Staff Reports
The Lebanon Democrat
November 21st, 2014
WASHINGTON – Tennessee ranked No. 28 out of all U.S. states and the District of Columbia when it comes to giving parents fundamental power over their child’s education, according to the fifth edition of Parent Power Index, released recently by the Center for Education Reform.
While only six states earn rankings above 80 percent on PPI, Tennessee scored 66 percent.
Parent Power Index is a web-based report card that evaluates and ranks states based on qualitative and proven state education policies. The higher a state’s grade, the more parents are afforded access and information about learning options that can deliver successful educational outcomes for their children.
“While it’s true some states have made progress, it’s not nearly enough to meet demand. Simply put, we need more learning options available to more families, and we need them fast,” said Kara Kerwin, president of the Center for Education Reform. “Out of the [more than] 54 million K-12 students nationwide, only an estimated 6.5 million students are taking advantage of charter schools, school choice programs such as vouchers or tax credits, and digital or blended learning models. With the United States’ school-aged population expected to grow at unprecedented rates in the next 15 years, how will our school system be able to meet demand when we already have wait lists for charter schools and oversubscribed scholarship programs?”
A median PPI score of 67.4 percent (Delaware) showed how poorly most states have implemented policies surrounding charter schools, school choice, teacher quality, transparency and online learning, the five main components that comprise state PPI scores. Mississippi, ranked 20th, made the most progress, moving up 21 spots and breaking into the top 20 states after being in the bottom 11 states on previous analyses.
“With 36 governor races this November, including in Tennessee, it’s time enacting parent-empowering policies take front and center, especially when only 33 percent of Volunteer State eighth graders are proficient in reading and 28 percent are proficient in math,” Kerwin said. “America’s future depends on states’ ability to enact good policy to accelerate the pace of education reform and grow new and meaningful choices for parents.”
The PPI education scorecard can be found at parentpowerindex.com.
This year’s Parent Power Index takes into account CER’s first-ever voucher and tax credit scholarship rankings and analysis, School Choice Today: Voucher Laws Across the States Ranking and Scorecard 2014 and School Choice Today: Education Tax Credit Scholarships Ranking and Scorecard 2014.