The Wyoming Education Association, the state affiliate of the DC lobbying organization National Education Association (NEA), is driving our education costs higher while test scores plummet. The education legislation and budgets they have successfully lobbied for in Cheyenne have been responsible for a 25% increase in per-pupil spending since 2011. And test scores? In 2024, the National Assessment of Education Progress revealed that Wyoming 8th graders’ proficiency in reading has plummeted by as much as 24% in the same timeframe.
Where is all this money going? Not to teachers.
Consider this: between 2010 and 2024, teacher salaries have increased by a mere 5%. You would think the Board of Directors of the WEA would be piping mad at the organization’s executives for such an abysmal track record.
Not hardly. According to tax records, the WEA’s Executive Director’s salary increased from $129,284 per year in 2011 to $175,528 per year by 2023. An increase of over 35% versus teachers barely getting a 5% increase during the same period. Obviously, WEA leadership is being rewarded for increased bureaucratic bloat over student excellence and teacher compensation.
Wyoming classrooms are for Wyoming students and Wyoming teachers. Not lobbyists with hidden agendas and ties to DC.
It’s time we let the Wyoming Education Association know. Hands off our classrooms!