Senate Panel Holds Hearing On Supt. Bill

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A proposed bill to drastically reduce the administrative role of Wyoming's top state public schools official is before the Senate Education Committee.

The panel was scheduled to hear testimony on Senate File 104 on Friday in Cheyenne.

A proposal would remove the Wyoming superintendent of public instruction as head of the state Department of Education. It would create a new director of the agency who would be appointed by the governor.

Superintendent Cindy Hill opposes the bill, saying the proposal would take away the voice of the people who elected her and replace it with a bureaucrat.

Supporters say it would help take politics out of education.

Hill's administration of the Education Department has drawn criticism, especially when it comes to carrying out the state's ambitious education reform efforts.