Moving at the Speed of Creativity by Wesley Fryer

Laptops in Wyoming

If you’re looking to move to a community with low unemployment and laptops for all the 5th graders, consider Pinedale, Wyoming. According to the article, “Town gets more than money in energy boom” from last week’s USA Today, the school board is struggling to find ways to spend it’s burgeoning budget.

Of course the high cost of housing and rising crime rates are also issues to weigh. But a surplus of money can bring remarkable benefits. Consider these from the article:

The Sublette County schools ordinarily would receive about $11,000 per pupil under Wyoming’s property tax system. The county schools get about three times that because of the added taxes sent to the state. That spending level includes funds directed to new buildings and other capital projects, a category usually not included in calculations of per pupil spending.

“As much money as we’re getting, we won’t be able to use it all,” school superintendent Charles Grove says. His teachers have an average annual salary of $43,000. All school workers received 12% bonuses in 2001 and 2002, and an 18.6% pay increase in 2003.

School lunch now costs 50 cents instead of $2. And plans are underway for a $13 million aquatic and recreation center, as well as a $3.5 million school bus transportation facility.

I am most impressed by how the state of Wyoming is using funds to help students pay for college.

The state set up permanent trust funds to protect wildlife and help students pay for higher education. The scholarship program eventually will provide university and community college scholarships of up to $1,600 per semester for all Wyoming high school graduates meeting grade and test score requirements. In-state tuition and fees at the state university are now $1,715 per semester.

This situation is a stark contrast to most parts of the United States, where college tuition and fees seem to go up on an almost hourly basis. What a contrast this situation is to the Universidad Autonoma Dominicana in the DR which I visited in May 2005. It is the oldest university in the Western Hemisphere and 2nd largest with 120K students– and is almost free for students to attend. And the DR doesn’t have an energy boom surplus like Wyoming!

DR University

Go Wyoming Cowboys, citizens and students! Our energy crisis is your surplus. Live it up now while you can. In 20 years after my children have become tomorrow’s scientists and engineers, hopefully they’ll have helped solved our global energy needs with hydrogen and solar energy! 😉

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On this day..


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