These educational laboratories will tackle the most difficult educational issues facing our schools. According to the press release, the labs will work with hundreds of schools and districts to explore effective ways to implement education reform and to ensure that teachers and students benefit from the labs' efforts. The press release notes that the laboratories served more than 3 million customers through telephone, mail, e-mail and electronic information services and served more than 250,000 through personal interaction in 1995. The Regional Educational Laboratories are authorized by the Educational Research, Development, Dissemination and Improvement Act. Many people can't afford the traditional way of getting a higher education degree, which is learning by sitting in the classroom.
Technology can be an effective and cheaper way to help people learn.
A 1992 lawsuit, Campbell County School District v. State of Wyoming, charged that the state's funding formula violated the state constitution's education and equal protection clauses. According to the newsletter, Wyo.'s school funding formula is based on state and local aid and guarantees minimum resources for all school districts. State aid is distributed according to a district's wealth and average daily membership. Education is considered a fundamental right in Wyo., following the 1980 decision, Washakie v. Herschler. The plaintiffs complained that the state funding formula failed to achieve the level of equity required under Washakie.