higher bar. 

“If you are meeting expectations, you still have plenty of improvement to do because you are probably not meeting it in every category,” says Rothfuss. “If you were meeting it in every category, you’d be exceeding expectations at that point, based on how this was structured.”

Senator Charles Scott was concerned that the House removed language that would have allowed a principal to be fired if a school did not meet targets for two consecutive years. 

Rothfuss shared Scott’s concern that removing the section weakened the bill, and he suggested strengthening that section when debate on the bill continues on Wednesday. 

Bob Beck retired from Wyoming Public Media after serving as News Director of Wyoming Public Radio for 34 years. During his time as News Director WPR has won over 100 national, regional and state news awards.
Related Content