CASPER, Wyo. — Casper native Megan Degenfelder announced her candidacy for Wyoming superintendent of public instruction on Thursday, April 7.
Degenfelder’s campaign said in a press release that she made the announcement at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Wyoming. Her campaign chairs are Judy Catchpole and Tucker Fagan.
“Too often, we are told that our children are leaving Wyoming and our industries are dying,” Degenfelder said in the press release. “But we can and we will give our children the opportunities to build a successful future in Wyoming.”
“And we will do this by working together — to give parents and students more choices than ever in their education, to partner with industry to best prepare our graduates, to make sure that every dollar is being efficiently allocated with maximum impact in the classroom. And things that work in Casper might not work in Meeteetse. But we will work together while still allowing maximum autonomy within local communities and school districts. Having lived in several different communities across the state, I know that decision-making is best left to the local level.”
Degenfelder is a sixth-generation Wyomingite and a graduate of Natrona County High School and the University of Wyoming.
She has experience as “a conservative business leader in the fields of coal and oil and gas and [as a] former executive at the Wyoming Department of Education,” according to the press release.
The press release adds the following regarding Degenfelder’s goals if elected as superintendent during the 2022 general election:
• Empower parents as the #1 decision maker in their children’s education
• Work with local industries to ensure graduates are prepared for the Wyoming workplace
• Fight back against anti-American curriculum & policies
• Prioritize education funding in the classroom, not central administration
• Focus on literacy rates for K-3 students
• Use her private sector experience to effectively run the state agency, and do more with less Degenfelder’s campaign
