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CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Some members of the State Board of Education are criticizing Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow over proposed budget cuts being discussed by lawmakers.
Board Chairman Pete Gosar said it is his understanding that Balow recommended that the Legislature's Joint Appropriations Committee cut funding for the State Board's coordinator position in the last round of cuts before the legislative session.
Balow's Chief of Staff, Dicky Shanor, said Tuesday that Balow never recommended eliminating the job but pointed out to legislators that the coordinator position duplicated the work of other jobs associated with the board.
Paige Fenton Hughes is the board's coordinator. She said her job was created in 2012 because the board was having a hard time meeting legislative requirements without more help. That's because most of the members work full time in addition to their volunteered effort.
Some board members took issue with Balow apparently recommending that lawmakers eliminate the position without consulting the board first, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported (http://bit.ly/1RkHvAh). As superintendent, Balow is a member of the State Board of Education.
"And certainly as a board member she can do that," board member Scotty Ratliff said. "But I think usually if somebody is going to speak for the board, they would involve the board in what they were doing."
Ratliff said he felt betrayed by Balow.
Gosar said if the board had "known before doing budgeting that this was on the table, we would have made some other decisions. This position is that important."
Shanor said Balow did recommend eliminating two other unrelated positions within the agency but the board's coordinator job was not among them. The board coordinator is under the purview of the board, not the Wyoming Department of Education, which Balow administers, he said.
"For the board, this position is one position that's very important to them, but for us we're looking at funding students, funding teachers, funding our department and this is one that we had identified as being a duplication of effort," Shanor said.
Education Department spokeswoman Kari Eakins said the board coordinator is among a number of jobs that may be cut "without a recommendation from us."
"Obviously there's a disconnect with how the State Board sees that as having happened," Eakins said.
Gosar said lawmakers were still discussing what to do with the job during their budget negotiations.
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Information from: Wyoming Tribune Eagle, http://www.wyomingnews.com
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