The Wyoming Supreme Court on May 14 reversed a lower court injunction blocking the state's Steamboat Legacy Scholarship program, clearing the way for families to access up to $7,000 annually in education savings accounts (ESAs) for private school tuition, tutoring, and educational materials.

The unanimous ruling in Degenfelder v. Wyoming Education Association found that the Wyoming Education Association and its co-plaintiffs failed to demonstrate the kind of "irreparable injury" necessary to justify halting the program while constitutional challenges proceed in district court. The decision allows thousands of Wyoming families to begin using ESA funds immediately, even as the underlying lawsuit over the program's constitutionality continues.

"This is a watershed moment for educational freedom in Wyoming," said EdChoice, the national school choice advocacy organization that intervened in the case alongside the Institute for Justice. The Partnership for Educational Choice represented two Wyoming families whose applications were frozen by the July 2025 injunction.

A Ten-Month Freeze Lifted

Wyoming's legislature enacted the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act in 2025, building on an earlier ESA framework from 2024. The program allows parents of eligible school-aged children to apply for annual grants funded from the state's general fund—not local school district taxes—to cover costs outside the traditional public school system.

Within weeks of the law's passage, the Wyoming Education Association sued, arguing the program violated the state constitution's education clauses. A district court judge granted a preliminary injunction in July 2025, freezing all ESA disbursements until the constitutional questions could be resolved at trial.

The state and intervenor families appealed, arguing that the WEA had not shown it would suffer concrete harm from allowing the program to proceed while litigation unfolded. The Supreme Court agreed, ruling that the plaintiffs' claims of systemic underfunding in public schools did not constitute the personal, particularized injury required for injunctive relief.

Conservative Victory in Red State School Choice Push

Wyoming joins 16 other states with active or pending ESA programs, part of a national wave of Republican-led school choice expansions. The Steamboat Legacy Scholarship reopened to new applicants on July 6, 2026, with an August 6 application deadline for the 2026–27 school year.

One family represented in the appeal, Nicolette and Travis Leck of Cody, enrolled their three children in a private classical education school after finding their local public school academically inadequate. They applied for ESA funding to sustain that choice but were blocked by the injunction.

"Families like the Lecks shouldn't have to wait years for a trial to access the educational options their kids need now," EdChoice argued in court filings.

Constitutional Fight Continues

While the Supreme Court's ruling allows ESA distributions to resume, it does not resolve the core constitutional challenge. The WEA's lawsuit alleging that the program diverts funds from an underfunded public system and violates state education provisions will proceed in district court.

Critics of the ESA model, including teachers' unions in multiple states, contend that diverting public dollars to private schools weakens accountability and exacerbates funding shortfalls. Proponents counter that ESAs expand educational opportunity for families dissatisfied with their assigned public schools and introduce competitive pressure that can improve outcomes system-wide.

Wyoming's Republican-controlled legislature and Governor Mark Gordon remain firmly supportive of the program, which has emerged as a litmus test for conservative education policy nationwide. The Supreme Court's decision ensures that test will play out in real time, with families—not just litigants—shaping the program's trajectory.