Laramie judge revives legal challenge to Wyoming's $7,000 school voucher program

Laramie County District Judge Michael Croelich ruled on Tuesday that the Wyoming Education Association and several individual parents have sufficient legal standing to pursue their challenge against the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Program. This decision revives a case that appeared stalled after the Wyoming Supreme Court previously dismissed an earlier attempt to block the law. The judge's order allows the lawsuit to move forward in district court, where the core constitutional arguments will be tested.

The legal dispute began in 2024 when the Wyoming Legislature passed a law establishing the scholarship program. Before the 2024-25 school year started, the Education Association sued in district court, seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the law from taking effect. Judge Croelich initially granted that temporary block. However, the state appealed the decision, and the Wyoming Supreme Court reversed the lower court's order. That higher court ruling cleared the path for the program to launch for the 2025-26 school year, including a partial release of funds that had been held back.

Despite the Supreme Court's reversal, the plaintiffs did not abandon the standing issue. They returned to Judge Croelich's courtroom and raised the question of whether they had the right to bring the lawsuit in the first place. This matter was argued in August, following several rounds of written submissions. During the hearing, the judge pressed the state and its co-defendants, Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Segevelder and State Treasurer Curtis Vee, on arguments they had made in previous filings.

The state and its allies argued that the plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate how the scholarship law directly harmed them. They maintained that the case should be dismissed because the challengers could not prove they would suffer irreparable harm from the program's existence. In a prior 2023 ruling, the same judge had rejected a similar attempt to dismiss the case, finding that the plaintiffs had standing. The current ruling adheres to that earlier logic.

Judge Croelich wrote in his order that the court previously held that accepting the individual harms alleged as true and liberally interpreting those allegations, the court finds that the WEA and the parental plaintiffs have standing. He concluded that the claims are not subject to dismissal. The judge noted that the plaintiffs did not appeal the standing issue when the Supreme Court reviewed the preliminary injunction, making this a fresh determination in the district court.

The program provides annual payments of up to $7,000 to families whose children are enrolled in non-public schools certified by the state. These funds can be used for a wide range of education-related expenses, including tuition, curriculum, textbooks, school uniforms, transportation, and computer hardware. The money is not available to students attending public schools. The Education Association contends that the scholarships create an incentive for students to leave public schools, which could trigger enrollment declines and reduce the per-student funding for those districts.

The state's funding model for schools is largely based on average daily membership, meaning that drops in enrollment can lead to significant financial changes for school districts. Recent efforts to recalibrate this model have underscored the potential impact of enrollment shifts. The denial of the state's motion to dismiss will continue in litigation, but it does not affect whether or how the scholarship program will continue to be implemented in the interim.

The next step in the legal process is for the parties to engage in discovery, a phase that has not yet been conducted. Both sides will now exchange information and evidence to prepare for a full trial on the merits of the constitutional challenge. The case remains active in Laramie County District Court, with the fate of the voucher program depending on the outcome of this ongoing judicial review.