---
title: One Billion Smackaroonies - Wyoming Liberty Group - Wyoming Liberty Group
description: WyLib uses a budget buffet analogy to argue Wyoming should control spending rather than treating one billion dollars in mineral reserves as discretionary.
canonical_url: https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/education/one-billion-smackaroonies
language: en-GB
notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/education/one-billion-smackaroonies.
markdown-tokens: 2787
---

> **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/education/one-billion-smackaroonies. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content.
> **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above.


\[!\[Wyoming Liberty Group\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/images/2020/06/01/wy-logo-lg-trees.png)!\[Wyoming Liberty Group\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/images/2020/06/01/wy-logo-sm-trees.png)\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/) \[\](#)- \[Home\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/) - \[About\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/javascript:void(0);) - \[Who We Are\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/about/who-we-are) - \[Core Principles\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/about/core-principles) - \[Staff &amp; Board\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/about/staff) - \[Current Posts\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/current-posts) - \[Topics\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/javascript:void(0);) - \[Wyliberty Policy Compass\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/wyliberty-policy-compass) - \[Economic\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/economic) - \[Education\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/education) - \[Election Security Standards\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/election-security-standards) - \[Energy and Resources\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/energy-and-resources) - \[Eye on the Issues\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/eye-on-the-issues) - \[Government Programs\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/government-programs) - \[Health Care\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/health-care) - \[Keep Wyoming Strong\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/keep-wyoming-strong) - \[Legal\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/legal-perspectives) - \[Limited Government\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/limited-government) - \[Marijuana/THC\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/marijuana-thc) - \[Political\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/political-perspectives) - \[Property Rights\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/property-rights) - \[Regulation\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/government-regulation) - \[Spotlight on WyLiberty\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/spotlight-on-wyliberty) - \[Timeless Topics\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/timeless-topics) - \[Transparency\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/government-transparency) - \[Get Involved\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/javascript:void(0);) - \[Donation/Membership\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/get-involved/donate) - \[Newsletter\](https://mailchi.mp/3d5c211df744/newsletter-sign-up) - \[Contact \](https://mail.wyliberty.org/contact) - \[Search\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/search) ## Learn About ### Education <a></a> Font size: \[ &amp;plus; \](https://mail.wyliberty.org/javascript:void(0);) \[ – \](https://mail.wyliberty.org/javascript:void(0);) \[ Print \](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/education/one-billion-smackaroonies?tmpl=component&amp;print=1&amp;format=print "Print") # One Billion Smackaroonies \[Education\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/education) Friday, 21 October 2016 What do we do when we encounter a luxurious buffet but are on a diet? We carefully take only the permitted amount of each allowed item, right? And then we consciously take a smidgen more of each. Soon the plate is overloaded (and maybe we go back for seconds – or thirds!) Is that what's happened in Wyoming K-12 education over the last decade? Take a look at Graph 1. The blue columns are taken from a September 2016 Legislative Service Office memo to the Joint Education Interim Committee. The orange columns are by Wyoming Liberty Group. <a> !\[\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/images/easyblog\_articles/966/b2ap3\_large\_smackaroonies\_graph\_1.jpg) </a>They show the differences year by year between what Wyoming's various consultants said the cost-basis of the K-12 basket of educational goods \*should\* be (evidence based model) and what the legislature \*actually funded\* (statutory model.) In every year, the legislature provided more funding than recommended; the cumulative excess through 2017-18 will be \*\*\*nearly a billion dollars.\*\*\* The evidence-based model is the one originally blessed by the Wyoming Supreme Court in 2008 after much legal wrangling. Its determinants were many, but the explicit intent was 'proper education' for a Wyoming child is to be "the best that we can do" and the legislature must define and specify what that is. \*Campbell County School Dist. v. State,\* 907 P.2d 1238, 1269 (Wyo. 1995). (\[Campbell I\](http://legisweb.state.wy.us/LSOWEB/SchoolFinance/Documents/Campbell\_I.pdf)). In addition, funding of districts is to be based upon what the state has determined a particular component should cost to deliver in each district. \*Campbell Cnty. Sch. Dist. v. State\*, 181 P.3d 43, 56 (Wyo. 2008) (\[Campbell IV\](http://legisweb.state.wy.us/LSOWEB/SchoolFinance/Documents/Campbell\_IV.pdf)) We know, because the Court approved the evidence based model, that the education consultants had taken all the determinants into account. Therefore, it's reasonable to assume they also did so each time they updated it on behalf of the legislature. It's also reasonable to assume the legislature recognized that "The definition of a proper education is not static and necessarily will change." \*Campbell I\*, 907 P.2d at 1274. However, it does not seem reasonable to assume the consultants could simply be wrong about total necessary costs by six to eight percent each and every year for ten years. And it does not seem reasonable the definition of "a proper education appropriate for the times" \*Campbell I,\* 907 P.2d at 1279 would change so dramatically every year. Thus, while the legislature was within its rights to authorize the amounts they did, we are within our rights as citizens to question the rationale behind their actions. We are also within our rights to ask what we received in exchange for that largesse. The