WY vs. ID (Cheyenne: high schools, income, property tax)

[OHNot4Me]

A friend of mine just sent me this link, and I was wondering if you guys have seen this and what do you think? Are the comparisons valid?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.8301ec01cbca

I'm thinking WY's alleged -1% population change 2016 to 2017 that landed it at the bottom of this chart isn't that many actual people because its population is so much smaller than any other states to start with. Would be interesting to see the changes in terms of the number of bodies and not just the percentage of population.

I understand that this is a left-leaning publication, and so WY bashing is always in vogue. :-)

[sunsprit]

as you acknowledge, the WaPost is a "left-leaning publication".

Apparently, their editorial direction on this article was an exercise in "coal bashing" and to tie that to criticism of the current administration, renewable energy development by Wyoming, and ignore whatever wasn't convenient for the author.

Blatantly missed were:

1) petroleum production in Wyoming and other mineral production (esp trona ... the ore for aluminum)

2) renewable energy production here with wind farms ... and more planned to produce and ship energy out of the state

3) the tourism industry of Wyoming as a major contributor to the economy

4) that 1/2 of Wyoming's land area is public lands, with most of it held by the Fed and not available for development, a major contributor to why so much of the state is "undeveloped, a backwater fly-over area" ... by intent of the Feds.

5) tech development in Wyoming such as the computer or collider here in Cheyenne. These don't require a lot of employees, but the contribution to the economy is real


So their typical screed about Wyoming being such a terrible place is a given and their horror at the state having a "boom bust" cycle economy pattern ... which it's been ever since statehood. Such is the nature of the economy here and yet many have survived/endured these cycles over the decades without experiencing the terror that it apparently induces in the article's author just to think about such a terrible state of affairs.

IIRC (per a recent article in the Cheyenne paper), the Head count for the net population loss was around 2,000 people. Percentage reporting while ignoring numerical reporting is somewhat ... if not intentionally ... misleading with statistics. As the article points out, there's a bigger population in Boise's metro area than in the entire state of Wyoming.

So be it. If that article keeps folk like that writer and editors/publishers away from Wyoming, then we residents are the better off for it.

[Ltdumbear]

LET them 'bash' all they want...for that matter, let 'em come in and throw Yellowstone-Caldera-wide buckets of personal or tax-payer funding at whatever real & perceived 'issues' they ASSUME they (the self-proclaimed 'absentee-experts') can....'fix' for the duration of thier short visit, here...

The winds of change come and go...we have the body of a rock and we will not be moved.

'Wyoming is to progressivism as Afghanistan is to nations'.

[OHNot4Me]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

So be it. If that article keeps folk like that writer and editors/publishers away from Wyoming, then we residents are the better off for it.

I was just thinking the same thing! Thank you for validating what I was already thinking.

WY is such a terrible place to live, stay away.

Please.

[jody_wy]

Lets see Idaho has a hard time passing school bond election and have a lot of old school buildings... they rank way lower in Education then Wyoming. they have a State income tax but lower vehicle taxes. oh Idaho has it mines, lot of phosphate, but there never been a producing oil well in the state.

[TohobitPeak]

Originally Posted by jody_wy

Lets see Idaho has a hard time passing school bond election and have a lot of old school buildings... they rank way lower in Education then Wyoming. they have a State income tax but lower vehicle taxes. oh Idaho has it mines, lot of phosphate, but there never been a producing oil well in the state.

Are the punctuation, capitalization, typos and grammar errors in this post a product of education in Wyoming?

School bonds passing in Idaho depends on the city. Bonds pass easily in Boise and the surrounding metro and there are new schools being built every year to handle the population increase.

[Wyoprairie]

[quote=TohobitPeak;50510426]Are the punctuation, capitalization, typos and grammar errors in this post a product of education in Wyoming?

You can keep this kind of smart remark at home.

Guess you missed the point. Wyoming doesn't depend on bond issues to fund schools. So Ada
County is building new schools to handle the influx-that's fine. But what about school funding
in Arco, Orofino, Soda Springs? We have new high schools in towns of less than 200 population
with indoor swimming pools. School spending isn't reliant upon population growth or the local
property tax base. Further comparison:

Educational spending in dollars per student: Idaho, $6923.00..........Wyoming, $16055.00
Teachers salaries in dollars per student: Idaho, $4139.00................Wyoming, $9495.00
Teachers benefits in dollars per student: Idaho, $1495.00................Wyoming, $4041.00
Overall rank of states by educational spending-Wyoming is 7th in the nation. Idaho is next to last.
2016 Gross state domestic product: Idaho at $39969.00, Wyoming at $64659.00

source-www.governing.com/gov-data/education-data/state-education-spending-per-pupil-data.html

Best states for teachers 2017-Wyoming is 8th, Idaho is 28th.

source-https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-states-for-teachers/7159/

I wouldn't worry about it anyway. Washington Post has as much credibility as National Enquirer.

[NW Crow]

The article, like many these days, appeared to want to take on a big topic, did 1/3 to 1/10th what was needed and died out abruptly way short. It is absurd that this was allowed as written. The charts took up way too much space for the points made. Some of that space could have handy for points not made.

[jody_wy]

Originally Posted by TohobitPeak

Are the punctuation, capitalization, typos and grammar errors in this post a product of education in Wyoming?

School bonds passing in Idaho depends on the city. Bonds pass easily in Boise and the surrounding metro and there are new schools being built every year to handle the population increase.

sorry never was very good in English and grammar, was better with numbers math. Why I got an engineering degree instead of and English degree. I did take a spelling dictionary to all blue book tests.
Was use to watching eastern Idaho new and seeing the bond elections fail, and going and later going and watching my kids compete in High School sports at those old Schools and gyms. Before we left western Wyoming is was surprising the influx of Idaho teachers moving to Wyoming when they could hired where there was a job opening.

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by OHNot4Me

A friend of mine just sent me this link, and I was wondering if you guys have seen this and what do you think? Are the comparisons valid?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.8301ec01cbca

I'm thinking WY's alleged -1% population change 2016 to 2017 that landed it at the bottom of this chart isn't that many actual people because its population is so much smaller than any other states to start with. Would be interesting to see the changes in terms of the number of bodies and not just the percentage of population.

I understand that this is a left-leaning publication, and so WY bashing is always in vogue. :-)

Not sure what being left leaning has to do with any of it. Idaho is just as conservative (maybe even more so) than Wyoming. I think you're putting way too much thought into this article.