States Rise in Education Index
Florida Jumps to #1, West Virginia to #4
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Center for Education Reform (CER) released the latest results of the national Parent Power! Index (PPI), an interactive tool which measures states on the degree to which they give parents the power to exercise fundamental decisions regarding how their children are educated.
Owing to the enormous expansion of education opportunity in recent weeks, Florida has toppled Arizona to take the #1 spot, and West Virginia went from 49th overall to #4 on the Index, making the Mountaineer State a model for other states who similarly have encountered challenges in safeguarding parents’ rights.
“It shouldn’t take a pandemic to trigger a demand for more and better educational opportunities for our kids, we said just last September, but little did we know that the dramatic failure of the system to support students would lead to states heeding the call to change so rapidly,” said CER’s Jeanne Allen.
Much has been written and documented about the widespread frustration of parents, this year in particular, many of whom discovered for the first time that education is unequally distributed, a harsh reality that was only magnified by Covid-19. In addition to Florida and West Virginia, ten other states have adopted serious education policy improvements, more than any other year in history.
Said Allen, “This is the year the public truly learned that our nation, for which so many have fought and died in the name of freedom, has failed so many families. As we remember what it means to be free this weekend, let’s resolve to safeguard its most fundamental requisite to ensure it continues – Education.”
Since 1999, the Parent Power! Index has driven policy changes. For more information, visit edreform.com or write [email protected].
Founded in 1993, the Center for Education Reform aims to expand educational opportunities that lead to improved economic outcomes for all Americans — particularly our youth — ensuring that conditions are ripe for innovation, freedom and flexibility throughout U.S. education.