amounts spent and who received them are documented in the state's public records, but what real value was received by students and taxpayers? There is little objectively measurable. Things which are, such as standardized test-scores NAEP and ACT, remain far below the state's goals and show little benefit from the money spent. If those funds had not been spent so freely in the golden, glory days of gas, oil and coal bonanzas, two things would be different: 1) education budgets would not now be so swollen making looming budget cuts less painful and, 2) more savings might well be in our coffers to blunt that pain. One billion additional smackaroonies in the bank would be really comforting to have. Now, though, we need realistic solutions to the challenges of providing quality education to Wyoming children within very real revenue constraints. \[ \](https://mail.wyliberty.org/javascript:void(0);) \[ \](https://mail.wyliberty.org/javascript:void(0);) \[ \](https://mail.wyliberty.org/javascript:void(0);) Tags: \[Education\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog-tags/education) \[Education Reform\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog-tags/education-reform) \[Wyoming Legislature\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog-tags/wyoming-legislature) \[Wyoming Supreme Court\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog-tags/wyoming-supreme-court) \[ Schools Must Compete \](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/education/schools-must-compete) \[ Majority of Wyoming Voters Oppose Medicaid Expansi... \](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/health-care/majority-of-wyoming-voters-oppose-medicaid-expansion) #### Related Posts ### \[WyLiberty’s 10 Interim Topics to Watch\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/government-transparency/wylibertys-10-interim-topics-to-watch) \[Transparency\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/government-transparency) ### \[WY 2026 SF 47 - Increase of Hathaway Scholarship Awards\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/political-perspectives/wy-2026-sf-47-increase-of-hathaway-scholarship-awards) \[Political\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/political-perspectives) ### \[Rethinking Degree Requirements in Wyoming Government Jobs - Episode 106\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/eye-on-the-issues/rethinking-degree-requirements-in-wyoming-government-jobs-episode-106) \[Eye on the Issues\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/eye-on-the-issues) ### \[Facing the Storm: Superintendent Degenfelder on Education Challenges and Opportunities - Episode 99\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/education/facing-the-storm-superintendent-degenfelder-on-education-challenges-and-opportunities-episode-99) \[Education\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/education) ### \[The ESA Freeze and Its Cost to Wyoming Families - Episode 98\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/eye-on-the-issues/the-esa-freeze-and-its-cost-to-wyoming-families-episode-98) \[Eye on the Issues\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/eye-on-the-issues) ### \[All Wyoming Families Should Have School Choice\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/education/all-wyoming-families-should-have-school-choice) \[Education\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/education) !\[logo white 002\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/images/general\_art/logo\_white\_002.png) \*\*Wyoming Liberty Group\*\* P.O. Box 9 • Burns, WY 82053 Phone: (307) 632-7020 ##### Quick Links - \[ Legal\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/legal-center) - \[ News Releases\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/news-releases) - \[ Podcasts\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/podcasts) - \[ Policy\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/policy) - \[ Videos\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/videos) ##### Support - \[ Blog Tags\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog-tags) - \[ Contact Us\](https://white-clair-78.tiiny.site/) - \[ Newsletter\](https://mailchi.mp/3d5c211df744/newsletter-sign-up) - \[ Privacy Policy\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/privacy-policy) - \[ Login/out\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/login-out) Search Copyright © 2026 Wyoming Liberty Group. \[\](#)- \[ Home\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/) - <a>About</a> - \[ Who We Are\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/about/who-we-are) - \[ Core Principles\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/about/core-principles) - \[ Staff &amp; Board\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/about/staff) - \[ Current Posts\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/current-posts) - <a>Topics</a> - \[ Wyliberty Policy Compass\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/wyliberty-policy-compass) - \[ Economic\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/economic) - \[ Education\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/education) - \[ Election Security Standards\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/election-security-standards) - \[ Energy and Resources\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/energy-and-resources) - \[ Eye on the Issues\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/eye-on-the-issues) - \[ Government Programs\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/government-programs) - \[ Health Care\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/health-care) - \[ Keep Wyoming Strong\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/keep-wyoming-strong) - \[ Legal\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/legal-perspectives) - \[ Limited Government\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/limited-government) - \[ Marijuana/THC\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/marijuana-thc) - \[ Political\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/political-perspectives) - \[ Property Rights\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/property-rights) - \[ Regulation\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/government-regulation) - \[ Spotlight on WyLiberty\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/spotlight-on-wyliberty) - \[ Timeless Topics\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/timeless-topics) - \[ Transparency\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/blog/government-transparency) - <a>Get Involved</a> - \[ Donation/Membership\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/get-involved/donate) - \[ Newsletter\](https://mailchi.mp/3d5c211df744/newsletter-sign-up) - \[ Contact \](https://mail.wyliberty.org/contact) - \[ Search\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/search) \[\](https://mail.wyliberty.org/javascript:void(0))