Opinion ID: 2524503
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: External Cost Adjustment/Inflation Adjustment

Text: [ถ 87] The cost figures in the most current legislation do not account for inflation since 1996-97. Both MAP and the trial court recognize the obvious. There will undoubtedly come a time when inflationary cost increases render the funding levels inadequate to deliver the basket. The legislature addressed this problem in ง 21-13-309(r), which provides: (r) The joint appropriations interim committee shall submit a recommendation to the legislature and governor, not later than November 1 of each year, regarding whether an external cost adjustment should be made, and if so, the amount of the adjustment. Of course, neither the legislature nor the governor is obligated to act on such a recommendation, if made. [ถ 88] In this regard, the only inflationary adjustment since at least 1996-97 has been the adoption of ง 21-13-309(o)(i)(A), which provides 1.3 percent for new inflation effective for the 2000-2001 school year, but specifically excludes any inflation adjustment for the years preceding the 2000-2001 school year. See ง 21-13-309(o)(i)(A)(II). The tough question for both the legislature and this court is when and how should inflation adjustments be made in order to ensure the finance system is consistently cost-based. Wyoming teacher salaries now rank 42nd in the nation. Salaries actually being paid by districts are now 6 percent to 40 percent greater than the salaries within the statutory prototype. By pure force of logic, it is evident the 1996-97 salaries which were found to adequately reflect the cost of teachers at that time have not been held constant by the funding contained in the statute and are now significantly below costs. [32] While we agree that the lack of an internal, automatic cost adjustment in the statute may not in and of itself render the system unconstitutional, without such adjustments, legislative inaction appears inevitable, and, ultimately, funding of education will be below cost in contravention of the constitution. [33] [ถ 89] As previously noted, MAP advised the legislature that teacher salaries must be inflation-adjusted on an annual or, at a minimum, biennial basis and that the model components must be thoroughly reviewed every five to six years to ensure continued cost-based validity. Therefore, we hold that the legislature shall conduct a review of all the components every five years to ensure that funding accurately reflects the actual costs school districts are paying because of current market or economic conditions. Because the numbers contained within the model and codified in the statute are based on actual 1996-97 costs, an inflation adjustment is overdue. Four years have passed, and only a 1.3 percent adjustment has occurred which does not reflect the actual inflation during those four years. Based on the state's own evidence in this record and common sense, we cannot condone that result. [ถ 90] This court does not relish the idea of reviewing this matter on a continuing basis in perpetuity and is quite sure the legislature does not desire that result either. As long as the state continues to rely upon a cost of education model based upon historic actual costs to determine the appropriate funding for schools, regular and timely inflation adjustments are essential to funding the real cost of education. We adopt the opinion of the state's experts [34] and hold that the model and statute must be adjusted for inflation/deflation every two years at a minimum. Given the acceptance of all parties of validity of the WCLI, adjustments made consistent with that index will be presumed to be adequate. If other methods of adjustment are chosen by the legislature, they must be structured to assure quality of education remains adequate. It will be of great assistance to this court and all interested parties if the adjustment is adopted as a separate component of the model which would avoid the potential confusion, as occurred in this case, whether adjustments to the model for other reasons should be considered as inflation adjustments. The model and statute must be adjusted for inflation no later than July 1, 2002, and each biennium thereafter so long as a cost of education model using historic costs is relied upon for the basis of education funding. The amount of the adjustment required will depend, obviously, on the timing of the adjustment. [ถ 91] Because teacher quality is critical to providing a constitutional education and all parties recognize the looming national problem of a teacher shortage, the legislature is also directed to monitor the supply of qualified teachers and take appropriate action should national conditions continue to worsen to the detriment of Wyoming schools. It is unacceptable for essential teaching positions to remain unfilled or to be consistently filled by unqualified applicants.